Yogyakarta offers everything a batik enthusiast could want
Yogyakarta offers everything a batik enthusiast could want
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta has long been known as a haven for batik lovers. Here, tourists and batik aficionados can shop for, learn about and generally enjoy all different types of batik.
If you wish to enjoy and learn more about batik, museums and galleries offer not just batik collections, but also hold demonstrations on the process of making batik.
Yogyakarta Palace is the right place to learn about the classical and royal batik motifs. Some star-rated hotels also hold occasional batik-making demonstration in their lobbies.
If you wish to take a batik-making course, similarly, there are different places you can try. Tamansari and Ngasem are two centers where you can find batik courses on almost every corner.
If you want to buy batik, however, you may need a "guide" who can take you to the best places for finding quality batik at the best prices.
A piece of handmade batik cloth that sells for Rp 1 million in a downtown batik store, for example, can be obtained for Rp 350,000 or Rp 500,000 in more remote villages.
Imogiri, some 15 kilometers southeast of Yogyakarta, is an example of a place where you can find fine batik at relatively good prices. This village is home to hundreds of traditional batik makers.
"But you may not be able to find silk batik here. They are all cotton as far as I see," Etty Larasati Suliantoro, chairwoman of Paguyuban Sekar Jagad, an association of batik lovers, told The Jakarta Post.
To find silk batik, batik stores and galleries in downtown Yogyakarta are likely your best choice. You might also want to visit local but nationally recognized batik fashion designers, including Afif Syakur, Ardiyanto, Nita Azhar and Chaliet Bambang.
The Beringharjo traditional market can also be a good place to buy batik. But you have to extremely careful here, otherwise you might get stuck with a poor piece of batik at a high price.
Vendors at the market often mark their merchandise with relatively high prices, expecting to actually sell the batik for one-third the listed price. Only those with sufficient knowledge of batik and good bargaining skills can get good quality batik at a fair price here.
For the more adventurous, you can explore remote villages along the southern coast of the province, where you can find works of batik with rare designs.
"In Bambanglipuro, Bantul, for example, there is what is locally called dagel batik. You will not find this particular kind of batik anywhere else," said Suliantoro, adding that pieces of this handmade batik sold for between Rp 25,000 and Rp 100,000.
Dagel batik, according to Suliantoro, has a lung-lungan motif, which is a continuous floral design that is painted onto the cloth with hot wax with the help of a canthing, without the help of a pattern. This particular way of making batik, she said, made each piece distinctive from others.
"You can also find another specific batik design in Semanu, Gunungkidul, which is called tatit. It is a very old design but looks like a contemporary one. Most modern batik lovers will surely love it," said Suliantoro.