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Introduction

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The multicultural nature of Indonesia has produced a rich civilisation, and among its many cultural achievements, the

diverse textile traditions stand out. Using a variety of different production techniques, the weavers make cloth whose

patterning serves to distinguish one region from another. Many of the designs and motifs have symbolic significance, some

being specific to one area or region, while others have more universal meanings. The textiles of these Indonesian cultures,

moreover, have, for centuries, played an important role in the inter-island and international trade networks that developed

many centuries ago.

Techniques and Termsalso used as a sling to tie babies to their mother’s body, or they serve as carrying cloths to transport produce from the market, for example.

The two fibres most commonly used are cotton and silk, although synthetic fibres are being used more widely. Cotton (gossypium obtusifolium) grows well in Indonesia. It was grown as a cash crop during the colonial period and today it is still grown on both a local scale and commercial basis in Indonesia. Increasingly, though, imported cotton thread is being used.

Silk is obtained from the cocoon of the bombyx mori, silk moth. At one time during the 17th century, Sumatra exported silk to India, and today silkworms are reared in various places in Sumatra, Java and elsewhere. However, silk is also imported from China for weaving.

A variety of natural dyes are used to colour threads, although today synthetic dyes are just as likely to be used. Blue was traditionally obtained from the indigo plant (indigofera tinctoria). Depending

ABOVE: This photo taken in 1925 shows a weaver using the back-strap or body tension loom. These are the oldest form of loom and are still used throughout the archipelago, although many weavers are now using treadle and flying shuttle looms for convenience and speed.

There are certain commonalities in the textile traditions of Indonesia: the techniques and fibres used, for example. We also see very similar styles of wearing the textiles throughout Indonesia, with minor variations. The most common way of wearing a textile for both men and women is by sewing it into a tube and wearing it as skirt (sarong or sarung). Most sarong are described as having a body (badan) and a head (kepala). The body is the main field, the larger part of the cloth which may have an all over pattern or design that is usually more scattered in its layout. The head of the sarong is the narrower portion at the end and this is usually decorated with a denser array of patterns. The sarong may be tied around the waist and fastened with a belt, or it may be pulled up over the breast and even over the shoulders. Women often also wear a long narrower cloth bound round the chest as a breast cloth. Longer textiles may be worn as shawls (slendang or selendang) draped over the shoulder with the ends hanging down at the front and back. This cloth is

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on the quantity of dye used and the immersion period, the resulting colour may be either a light or dark blue, or even a blue-black. Red shades are obtained from sappanwood (caesalpinia sappan) and also from morinda (morinda citrafolia). Both these trees grow in the tropics. The morinda produces a brownish red hue, while sappanwood produces magenta. Yellow is obtained from turmeric (curcuma domestica), and may be combined with other substances to produce orange and brown hues. Black may be obtained by dipping the yarn in a mixture of morinda and indigo, and green by mixing indigo and turmeric. The easy availability of aniline dyed yarns since the end of the 19th century has inevitably meant that fewer and fewer weavers dye their own yarns.

Woven cloth is made by interweaving warp and weft threads on a loom. The oldest type of loom used throughout Indonesia is the back-strap or body-tension loom that uses the body of the weaver to create the necessary tension in the warp threads while weaving. The

ABOVE: Sarung. Bengkulu regency, Bengkulu. This lovely cloth was a gift from Mme. Fatmawati Soekarno, wife of the first president of Indonesia; she came from Bengkulu. It may be worn by a man or a woman with traditional dress. Gold supplementary weft on a plain woven plaid silk base, natural dyes. 175 x 195 cm. Hildawaty Maulana collection.

ABOVE LEFT: A partially finished weaving on a backstrap loom from the Tanimbar islands in southeastern Maluku. No foreign influence is to be found in the traditional textiles of this remote region, although some has crept in since the renaissance in traditional textile production that began in the early 1980s. Tanimbar, circa 1915.

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weaver leans against a strap going around her waist, the ends of which are attached to a breast beam in front of her, around which the warp threads are wrapped. The other ends of the threads are attached to a warp beam and then to a house pole or other fixed object.

There are two types of back-strap loom, one that uses a continuous warp, and one that uses a discontinuous warp thread. On a continuous warp, the warp thread is wrapped around the breast beam nearest the weaver, and the warp beam at the further end. The finished textile is circular. Such continuous warp cloths may be regarded as sacred, being linked to ideas about the continuity of life, and the cycle of time. Cutting the warp threads usually entails a ritual and sacrifice, and

if the cloth is to be used ritually, the warp threads may remain un-severed. This is the earliest type of weaving in the archipelago. With a discontinuous warp, the ends of the warp thread are wound round the beams at either end of the loom and the finished textile has two edges that have to be finished, usually by interweaving the threads into a patterned border.

