Kebaya Nominated Jointly to UNESCO

Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei Darussalam will jointly register kebaya as an intangible cultural heritage (WBTB) to UNESCO.

KOMPAS/SEKAR GANDHAWANGI

Director General of Culture of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Hilmar Farid (second from left) with representatives of Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore in Jakarta, Tuesday (7/2/2023). On this occasion, it was conveyed that Indonesia agreed to propose kebaya as an intangible cultural heritage to UNESCO.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Indonesia agreed to propose kebaya as an intangible cultural heritage with four ASEAN member countries, namely Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei Darussalam. Proposal to the United Nations Educational, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) will be carried out no later than 31 March 2023.

Indonesia's permanent representative for UNESCO, Ismunandar, said this was the first time for the five countries to be involved in submitting an intangible cultural heritage to UNESCO. Previously, Indonesia and Malaysia had submitted the pantun, a traditional verse tradition, as a cultural heritage (WBTB) together to UNESCO. Pantun was declared as a WBTB by UNESCO on 17 December 2020.

"This is a good signal, good practice and good collaboration. I hope this cooperation is successful," said Ismunandar in Jakarta, Tuesday (7/2/2023).

I don't think we will stop here. I hope in the future we can work together again to increase awareness of the WBTB.

Director General of the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry, Hilmar Farid, said the determination of cultural elements to the UNESCO WBTB list was not interpreted as a patent or intellectual property rights of a country for the cultural heritage.

On the contrary, this is an effort to promote the diversity of culture and dialogue among communities.

This is in line with the purpose of the 2003 UNESCO convention for the protection of intangible cultural heritages. The purpose in question is to increase awareness of the importance of respecting cultural diversity and giving proper recognition of cultural practices and expressions.

Hilmar further said the joint nomination by the five countries is a momentum to strengthen ASEAN solidarity. This is also a positive momentum for Indonesia as the chair of ASEAN 2023 to strengthen collaboration among countries and realize peace and welfare in the ASEAN region.

"I don't think we will stop here. I hope in the future we can work together again to increase awareness of the WBTB," said Hilmar.

DAHLIA IRAWATI

1900s Encim kebaya combined with Merak Ngibing batik cloth. The clothing was a collection of Lusiana Limono (42), designer of Batik Shio in Malang City, East Java. Photo taken Friday (05/02/2021).

Preparations

The deadline for registering the kebaya as a WBTB to UNESCO is 31 March 2023. Ismunandar said, Indonesia is not lagging behind in terms of document preparations. Various supporting documents have been prepared since long ago by the Indonesian kebaya community. The document includes, among others, photos and videos.

"So, even though Indonesia only made the declaration now, we actually followed the process [proposing the kebaya as a WBTB]. Our preparations were not only done a month [before the deadline]," said Ismunandar.

Chairperson of the National Team of Kebaya Indonesia, Lana Koentjoro, said one of the things that had to be done was the dissemination of information to the public and the community about the proposal of the kebaya as a WBTB, because public understanding of this matter varied. "It should be reminded that what is registered with UNESCO is the value of the kebaya," Lana said.

The kebaya that will be proposed to UNESCO are the kerancang and labuh. In Indonesia, they are also known as kebaya encim, synonymous with bright colors, embroidery details and folds in the middle.

When contacted separately, director of the Sarinah Institute, Eva K Sundari, said a number of kebaya communities took the initiative to provide funds. The funds collected are used for research and collecting evidence of kebaya footprints in Indonesia.

Initial idea

Hilmar Farid said the proposal of the kebaya as a WBTB began when Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob met President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in Jakarta in 2021. They both discussed opportunities for cooperation in various fields, including culture.

"We discussed the things related to the proposal for several WBTBs that have a shared cultural history, one of which is the kebaya. After discussion, it was agreed to invite other ASEAN member countries who also have a kebaya tradition to join in the nomination of the kebaya," he said.

Previously, in November 2022, the Singapore National Heritage Council (NHB) announced that its country would register the kebaya as a WBTB to UNESCO with other countries (Joint/Multinational Nomination). The idea of registering the kebaya together was initiated and coordinated by Malaysia. Other countries were invited to join. Singapore, Thailand and Brunei Darussalam then agreed to join.

Indonesia at that time had not yet determined its stance. According to Eva, the kebaya community in Indonesia was once split. Some communities agreed that Indonesia should take the path of a joint nomination, while some wanted to take a single nomination path.

The single nomination path is considered ineffective because it would take a long time. Every country can only submit one WBTB to UNESCO through this path. There are already several other cultural elements that have entered the nomination queue.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.