Batik has been present and used in the practice of Indonesian people's life from generation to generation for a long time. As one of the cultural identities of the Indonesians, batik has always been used in the cultural traditions held in every stage of life, from birth, marriage, to death. The specialty of batik for the Indonesian people was internationally recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization or UNESCO as Masterpieces of the Oral Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on October 2, 2009.¹ At the same time, the Indonesian government through Presidential Decree No. 33 of 2009 set October 2 as the National Batik Day.

Without losing its traditional meaning, batik continues to develop with various techniques and symbols (ornaments) drawn in various media. Recently, batik is not only used in certain rituals but also used as clothing, including workwear or office clothing with increasingly diverse modifications. This is one of the efforts to preserve and ensure that the human values ​​present through batik can be well transformed from generation to generation.

In line with this, the Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta is committed to continuing to internalize the love for batik by motivating and encouraging the creation of batik that can respond to changing times and still holds its authentic identity. Commemorating the 12^th Batik Day on October 2, 2021, the 2021 Work Batik Design Competition, therefore, would be our best way to preserve Indonesian cultural values, ​​especially batik.

In addition, this competition is also expected to be a channel for talents of the younger generation, particularly (national or international) students to participate in creating and work batik designs that articulate the vision of the Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, namely becoming a faculty leading in linguistics and arts with educational identity and to generate professional academic human resources who are religious, autonomous, and intelligent. In addition, this competition is also intended to attain the best working batik designs having the characteristics of the faculty and the identity of the academic community who are humanist and able to address the challenges.

The results of this work batik design competition shall be applied to various media, one of which is the cloth that will be produced into batik uniforms as the identity of the Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta. In the production process, of course, the Faculty of Language and Arts will work closely with industrial partners and community groups who have been vigorous in the world of batik. This is a concrete action of the Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta in providing a real economic contribution to the community.