Both these looms can only produce cloth of a limited width, usually the span of the weaver’s arms. Where back-strap looms are still used, several pieces of cloth, usually two or three, may be joined together lengthways to make a much wider textile. In some places, such as West and East Nusa Tenggara, different kinds of cloth may be joined to make a completed piece of combined techniques,

RIGHT: A woman weaving a weft ikat using a continuous warp on a back-strap loom on the island of Sabu, while in Central Java, in Troso, a male weaver uses the ATBM loom to make imitations of the Sumbanese ikat.

ABOVE: Kain koffo, a songket weave from the Sangir Talaud islands, North Sulawesi. The threads are made from the fibre of a plantain tree (Musa Textilis). The supplementary weft is made from kapok yam. The finished cloth called koffo is hardy and water resistant. Large koffo cloths were normally used as space dividers. 113.5 x 22 cm. Collection of National Museum of Indonesia.

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RIGHT: Sarung songket. South Sumatra. Plaid patterns are to be found throughout western Indonesia. In Sumatra and coastal Kalimantan they are enhanced with gold-thread supplementary weft decoration. This example could have been made in Palembang, Jambi, or Bengkulu, and was intended for a woman, judging from the lack of gold thread around the waist, which would be hidden under a cloth sash and a long overblouse. Gold supplementary weft on plain-woven red-and-dark blue striped cloth. 160 x 117 cm. Rosna Amran collection.

an ikat bordered by weft striped cloth, for example.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the treadle or shaft loom, which is an upright loom manipulated by pedals and with flying shuttles was introduced to Indonesia. Locally it is referred to as ATBM (alat tenun bukan mesin) or non-mechanised loom. It can be used to make much wider pieces of cloth. It consists of a rectangular frame that maintains the warp tension. The warp threads may be much longer on a treadle loom, and are fastened to a warp beam within a frame at the end of the loom farthest from the weaver. As the textile is woven it is wound on to a cloth beam at the weaver’s end of the loom.

The most prevalent types of weaving practiced in Indonesia are the supplementary weft or songket technique, and ikat, a form of tie dyeing. In songket (sometimes written as sungkit), additional or supplementary threads may be added between the weft threads. They do not necessarily form the basic structure of the cloth; rather they are used to add decoration.

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ABOVE: Sumbanese men in warp ikat at a gathering. Certain information could be gained from the patterning on a textile, such as the person’s social rank and origin. At the very least, they still separate the people intimately involved with a ceremonial undertaking from outsiders. East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara.

OPPOSITE: Hinggi kombu. East Sumba. Antlered deer were once hunted by noblemen and are a common motif on noblemen’s cloths on Sumba. Above and below are bands of horses and above are chickens. Warp ikat, plain-woven cotton base. 240 x 130 cm. Ratna Panggabean collection. Ca. 1920.

The supplementary pattern looks a little like embroidery. Beads may also be added to the textile in this way. They are threaded on to a supplementary weft and inserted into the warp threads.

Ikat, meaning ‘to bind’ or ‘to tie’ is a resist dye technique whereby the pattern of the finished cloth is determined by the dyeing of the threads before they are woven. Warp and/or weft threads are arranged on a frame the size of the finished cloth. These threads are then tied into bundles, or groups of thread in such a way that a pattern or design will emerge in the finished threads. The parts of the thread that have been bound with the ribbon or twine will not absorb the dye when the threads are dipped into a dye bath. This process of tying and dipping the threads in dye may be repeated several times.

The oldest form of ikat is warp ikat, whereby the pattern is tied and dyed into the warp threads, and it is used by many people in Indonesia, including the Batak in Sumatra, the Dayak in Borneo, the Toraja of Sulawesi and many cultures in West and East Nusa Tenggara. Weft ikat,

which entails the dyeing of the weft threads before weaving, may have been introduced by Indian and Arab traders during the 14th and 15th centuries. It is practiced by many of the old Muslim communities on the coastal stretches of Sumatra, and by the Bugis of Sulawesi, for example.

More rarely, double ikat is made. Both the warp and weft threads are dyed. The only people in Indonesia, or indeed Southeast Asia, who make double ikat are the Bali Aga people of Bali. Called geringsing, it is woven only in the remote village of Tenganan in East Bali.

