Klewer, a shopper's delight for folk textiles

By Emmy Fitri

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): It is a traditional market in the heart of Java, with most of its tradition intact. Smells, humidity and crowds mingle in Klewer, the biggest textile market in Central Java.

For Indonesians, klewer means to hang clothes in a disordered way, perhaps a fitting description of the busy market.

Visitors should dress light as they will find themselves negotiating the narrow alleys, sifting through piles of merchandise and engaging in much haggling as vendors tell them that prices are fixed.

However, it is in their own best interest to deal with the disheartening conditions. Klewer is a paradise of batik and traditional Javanese striped woven cloth lurik. Almost everything is available, from handmade batik to modern printed batik.

"Here I also sell batik used for special functions like wedding ceremonies. A prospective wedding couple should wear the Sido Mukti, Sido Luhur or Sido Asih motifs. There are also other recommended motifs. They sell for Rp 500,000. They usually come in a pair for men and women. I do not get anything from that price, it's the cheapest here," vendor Mrs. Sastro said.

Much cheaper is the printed batik, with prices from Rp 20,000 to Rp 100,000.

"It also depends on the kind of cloth used for the batik. If it is made of mori (unbleached plain cloth), it will be relatively cheap but mori also has several types. Now I hear that Jakartans prefer silk to this kind of textile," she added.

Like most older Javanese women, she wears traditional clothes of a batik sarong and kebaya (blouse). She sells her wares as she sits amid piles of batik and lurik in her kiosk.

Lurik is much cheaper than batik, at prices ranging from Rp 10,000 to Rp 15,000.

She began helping her mother sell the cloth in 1969 when she was about nine years old. She went out on her own when she married at the age of 16.

"I sold batik from door to door then, before the market was built," the resident of Palur said, adding that she sold from Rp 500,000 to Rp 1,500,000 per day.

Klewer is strategically located just south of Surakarta Hadiningrat Palace, in the palace square where many ritual ceremonies are held and the historical museum of Radyapustaka, which is visited mostly by foreign tourists, is located.

Surakarta is located in the southeastern part of Central Java and considered the cultural center of the area.

Long before the country's independence, the city was known as a place for recreation. Its reputation and its close vicinity to the palace have attracted large numbers of out-of-town visitors, mainly because the palace's background is rooted in the history of Java's famed and influential kingdom of Mataram (1586-1755).

The market is not only a business site but also regarded as a tourist attraction in the regency.

Built on 13,461,68 square meters in 1970s, the market is home to 2,064 registered traders. Other unregistered vendors also depend on their livelihood from the market, but are only allowed to operate from makeshift tents outside its perimeters.

Many believe it is the biggest textile market in Central Java, and probably the second biggest in the country following Tanah Abang Market in Jakarta.

Some clothes traders acknowledged that they bought garments from Tanah Abang in Jakarta and sold them at Klewer. Some said they preferred obtaining their merchandise from home industries in Surakarta.

An array of other products are also available. They include clothes, shoes, even kris and Javanese gamelan.

Sugiyono, 45, who sells handicrafts, said he obtained his merchandise from the neighboring town of Klaten.

"Occasionally I go to Yogyakarta to pick up some clothes there but it is mostly for the school holiday times," he said.

Despite the economic crisis which hit the nation in mid-1997 and crippled the country, Klewer survived.

"We still provide cheaper goods so that people can afford them," Sugiyono said.

An official at the palace, Kanjeng Raden Tumenggung Darmoseputro said, "Visitors usually do a lot of shopping in Surakarta, which is well-known for its batik, food stuffs and traditional handicrafts". He added that the city, which is criss- crossed by four rivers, was also well-known for the entrepreneurship of its people.

The market serves as hub for the growing number of home industries in Surakarta, Darmoseputro said.

He added that although the market was located in the palace compound, it was run and managed by the local administration.

"It was built by former president Soeharto's government and I remember it was opened by his late wife, Tien Soeharto," he said.

The building of the market was perhaps meant to support the small industries in the mayoralty as the older market, Pasar Gede, could not contain the thriving batik industry.

"Pasar Gede, built by Sultan Pakubuwono X in 1745, is mainly a vegetable market. Not many people produced batik at that time so when the batik home industry was booming, the local administrative decided to build a new market," Darmoseputro, who is also head of the palace's museum, said.

Pasar Gede was severely damaged by fire in April and is now under reconstruction.