Tiny village's embroidery goes global

Kasparman Piliang, The Jakarta Post, Padang, West Sumatra

The hand skillfully moved the pencil along the piece of cloth, effortlessly producing a variety of motifs. Accompanied by one of her daughters, the 57-year-old woman skillfully produced a picture on the cloth.

Behind her stood two old sewing machines. When she finished making the pattern with her hands, she would turn to the machines.

"The machines have provided us with our livelihood for many years, " Nurlis, a resident of Naras village, Padang Pariaman regency, West Sumatra, told The Jakarta Post recently.

Naras is known throughout West Sumatra as the place for fine embroidery, used for special ceremonial decorations or as gifts. The locals of the village, located some 67 km to the north of the provincial capital of Padang, have long been renowned for their skills. Embroidered products from the village are sold throughout the country and now abroad.

Nurlis said that the young women of Naras, as with other marriage-age women in West Sumatra's matrilineal society, have traditionally lived in close-knit family units. They are taught sewing, cooking and embroidery.

"In the old days, every woman here was very good at embroidery," she said, reminiscing that she learned from her mother.

"I don't know when the embroidery skills were introduced here. When I became a teenager, my mother always told me that a Naras woman should be very good at embroidering."

She added that the motifs were produced spontaneously or adapted to the preference of the buyers.

A young woman must be able to devise her own motif to be able to be called a Naras embroider. The motif will then be embroidered on velvet of various sizes and colors; colors popular among the Minang people are black, red and yellow. The motif is embroidered with gold or silver thread on a piece of velvet.

The most popular Naras motif is the Ondas, which is comprised of cancang, runciang (sharp), balokan (curved) and kaca (glass). Ondas is specifically made for wedding purposes. It is embroidered on mosquito nets, curtains, pillowcases, decoration for the bride's and bridegroom's seats and other wedding accessories for the newlyweds.

In the past, Naras embroidery was used only within a family when a young daughter got married. They would have various types of embroidery for the ceremony.

Later, embroidery gained greater popularity and was turned into a lucrative business. Nurlis said there were good marketing prospects for Naras embroidered products, and she had been able to support her six children.

In 1980, with a small amount of capital, Nurlis began her embroidery business, Nan Tongga, or "The Only One", referring to the fact that she was an only child.

"When I set up this business, I never thought that it would be popular abroad," she said.

As her business developed, in 1986 Nurlis and some of the locals set up a credit cooperative in the embroidery business. The Bundo Saiyo Beautiful Embroidery Cooperative has 36 members with Nurlis as the chairwoman of its advisory council.

Nurlis and other members of the cooperative provide embroidery training to the girls in their village. When The Jakarta Post came to her house, 11 students of Padang State University were learning how to make the patterns of embroidery motifs and how to produce embroidery.

There are now at least 80 shops and houses selling embroidery products along the provincial road passing through this village. However, Nurlis and her colleagues have some capital constraints which prevents them from producing in bulk.

Also, she said, they were unable to promote their embroidery in exhibitions in other provinces. The village hopes that the local administration will work to promote the embroidery products.

"I'm sure that if our embroidery is included in various exhibitions across the country, it will become more popular and lead to higher demand," she added.

She said that every time she took part in an exhibition in Padang, Medan and Jakarta, for example, she received many new orders.

The price of an embroidery product depends on its size and type. Generally, it is sold by the meter. A meter of embroidered cloth costs between Rp 25,000 and Rp 50,000. A set of cushions for chairs costs between Rp 40,000 and Rp 90,000. A complete set of decoration for the bridal dais costs between Rp 15 million and Rp 25 million. A simple set costs between Rp 7 million and Rp 10 million.

Naras embroidery, the gift of choice for visiting dignitaries to West Sumatra, has also found its way to some neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.