Membaca Kota Melalui Kain: Batik Lasem sebagai Arsip Visual Urban Hibriditas Budaya

Abstract

Reading the City Through Cloth: Batik Lasem as an Urban Visual Archive of Cultural Hybridity Cities are documented not only through buildings, maps, photographs, or written archives, but also through cultural artifacts that preserve collective memory. This article examines Batik Lasem as an urban visual archive that records historical experiences, cultural encounters, and identity formation in the coastal town of Lasem, Central Java. Previous studies have primarily discussed Batik Lasem as a textile craft, a symbol of Javanese-Chinese acculturation, or a form of cultural heritage. However, its role as a medium for preserving urban narratives requires further exploration. Using a qualitative interpretative approach, this article analyses five major motifs (Latohan, Watu Kricak, Burung Hong, Lokcan, and Tiga Negeri) through visual analysis, interviews, observation, and literature review. The findings show that these motifs represent five layers of urban memory: coastal ecology, space and resilience, migration, trade, and intercity networks. This study argues that Batik Lasem functions not merely as textile ornamentation, but as a visual-material medium that preserves and transmits Lasem’s cultural hybridity across generations.