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View all search resultsKauman & Laweyan, Surakarta’s batik and heritage centers
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Direktur Utama Pelindo RJ Lino memberikan keterangan kepada wartawan disela sidang pansus Pelindo di DPR, Jakarta (4/12/2016) . (the jakarta post/Wienda Parwitasari)
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urakarta in Central Java has long been known as a center for batik craftsmanship, being the royal seat of the Pakubuwono dynasty. After years of neglect caused by the onslaught of factory-made batik prints, Surakarta is revitalizing its batik-making centers.
For more than 200 years Surakarta, Central Java, has had two special districts, Kampung Laweyan and Kampung Kauman, which are well known not only for their age, but also for their historic batik industries.
Formerly, the two areas enjoyed a heyday as batik trading centers. However, both neighborhoods ceased their activities as handmade and printed batik fabrics were overwhelmed by modern batik products from China.
The dark period lasted from the 1980s until 2004, when the city’s batik industry entered its revival. Today, after more than 10 years, batik has turned Kauman and Laweyan into popular shopping and tourist destinations.
“Kampung Laweyan tends to serve as an educational tourist spot, where visitors mostly observe the district and learn how to make batik designs,” the chairman of the Kampung Laweyan Development Forum (FPKBL), Alpha Fabela, said.
In the early period of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo serving as Surakarta mayor in 2005, the city administration was actually already developing Laweyan as a batik center and as a cultural heritage zone.
