Exploring Regional Potentials Through Visual Forms, Purwakarta Young Generation Joins The 2021 Batik Festival

Batik activity in Purwakarta/ Photo: Antara

PURWAKARTA – Coinciding with National Batik Day 2021, the younger generation in Purwakarta, West Java participated in the Culture Art Festival (CAF), namely the Batik Festival for the Young Generation. The activity organized by the Purwakarta Regency Government, West Java aims to preserve culture, and as a strengthening of batik culture among the younger generation.

"Through this festival, we are trying to educate the younger generation so that they want to preserve the culture and traditions of their own nation," said Head of the Youth, Sports, Tourism and Culture Office (Disporaparbud) Ahmad Arif Imamulhaq, quoting Antara, Saturday 2 October.

Ahmad Arif also said that the festival is the beginning, because in the future his party will initiate a kind of batik classes or batik schools that are intended for all groups.

"We are discussing the curriculum with the Purwakarta batik community activists and other related parties," he said.

Meanwhile, Purwakarta batik craftsman Wida Awaliya Nurkhaliza said that the novelty of the concept of developing contemporary Indonesian batik designs lies in the area's superior potential and local wisdom.

According to him, entrepreneurs and batik craftsmen play a role in responding to challenges with product development innovations that aim to improve the quality and quantity of batik in this era of creative industries.

Coinciding with the momentum of the 2021 National Batik Day, Wida wishes to represent the unique potentials of the Purwakarta region through a visual form, namely batik.

"Coinciding with this batik day, I want to invite the youth of the millennial generation to continue to be able to preserve and promote batik culture more broadly. As we know in Purwakarta Regency, batik is still synonymous with clothing or fashion or fabric," he said.

However, with the passage of time and the development of the times in this modern era, batik production is becoming more varied and contemporary produced into items other than cloth or clothing, he said.