In an effort to bring Namibians from all walks of life closer to Indonesia and to develop better understanding of Indonesian culture and values, the The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia will hold BATIK WORKSHOP from 26 – 28 May 2009 in Windhoek.

Batik is known as Indonesian art heritage and widely recognized as one of Indonesia’s most highly develop art forms. A great number of foreigners have shown their profound interest in Batik. UNESCO will even label Batik  as a world cultural heritage this year. In Namibia, Batik  has also gained popularity.  For many years, the Embassy has received so many inquiries of batik as to  where to buy it and how to make it.

It is against this background that THE EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA IN WINDHOEK, IN COLLABORATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NAMIBIA and FRANCO NAMIBIA CULTURAL CENTRE, held BATIK WORKSHOPS. The 3 (three) hours workshop will be presented BY A BATIK EXPERT FROM INDONESIA who shared with Namibians knowledge and techniques of making batik. We do hope that apart from introducing Indonesia, the workshop can also provide great opportunities for those who wish to develop their Batik designs and use them as a means of making business. In other words, Batik can serve as a tool for self- empowerment.

More than 100 participants from Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare of Namibia, academic fields (University of Namibia and Polytechnic of Namibia), arts students (College of Arts), members of Association of Diplomatic Spouses (ADS) Women Empowerment Organization (OEWONA), religious organizations (ELCRN and Ambassador’s of Worldwide Brotherhood), Community Development Center of City of Windhoek and Namibian general public who has interest in Batik art participated in this interesting and valuable workshop.

Having finished the workshops, all participants expressed their great appreciation and satisfaction with the only regret being the insufficient time to do more practice. Therefore they strongly recommended that similar programme be held in the future. The success of these workshops was due to Ms Venny Alamsjah, a highly qualified batik instructor with teaching experience in more than 30 countries. Her qualification includes a long well-research based knowledge of traditional batik and its processing techniques.