Communicating Cultural Values in Shaping City Images through the Museum of Batik Pekalongan, Indonesia

The purpose of this study are firstly, to find out what is the history of the batik (a traditional textile originating from the island of Java) in Pekalongan City, Indonesia and what cultural values are contained in the batik design of the archipelago exhibited in the batik museum in Pekalongan. Secondly, to find out how the cultural values contained in batik are communicated to the community. Thirdly, how the museum made an efforts in helping preserve batik as a product of cultural heritage to strengthen the city image of Pekalongan City as the World’s City of Batik. The results of this study indicate that the cultural values contained in batik patterns are strongly influenced by the culture of migrants who arrived in the city of Pekalongan. Pekalongan as a coastal city on the north coast of Java is very easily accessed by migrants from various ethnic groups such as Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and even Dutch. They came to Pekalongan with the aim to trade, religion propaganda, even to war. Batik Museum in Pekalongan also plays an active role in socializing the history and values contained in each batik displayed by considering the arrangement of display space and organizing events such as fashion shows or short course to make batik for teenagers.