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.