Batik bonanza for the taking on streets of Yogyakarta
Batik bonanza for the taking on streets of Yogyakarta
By Tarko Sudiarno
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Yogyakarta is famed as one of the batik
centers in the country. Its ornate, classically designed motifs,
worn by Javanese royal families, is the city's cultural
trademark.
The city is home to hundreds of accomplished batik makers.
Rows of chic batik shops and art galleries along Jl. Malioboro
and its surrounding areas, such as Jl. Urip Sumohardjo and Jl.
Prawirotaman, are favorite shopping places for affluent visitors.
Street vendors catering to backpackers or those wanting to
bargain provide a large variety of batik products, woodcrafts and
leather souvenirs at competitive prices. Batik is everywhere in
Yogyakarta, the soul of the city.
Beringhardjo traditional market, located 500 meters from the
Yogyakarta Palace, is the most sought-after batik center.
Hundreds of sellers offer a wide choice of batik products from
traditional, classical batik to the more contemporary ones.
Visitors seeking to purchase the refined hand-drawn batik
tulis are able to find them in one of the batik shops here. The
market is a haven for batik collectors who sometimes find antique
batik with rare, exceptional designs.
The market also has numerous shops and vendors selling a
myriad of printed and stamped batiks.
Batik is sold in the form of long cloth, sarongs or tubular
cloth, bedspreads, women's clothes and shirts. Materials
available range from cotton to the more intricate silk batik,
each worth from hundreds of thousands of rupiah to millions of
rupiah.
Runi, a visitor from South Jakarta, said she was excited every
time she visited the market.
"When I visit Yogyakarta, I have never skipped batik shopping
in this market. Here, I can buy such a lot of quality batik at
low prices," she said.
Suradi, a small-scale trader from Secang in Magelang, Central
Java, said he obtained special discounts when he bought dozens of
pieces of batik cloth.
Visitors are also able to buy batik from batik factories where
people can watch the batikmaking process. They can even take part
in a short-course on batik making.
Some of the factories are located on Taman Sari and
Prawirotaman.
Yogyakarta also is home to numerous batik museums displaying
rare and antique pieces.
A private batik museum on Jl. Dr. Sutomo, for example,
displays more than 500 old batiks. The other batik museum is
located in the Kaliurang holiday resort.
People can also view antique batik belonging to individual
collectors.
Noted batik collector Afif Syakur, for instance, diligently
collects 1,500 old batiks at his "museum" on Jl. Pandega Marta No
37A. His oldest piece in the collection dates back to 1880.
"I will build a museum one day to enable younger generations
to learn more about the history of batik," said Afif.
Another important site that should be visited by batik lovers
is the Research and Development Center of Batik and Handicrafts
Industry on Jl. Kusumanegara 7.
The center provides detail information on the latest
technology in the batik-making process, raw materials and
equipment.
It also conducts research and development projects for
environmentally friendly techniques of batik making.
Book that ticket, batik lovers, because Yogyakarta is your
paradise.