Indonesia, Malaysia et al Propose Kebaya to ICH UNESCO

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/ANTARA PHOTO/M RISYAL HIDAYAT)

JAKARTA - Indonesia together with Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Thailand proposed kebaya to be included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The five countries in Southeast Asia that recognize kebaya as women's traditional dress proposed through a joint nomination mechanism.

"The proposal process begins when Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri meets President Joko Widodo in Jakarta in 2021," said Director General of Culture at the Ministry of Education and Culture Hilmar Farid at the Pullman Central Park Hotel, Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, February 7.

Hilmar explained that the meeting between President Jokowi and the Prime Minister of Malaysia at that time discussed joint proposals for several intangible cultural heritages that have a history, one of which is the kebaya.

After discussions, it was agreed to invite other ASEAN member countries that also have a kebaya tradition to join the nomination with this kebaya.

Meanwhile, the joint nomination mechanism itself was developed by UNESCO in 2008 as an effort to realize the objectives of the 2003 UNESCO Convention or Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

UNESCO 2003 is an effort to raise awareness about the importance of respecting cultural diversity and providing recognition to the practices and expressions of communities around the world in efforts to protect intangible cultural heritage.

Having a joint nomination mechanism, Hilmar emphasized that the determination of cultural elements on the ICH list is not recognition of a country's patents or intellectual property rights of cultural heritage.

This joint nomination mechanism is precisely the contribution of the proposing state party in promoting cultural diversity and encouraging inter-community dialogue.

According to Hilmar, the proposal for Kebaya through a joint nomination is also a momentum in strengthening ASEAN regional unity and solidarity.

Following up on the joint nomination process, the government through the Ministry of Education and Culture also held a Workshop Proposing Kebaya as a Joint Nomination 2023.

The aim is to strengthen cooperative relations in the field of culture among ASEAN countries by jointly filling out the Kebaya nomination manuscript.

This activity can also be part of Indonesia's momentum as Chair of ASEAN 2023 to play an important role in strengthening collaboration among ASEAN member countries.

Hilmar hopes that through the workshop which involves the four countries including culturalists and the kebaya community, it will be able to provide an overview of the objectives of UNESCO's ICH.

He hopes that there will no longer be a misunderstanding that assumes that UNESCO's ICH is recognition of the origin of an intangible cultural heritage or recognition of patents/intellectual property rights.

"This is to harmoniously protect the shared cultural heritage," said Hilmar.