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Jakarta Post

Klewer traders hold fashion show for Batik Day

Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post)
Surakarta, Central Java
Tue, October 3, 2017

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Klewer traders hold fashion show for Batik Day Batik traders at Klewer Market in Surakarta, Central Java, hold a fashion show to celebrate National Batik Day on Monday. (JP/Ganug Adi Nugroho)

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ozens of batik traders at Klewer market in Surakarta, Central Java, held a fashion show on Monday to celebrate National Batik Day, which falls every Oct. 2.

Donning batik clothes by local designers, the traders walked like models at the market’s gate, which was transformed into a catwalk.

“I was so nervous. I wanted it to end as soon as possible so I walked really fast. Walking on a catwalk turned out to be difficult,” 54-year-old batik trader Murdiyati told The Jakarta Post.

Klewer Market is known as the biggest batik wholesale market in Asia, with the circulation of money there reaching Rp 8 billion (US$590,929) a day before a fire ravaged the market in 2014.

The fashion show was met with enthusiasm from visitors who were mostly amused by how the traders tried to act like real models but ended up bumping into each other.

“We are happy. This is not really serious. We make a living by selling batik. We can’t just sit here not doing anything on Batik Day. We’re hoping that we could turn this into an annual thing,” another batik trader, Endang Winarni, 43, said.   

On Oct. 2, 2009, UNESCO decided to add batik to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The government then decided to declare Oct. 2 National Batik Day to help preserve the traditional dyeing technique. (ary)   

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