Batik Besurek is a typical Bengkulu batik with Arabic calligraphy motifs with a blend of the Rafflesia flower motif which is the hallmark of Bengkulu. The origin is called Batik Besurek because this batik uses motifs inscribed with Arabic calligraphy and the word Besurek is a Bengkulu dialect which means writing or writing.
The early history of the development of batik besurek is not certain but according to traditional and community leaders in Bengkulu, the use of besurek batik has been around for a long time and is seen always being used in traditional ceremonies, especially in Bengkulu City. There are also those who say that the early history of the development of batik Besurek in Bengkulu began with the emigration of the hero prince Sentot Alibasyah and his relatives and followers to Bengkulu. It is evident that at first the besurek batik users and craftsmen were mostly descendants.
The development of Batik Basurek in Bengkulu has so far been so fast, it has received attention from the Regional Government and the local community, its use is no longer limited to traditional celebrations or ceremonies, but has been used for various purposes such as official, private, party clothes, Muslim clothing, daily clothing with modification of motif designs and modification of fashion designs, product diversification, among others, wallets, ties, bags, skullcaps, accessories for jewelry, tissue cases, souvenirs / souvenirs with various combinations of floral motif designs, fauna, traditional home carving ornaments, kaganga letters and so forth.
Efforts to promote Batik Besurek to the national and even international scene clearly require full support from all elements of society and local governments in cooperation with the central government.
This was conveyed by the Governor of Bengkulu Rohidin Mersyah after attending and being a guest speaker at the Selamat Pagi Bengkulu live Program with the topic "Eksotika Pesona Kain Besurek", at the Studio of one of Bengkulu Local TVs
According to the Governor of Bengkulu Rohidin Mersyah, it is the pride of the people of Bumi Rafflesia because the Batik Besurek on the commemoration of the National Batik Day on October 2 became the main theme of "Bengkulu Besurek Fabric Exotica" which was exhibited at Kokas Jakarta.
When viewed from an economic standpoint, the craftsmen who create besurek designs have lost because their turnover has decreased, while from a business and economic perspective there should be the inclusion of patents in order to get royalties from the sales proceeds. But today there are still many batik Besurek craftsmen who let or don't ignore the plagiarism that occurs in the batik motif design itself, the existence of culture or obedience to respect the work of the craftsmen's own initiative, they are not there, even most of them let it and there are also craftsmen who feel also that if the motif design is plagiarized it means that the motif is good.
To protect one of Bengkulu's signature products, the Bengkulu provincial government has registered intellectual property rights, especially patent rights, to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights from last year. This is also done so that Batik Besurek has legal force and anticipates product plagiarism by irresponsible people or other countries. Although the Bengkulu provincial government has registered the patent rights, until now the patent certificate for Batik Besurek has not been obtained. Whereas with the existence of legal certainty, it will provide legal protection to the parties concerned or who take legal action.
"We do this so that no region can claim it. Because be careful, wealth like this can easily be annexed by other countries and recognized as their property. Now the process is ongoing, hopefully in the next one or two months there will be a decision from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, ”explained Rohidin Mersyah.
Not only that, efforts to preserve batik are also through the Bengkulu Governor's Decree, which calls on all ranks of ASN and environmental officials at the Provincial and Regency-Municipalities to wear Batik Besurek one day a week as a work uniform, to wear at events both at local and national levels as well as when giving souvenirs in the form of Batik Besurek to government guests.
