Tiny village's embroidery goes global

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.