Indonesia was Asked to Partake in ‘Kebaya’ Bid

Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei Darussalam have agreed to jointly nominate the kebaya , for inclusion in the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritatage.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Participants in the kebaya parade entitled "Berkebaya with the First Lady", in Surakarta City, Central Java, Sunday (2/10/2022). The event was attended by First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo. The momentum of its implementation deliberately coincides with the national batik day.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei Darussalam have agreed to jointly nominate the kebaya, a traditional blouse, for inclusion in the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Indonesia has also been asked to join the efforts to nominate the kebaya as a form of joint cultural heritage.

This was first announced by the Singapore National Heritage Council (NHB) on 23 Nov., 2022, through a written statement. The idea of jointly nominating the kebaya to UNESCO was initiated and coordinated by Malaysia. Singapore, Brunei Darussalam and Thailand then agreed to join.

NHB stated that this was the first time Singapore had been involved in the nomination of multinational cultural heritage. This was also the first time the four ASEAN countries had banded together for a UNESCO cultural heritage bid. Other countries were also welcome to join, including Indonesia.

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The kebaya being nominated by these four countries is the kebaya encim, which has Betawi motifs. In Indonesia, this kebaya is typically in bright colors and is adorned with embroidered details and pleats down the middle.

Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei Darussalam plan to submit the kebaya as a form of intangible cultural heritage to UNESCO in March 2023. This means that Indonesia has time to make a decision on whether to join the joint bid.

Community in agreement

University of Indonesia humanities faculty lecturer Indiah Marsaban said on Tuesday (29/11) that the majority of communities related to kebaya agreed that Indonesia should register the kebaya with UNESCO through a joint nomination. She added that this would reflect the spirit of togetherness among allied countries.

The kebaya has become a shared piece of heritage of ASEAN countries. The origins of kebaya are still in debate because the archipelago’s clothing was influenced by foreign cultures, from Arabic and Chinese to Portuguese. This is because Indonesia was strategically located along trade routes.

Having a cultural element registered at UNESCO does not mean having intellectual property rights or ‘property rights’ of a culture.

On one hand, no country can be prohibited from registering cultural heritage with UNESCO, according to the organization’s rules.

“Having a cultural element registered at UNESCO does not mean having intellectual property rights or ‘property rights’ of a culture. The record of the UNESCO list only acknowledges that a culture exists, lives in an area and the people preserve that culture,” said Indiah.

According to her, Indonesia could also submit kebaya to UNESCO in a single-nation nomination. But this path would take a long time. Indonesia would first need to register a kebaya different from the type proposed by Malaysia and the others as a national intangible cultural heritage next year. Moreover, the new kebaya could only be submitted as a UNESCO cultural heritage nominee in 2024.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

Women from various communities wear kebaya to celebrate the 77th Indonesian Independence Day at Lodji Gandrung, Surakarta City, Central Java, Sunday (14/8/2022). They introduced the kebaya as part of a fashion trend that is oriented towards cultural heritage.

However, this also means that the kebaya must replace other forms of cultural heritage that have already been nominated. Some of these elements include herbal medicine, the art of reog ponorogo and the tradition of making tempeh.

A country can only submit one piece of cultural heritage to UNESCO every two years using the single nomination route. This means that the kebaya will have to wait a while to be submitted as a UNESCO cultural heritage nominee. Joining Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam has been deemed the best decision to preserve the kebaya.

According to the founder of the Indonesian Berkebaya Women’s Community (PBI), Rahmi Hidayati, this issue must be viewed from the perspective of broad cultural preservation. The notion of “ownership” over the kebaya is not strategic.

Taking advantage of opportunities

Sarinah Institute director Eva K. Sundari also agreed that the join nomination provided an opportunity to help preserve the kebaya. If Indonesia insisted that the kebaya belonged only to Indonesia, it would lose the opportunity to preserve its cultural heritage.

This occurred last year. In December 2021, UNESCO designated the songket (a traditionally woven textile) as a form of intangible cultural heritage from Malaysia. Indonesia was one step behind. Afterwards, Indonesia planned to register Nusantara weaving with UNESCO.

“We must learn from the songket [incident] so that we don’t keep losing. Nationalism is good, but we have to think about being two to three steps ahead,” said Eva.

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She added that a joint nomination would strengthen the cohesiveness of ASEAN countries. This would serve as important capital for diplomacy with other countries.

“Politically, this can help [President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo] in his leadership [of ASEAN], for example, to overcome [the issues in] Myanmar,” said Eva.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has been dealing with a political crisis since 1 Feb., 2021, after the military’s commander-in-chief, General Min Aung Hlaing, overthrew the civilian government that had been democratically elected in November 2020. In April 2021, ASEAN leaders and Min Aung Hlaing agreed on a five-point consensus to resolve the crisis.

Some of the consensus points include giving access to special ASEAN envoys and humanitarian aid, seeking dialogue with all parties in Myanmar and ending violence and hostilities. The Myanmar junta, however, has yet to implement the five points of the consensus (Kompas, 12/11/2022).

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.