'Longest batik' record broken in Bandung municipality

'Longest batik' record broken in Bandung municipality

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Some 300 people wound 446.6 meters of batik around Gedung Sate in
Bandung on Saturday, marking a record for the longest length of
batik ever made in Indonesia. The batik was much longer than the
130-meter long batik produced and exhibited in Cirebon two years
ago.

"Breaking the new record was part of our efforts to popularize
batik," said Komarudin Kudiya, a batik businessman from Cirebon,
who initiated the record breaking attempt.

In order to break his own record of two years ago, the
businessman mobilized 40 batikmakers from Cirebon and Bandung,
and after 18 months work hard, the longest batik ever made was
presented to public.

The artisans painted batik motives on a 446.6-meter long,
1.15-meter wide cloth. The batik was made in the Majalaya area of
Bandung, a well-known textile area in the city.

The record was witnessed by Paulus Pangka from the Indonesian
Records Museum (MURI) and was witnessed by Jaya Suprana, a MURI
executive; Prof. Mike Hardy, an executive from the British
Council in Jakarta who also represented the Guinness World
Records based in the United Kingdom; and local government
officials, such as the chief of the Cultural Office of the West
Java provincial government, Ijudin Budiana.

Komar said that the batik had 112 color combinations and 407
different local motives that hailed from various areas around the
country. The batik was held up by 300 people who surrounded the
Gedung Sate Building -- the office of the West Java governor --
which celebrated its 85th anniversary on July 27.

The making of Indonesia's longest batik was financed by the
Indonesian Batik Foundation.

Hardy said that the record would be conveyed to the office of
the Guinness World Records in the United Kingdom, which would
verify whether such a record already existed before they
registered a new record.

Agus Gustyar, the chief of Trade and Industry Office at the
West Java provincial administration, said that the record was
meaningful for batik producers as the batik industry had been
important to West Java's economy. There are some 400 batik
producers in the province, who are spread over eight regencies
and municipalities. The batikmakers produce both printed and
handmade batik. "Batik sales in the province each month generate
Rp 57 billion (US$5.8 million) in gross revenues for batik
producers, and it contributes significantly to the province's
economy," said Agus.

The batik will be stored using large 50-centimeter
diameter iron coils. The batik will next be exhibited for public
viewing at the Archipelagic Batik Exhibition set to be held at
the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center in Jakarta between the 6th
and 9th of October this year.

After the exhibition, the batik will then be put on display in
the Textile Museum in Jakarta.