LEFT: Modern shawl. East Sumba. This attractive shawl has certain features usually belonging to Sabu weaving, but appears to have been woven in East Sumba, which would account for the row of oval geometric motifs across the middle and the way in which the birds are distorted and seem to run into one another. On the other hand, the little tableau of Greek boys playing the flute for women sitting on a bench is extremely European: European pattern books for embroidery and crocheting as well as picture magazines were popular sources of ideas for weavers and batikers in many parts of Indonesia. 195 x 70 cm. Sjamsidar Isa collection.

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ABOVE: A rare photograph from the 19th century (1870-90) of a group of Karo Batak leaders wearing traditional attire. The cloths wrapped round their waists and draped over their shoulders include the ulos.

techniques; they make warp ikat for example. Many of these traditions use much older designs in their weaving and these designs show clear links to the Neolithic culture of Dongson that developed in the region that is now Vietnam. This culture spread into insular Southeast Asia around 500 BC. Known as the Dongson culture, the people made spectacular wares, including drums, axes and jewellery in bronze, and this technology and its associated designs later made their appearance in the archipelago.

The motifs associated with the Dongson period generally consist of geometric forms such as zig-zags and lozenges, as well as spirals, hooks and meanders. The rhomb, key, meander and spiral motifs found on Batak, Dayak, Toraja, Timorese and Lampung (South Sumatra) cloths are clear examples of this older tradition. Many of these earlier motifs are linked conceptually to ancient ideas concerning the supernatural powers of nature, and the cloths that incorporate them into the fabric are consequently believed to contain some of these supernatural powers.

Also from this period are stylised reptiles – crocodiles, snakes, lizards and frogs – as well as highly stylised human figures. Ship motifs are also a legacy from this period. The human figures are mostly interpreted as ancestors, even when they appear in textiles of a much later date. The ships are usually associated with

Indonesian textiles display a wealth of design imagery that has continued to inspire designers today. Sitting at the crossroads of a major sea route that has been used since ancient times, it is inevitable that the archipelago was exposed to outside ideas. Nowhere is this more apparent than in many of the designs found, not only on textiles, but also on other crafted objects such as wood carvings and metal wares.

There are communities throughout Indonesia, especially those communities further away from the trade routes and ports that continue to use much older

The Anthropological, Social and Design Dimension

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ABOVE: Detail of a Iban woman’s skirt-cloth, kain kebat, from Putussibau in West Kalimantan. This intricately woven cloth was made on the back-strap loom, is extremely intricate and full of Dongson derived motifs such as the hook and spirals. Today these designs are usually related to objects or phenomena found in the surrounding environment, like a vine or a forest leech or a deer. 75 x 60 cm. Kumang Pegari collection.

the ships that brought the ancestors to Indonesia, and with the ships of the dead that return the souls of the dead to the land of the ancestors.

The animal motifs derived from the Dongson are part of a much larger repertoire of zoomorphic designs that include birds, animals, insects and marine life. Weavers have long gained inspiration from the environment, and both flora and fauna often take on important meanings. For example, the chicken, which is a common place bird appears on many textiles, especially from East Nusa Tenggara. It is a common creature of sacrifice, and one of the earliest Southeast Asian domesticates, and may be interpreted as the food offered to the gods and spirits, having been given in sacrifice since ancient times.

One design that is widely found throughout Indonesia is a triangular one called tumpal, which has been in use since Neolithic times. It frequently appears on the warp edges of the cloth. It has been interpreted in many different ways, but most often it is said to represent a bamboo shoot, the symbol of new life.

Around 100 CE there is evidence of Indian contact with the region in the form of traders. They too introduced ideas and imagery that have found their way into the rich repertoire of Indonesian textile design. The most important influences on textile design were the double ikat cloths from Gujarat, called patola, and which were brought as trade items. They frequently have a large centre field filled with

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indicate that these regions influenced the Indonesian traditions. Muslim traders from India and further west appeared at a later date and they are usually credited with bringing the gold and silver thread that has come to define many of the most sumptuous songket cloths of places like Sumatra and Bali.

Islam has influenced textiles in other, more profound ways. The Islamic proscription against the representation of living things, for example, encouraged many people to modify their older designs through the use of often intricate geometric motifs. Some Islamic communities, including the Buginese, Makassarese and Donggala of Sulawesi, and some groups in Java, weave check or plaid textiles.

repetitive motifs, and these in particular have had a huge impact on woven textiles. One of the most common design elements is the eight pointed rosette enclosed in a square, circle or lozenge-shape. These appear in often altered form in many textiles throughout Indonesia where they are called jelamprang. Mughal cloths also found their way to Indonesia and these have also had had an impact on textile design, especially in Sumatra.

