Hualien honors Indonesian women's rights pioneer Kartini with batik class

Taipei, April 21 (CNA) The National Immigration Agency's Hualien Service Station hosted a traditional batik dyeing class on Tuesday to mark the birthday of Indonesian women's rights pioneer Raden Ajeng Kartini.

According to the service station, schools and government offices across Indonesia often hold celebrations, and women wear traditional clothing to work or school to highlight the importance of women's roles and cultural heritage on Kartini's birthday.

Besides actively pushing for women's access to education, Kartini, who lived from 1879 to 1904, also promoted batik, a wax-resist dyeing technique, helping introduce Indonesian traditional craftsmanship to the world and raise international awareness of it as a symbol of women's resilience and craftsmanship.

At the event, Rovina Wiana, an Indonesian resident who has lived in the eastern Taiwan county of Hualien for 25 years, led participants in a hands-on batik experience, guiding them through the process from sketching designs and applying wax to dyeing the fabric.

While there, she also shared the cultural background of Kartini Day and introduced Indonesia's batik tradition, which has a long history and was inscribed on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in 2009.

Officials with the Hualien service station praised immigrant women and migrant workers in Taiwan for their significant contributions to society.

They said the event allowed participants to experience traditional batik, deepen cross-cultural understanding and express appreciation to immigrant women and migrant workers, with the aim of fostering a more inclusive society.