Klewer, a shopper's delight for folk textiles

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.