The traditions of ikat and supplementary weaving that are found in many areas were other Indian introductions. The similarity between the silk weaving techniques, such as supplementary weft or songket with those of India, China and the Islamic world,

ABOVE: A traditional-style double-ikat from Tenganan Pagringsingan, Bali, that would be worn as an overskirt during ritual events. Hindu-Indian influence is clear in the diamond-shaped mandala motifs that decorate the body of the cloth. These textiles are considered to be sacred. 150 x 50 cm. ATA Shop collection.

TOP RIGHT: Young Balinese girls, members of a traditional association related to their age group, preparing to participate in a life-cycle ceremony. They are dressed in the sacred double-ikat geringsing, that include plain checkered cloths.

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At a local level, textiles came to play important ritual roles that were separate from the basic need for cloth as a covering of the body. Apart from having religious significance, other important meanings and attributions connected to the woven textiles of Indonesia will be explored in more detail throughout this volume. A few general examples will suffice here to demonstrate the enormous variation of meaning, motif and symbolism that are literally ‘interwoven’ into the cloths.

Firstly, cloths may serve as symbols of status that declare the wearer’s position within the community, clan or household. In Sabu, for instance, only females of the noble lineages may weave certain motifs that may be worn to indicate the moiety to which they belong.

Ancestor veneration forms an integral part of the belief systems of many Indonesian cultures. This enduring link is reflected in textiles that have ancestral figures or animals and/or abstract motifs that represent the ancestors, woven into the fabric. Examples include textiles from many eastern Indonesian islands such as Tanimbar, Maluku and Timor, as well as the Batak, Toraja and Dayak peoples, among others, further west.

RIGHT: A typical warp-ikat sarong for women, zawo, from the Lio area of Flores island. The influence of the Indian double-ikat patola that were so highly valued in colonial times (and still are) is clearly evident in the patterning on the central panel, here executed in warp ikat. The districts of Lio, Ende, and Sikka all show the strong impact of the patola on local weaving patterns. Although recently woven, this sarong was dyed with organic dyes. 150 x 60 cm. Flores Ikat Art collection.

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At many of the major life-cycle ceremonies: births, puberty rites, marriage and death; cloth plays important symbolic roles. In many societies special cloths may be made for these specific ceremonies and will appear at no other times. Following the birth of a child in Balinese, Javanese and Sumbawan societies, for example, a specially woven cloth is made for the celebrations following the birth. At wedding ceremonies in almost all Indonesian cultures, the giving of cloth by the bride’s family or clan to that of the groom plays an integral part in the often extended marriage ceremony. In return, the groom’s family or clan will give counter gifts that may include gold and weapons to the family of the bride. Here we see not only the role of cloth in life-cycle ceremonies, but also as part of an elaborate network of exchange that involves the continual circulation of valuable objects.

These localised examples of exchange have to be understood in the wider context of trade networks, which played a major role in the development of Indonesian textiles as already mentioned. The chain of islands that make up Indonesia have, for many centuries, been at the crossroads of a huge ocean trade network. As such the cultures of this huge archipelago have been exposed to cultural contacts with India, the Islamic World, and with China and mainland Southeast Asia. The steady flow of ideas, knowledge, technologies and materials have inevitably influenced cultural and technical practices in the region. This has been particularly apparent in the development of textile crafts.

This is but a brief introduction to the visual beauty and the wealth of ideas that may be discovered in the woven textiles of Indonesia. In the ensuing pages a group of experts who have studied this field extensively, will share their knowledge of and insights into the wonderful world of woven Indonesian textiles.

RIGHT AND LEFT: On the right, a bronze container found in Jambi, Sumatra, in 1922 and dated to the Indonesian Bronze Age. The J and S-shaped figures as well as the triangle around the neck are found in many textiles woven in Indonesia today (Collection of National Museum of Indonesia). They are also found on the band or sirat on the left, taken from edging of a Batak cloth (see page 37), as well as on the large cloth on the right.

OPPOSITE: A large blanket-like weaving of more than three meters in length that would have been used to cover a corpse or to wall off a ceremonial arena. Patterned with warp ikat, it displays a geometric pattern that is believed to represent human bodies linked together; the white human bodies in between are very realistic. Kalumpang, West Sulawesi. 188 x 120 cm. Collection of National Museum of Indonesia.

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