Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Indonesia's president is pressing the country's 234 million people to wear batik clothes to celebrate a triumph over neighbour Malaysia in a poisonous feud over cultural heritage.
The UN cultural organisation UNESCO is set this week to add Indonesia's method of making the cloth – through a laborious process of wax-dipping and dying – to its list of the world's Intangible Cultural Heritage.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed Indonesians to celebrate the day the decision becomes official, Friday, by donning their best shirts, dresses, blouses and sarongs made from the material.
"I urge Indonesians wherever they are to wear batik on October 2," Yudhoyono was quoted as saying this week by state news agency Antara while in the United States for the G20 meeting of world leaders.
Yudhoyono said the country should have a "batik party" to let the world know that the art form comes from Indonesia.
Media here have been in triumphal mode over the impending UNESCO decision, which is the latest chapter in a spat that has seen protests over Malaysia's alleged "theft" of everything from batik to dances and songs.
Many Indonesians say the use of batik techniques and motifs by Malaysians is outright plagiarism.
But Indonesian Heritage Society batik expert Judi Achjadi said UNESCO's recognition of Indonesian batik doesn't mean Malaysia, which has its own tradition of making the cloth, has no right to the art form, which is spread across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
"The focus of this achievement shouldn't be on Malaysia," Achjadi said. "They have their own batik and this doesn't stop them from promoting theirs."
UNESCO culture specialist Masanori Nagaoka said the recognition for Indonesia's cloth does not mean other countries cannot claim batik, but simply that Indonesia's government went to the trouble to submit a nomination.
The dispute between the two nations came to a head in August when it was misreported that Malaysia had screened tourism advertisements featuring the traditional "pendet" dance of Indonesia's Hindu-majority Bali island.
Outrage over the "theft" has continued to circulate in Indonesia, despite the fact that the ad in the end turned out to be a promotion for a Discovery Channel programme.
While the recognition of batik has been broadly welcomed, fashion designer Edward Hutabarat said the actual enthusiasm for Indonesians to wear the cloth has been on the wane.
"Batik clothing and couture was booming here in 2007. Everyone was wearing it at the malls all of a sudden, but it cooled down the year after," Hutabarat said.
"As cultural heritage, batik needs to be more than just a trend. Consumers still think a six million rupiah (600 dollar) piece of batik is very expensive but it can take up to six people over a whole year to create a piece of batik."