CULTURAL DIPLOMACY STRATEGY IN MAINTAINING BATIK AS INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE IN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL (2014 – 2018)

Abstract

Batik is known and recognized as one of the Intangible Cultural Heritages by UNESCO on October 2, 2009. After getting this recognition, Indonesia must continue to introduce Batik culture to the global world. Due to the right of UNESCO to revoke the recognition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage if the state is not responsible for developing and preserving that culture. Therefore, to maintain and promote batik in the global world, Indonesia uses cultural diplomacy efforts. Cultural diplomacy is currently very important for countries because it is easily accepted by the community, so that batik can continue to be loved by international countries and also Batik can remind international countries about Indonesia, since Batik serves as Indonesia's National Branding. This study explains the actors involved rely upon a broader explanation of the current diplomacy, which is not only state actors, the Indonesia Government, but also the need of the role non-state actors such as individuals, groups or communities which are Batik Craftsmen, Batik Fashion Designers, and Legal Organization of Batik. This study also explains that the benefits of Batik cultural diplomacy as an instrument to introduce national branding, as well as to support economic interest of Indonesia. Therefore, the main focus of this study is to explain the strategy of cultural diplomacy carried out by the Indonesian Government and non-state actors in maintaining batik as an Intangible Cultural Heritage from 2014 to 2018 in the international level. In this thesis, combining three theoretical concepts, the first is Soft Power. The theory is used by the author to help support the analysis of the author on the importance of batik as diplomacy of Indonesian culture to attract the attention of international countries so that batik can be better known at the international level. The second theory is Multi-track diplomacy, this concept is used to assist the researcher in analyzing the role of actors who conduct diplomacy of Indonesian Batik culture at the international level. The third theory is National Branding, this theory is used to analyze Batik could build an image for Indonesia on international reputation therefore it can help the country in achieving its national interests. This study uses a qualitative method because it analyzes the events and behavior that occur. Then the use of data for this study is obtained from official government publications, official statements from the government. This study also used Journals, Books, and related News based on research written by the author in this thesis.