Representation of Balikpapan City on SHAHO Batik's Motifs

Batik is a revered traditional Indonesian textile art form with significant meaning and symbolism. Each region of Indonesia boasts a unique set of regional motifs, each with its distinct philosophy and history, including Balikpapan City. Balikpapan City, located in East Kalimantan near Indonesia's new capital, is a melting pot of diverse ethnicities, tribes, and cultures. The emergence of batik in Balikpapan began with the government of Balikpapan City initiating skills training programs to assess the abilities of individuals. Then, one of the potential skills identified was the ability to make batik. Over the years, batik has become an important part of Balikpapan’s local culture. The government supports it as a way to show the city's uniqueness and cultural potential. Therefore, this study will use SHAHO Batik as an object of the study. SHAHO Batik is the pioneer of Balikpapan City's local batik which has a variety of batik motifs. Moreover, this study aims to analyze the representation of Balikpapan City on SHAHO Batik’s motif as a local batik of Balikpapan, utilizing qualitative methods and Rolland Barthes' semiotic approach to examine the signs and codes on various SHAHO Batik’s motifs. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that the motifs used in SHAHO Batik serve as a tool to show the representation of the city in terms of society, natural resources, and culture.