ER
THE 20th National Sports Week (PON) has bolstered the sales of Papua traditional batik, a pattern commonly known for Papua’s local wisdom and a special edition of which has been launched for the PON.
“The increase in visits and sales of this shop is huge because of PON. The increase is perhaps 3-4 times higher than usual,” coordinator of the Aneka Batik Papua Shop, Ismul, said at the outlet on Wednesday.
The number of visitors has increased due to the arrival of PON contingents from outside Papua who have been looking for souvenirs from Papua, including Papua traditional batik, he informed.
He said his shop provides several types of batik such as hand-drawn batik (written batik), stamped batik, and printed batik. The price may vary from tens of thousands per meter to millions of rupiah for written batik that is made manually from scratch.
“Besides PON contingents, the shop has been receiving visitors ranging from members of committees to state officials. During the President’s visit at the PON’s opening ceremony, Mrs. Yenny Wahid also came here to shop, alongside with East Nusa Tenggara Governor,” he informed.
There has been an increase in sales of PON’s special edition batik not only in Jayapura, but also in Aneka Batik Papua outlets in Mimika District, Merauke District, and also Jayapura District, which are all hosting the game, he informed.
“This PON pattern sells well, the buyers’ enthusiasm is quite large. Products such as PON shirts and jackets are out of stock. The motif that has sold out the most is the Cendrawasih motif, which is indeed an icon of Papua,” he added.
The increase in sales of Papuan batik was also noted by Port Numbay batik activist Jimmy Afaar, who expressed his gratitude for the XX Papua PON.
Afaar said that women making Port Numbay Batik have been very productive in welcoming Papua PON because they have been flooded with orders for special motifs from various ethnic groups in the four clusters organizing the Papua PON. One of the buyers even came from the ministerial circles, namely the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection.
“Before PON, every province from Indonesia had already ordered from me. They asked for the pattern and we worked on it. This is one of the special souvenirs from Papua to all PON contingents,” Afaar emphasized.
Papuan batik has been one of the most sought-after souvenirs during the XX Papua PON. Besides batik, other products such as Papua traditional bags called ‘Noken’, honey, and coffee are also sold as in Papua. [antaranews]
