F

em>Floral fantasy: A ritual umbrella artisan paints designs, usually in the form of flowers. Payung fantasi melambai di sinar pagi ai, ai, siapa dia?

Wajah sembunyi di balik payung fantasi ai, ai siapa dia?

A fantasy umbrella’s waving in the morning sun, hey, hey, who is she?

A face is hiding behind the fantasy umbrella, hey, hey, who is she?

“Payung Fantasi” or “Fantasy Umbrella”, a song by Ismail Marzuki, was as popular in the early 1960s as the real “fantasy” umbrellas made of bamboo and paper with colorful flower and animal designs from Juwiring, a district in Klaten, Surakarta.

Now after 50 years, “Payung Fantasi”, written in 1955, is still sung frequently, while Juwiring’s umbrellas have long been forgotten.

In 1974, Pinda Aneka, the only umbrella producer in Kwarasan village, Juwiring, closed.

Not an umbrella factory, Pinda Aneka was a cooperative that purchased all the umbrellas made by local residents for resale. Between 1960 and 1970, it averaged 40,000 umbrellas, thus providing a livelihood for 400 families in Kwarasan.

In the early 1970s, Pinda Aneka stopped being able to compete with the influx of “bat umbrellas”, the iron-framed, black-cloth products from China that resemble bat wings when opened.

Kwarasan is 22 kilometers northeast of Klaten. Formerly, rows of beautifully painted umbrellas could be seen in the yards of village homes where they were dried in the sun. Nearly all residents in the six hamlets engaged daily in cutting bamboo and wood, making frames or spokes, sticking paper to frames and painting pictures.

Today with 1,500 families totaling about 6,000 people, Kwarasan only has 11 umbrella craftsmen, including framemakers and painters. In neighboring Tanjung there is one craftsman and in Kaniban there are two. Most villagers are now birdcage makers, traders or farmhands. And of the 11 umbrella craftsmen left in the area, only two — who are brothers and the owners of the Hanacaraka and Wisnu umbrella studios — receive sizable orders.

The smell of glue and paint is not that strong in Kwarasan. Only when there are orders are rows of umbrellas again seen in front yards, though still less than decades ago.

But traces of the former umbrella center’s glory are noticeable in Kwarasan.

One of them is the home of Wigid Gunarto, 45, who owns Hanacaraka. Wigid said his studio could produce 300 umbrellas a month at prices ranging from Rp 30,000 (US$3.30) to Rp 50,000 per unit, depending on the size and type. Unlike in the past, Juwiring’s umbrellas no longer serve to protect against rain or heat.

“Now they function as adornment and decoration. The former are meant for private collections as well as performing arts and fashion shows,” Wigid said. Decorative umbrellas are for stage and wedding decorations as well as for traditional rituals or ceremonies.

“The palaces of Yogayakarta, Surakarta and Bali have often ordered the ritual umbrellas. In Bali, Juwiring umbrellas are even part of the main part of ngaben [cremation] ceremonies. They’re larger, 1-2 meters in diameter,” said the inheritor of his parents’ business.

The Wisnu studio has also continued with its umbrella production, getting orders from major cities like Jakarta and Surabaya. Both umbrella studios also frequently provide decorative umbrellas for televised entertainment shows.  

Sugiyanto, 70, makes smaller ritual umbrellas that are only 30 centimeters (cm) in diameter to meet orders placed by florists in Klaten, Surakarta and Yogyakarta.

“Now the atmosphere is different from the days when every home here produced umbrellas. It was so peaceful then, with many people singing macapat [Javanese poetry] while working. Now I feel like I’m all alone,” said Sugiyanto in his wooden home.

In Juwiring’s heyday in the 1960s, Sugiyanto helped his parents make umbrellas and delivered them to Pinda Aneka. He was able to handle the whole process from bamboo cutting to ornament painting.

“The cooperative only received good umbrellas. No wonder, Juwiring products were much sought after in the past,” the grandfather of four said.

Good quality standards, according to him, cover the total and length of spokes, the type of paper and the thread quality. Formerly, there were 42 spokes about 50 cm in length and strong thread was used to tie them closely to the supporting wood.

“Today Juwiring umbrellas are the same as other products. They’re no longer special. Juwiring products in fact don’t cause us to lose to imports but to ourselves. There are only 30 spokes and the paper is derived from cement sacks, making them coarse and fragile,” added Sugiyanto, showing off a traditional umbrella for adornment.

With care: Although the heyday of Juwiring umbrellas is over, some people still rely on umbrella handicrafts for a living.   Sugiyanto is right, but paper and bamboo umbrellas don’t serve to protect users against heat and rain anymore. Ngadiakur, 44, an umbrella craftsman in Gumantar hamlet in Kwarasan said the same.

“If you want umbrellas against rain and heat, use imported products instead of ‘fantasy’ ones. Juwiring umbrellas used to be protective before the imports,” he pointed out.

For Ngadiakur, the use of Juwiring umbrellas for protection is virtually over. So Ngadiakur and his wife Menik Rahayu, 35, only provide umbrellas for adornment and ritual purposes, with orders coming from Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Bali and Jakarta. His creations cost Rp 50,000 to Rp 250,000. When he gets no orders, he helps Hanacaraka or Wisnu.

“I make the frames and my wife paints. My grandfather and parents also produced umbrellas here. Our family has been making umbrellas for a living for a long time,” he said.

Nonetheless, Juwiring umbrellas remain special though no longer the creations they were decades ago. Despite the practical uses of foreign-made umbrellas, they are not appropriate for adornment, decoration, rituals and traditional ceremonies.

“Juwiring umbrellas will keep unfolding as long as the nation continues to respect its tradition and loves beauty,” added Ngadiukur.  

— Photos by Ganug Nugroho Adi