April/May, 1998
No. 034/VI/98
cover story
Ground Breakers
Bali's top corporate
women
Out of the Frying
Pan
The legacy of widow
burning in modern Bali
beyond
bali
Pedal Power
Cycling around Lombok
regular
features
The cultural
value of
Indonesia textiles
Adventure
Off-road trips by Land
Cruiser
Home Grown
Bali's surf hero of
nineties, Rizal Tanjung
Health and Beauty
Mandara's many
Bali
spas
Books
The Butterflies of Bali
Food
Four delis that have
survived the crisis
Photo Gallery
F.X. Marit captures nyepi
on film
Jungle
Drums
advertising index for
Bali Echo web site
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The traditional
textiles of Indonesia, particularly old ones, have long been of interest to art-collectors
and academics alike. Prized for their stunning beauty, and essential cultural function,
these works of art are perhaps the most meaningful objects to acquire in Bali. Kadek
Susilawati explains why.
It is the final night of the anniversary ceremonies at Pura Dalem, the
‘dark temple’, where we keep vigil for the spirits of the uncremated dead. In
the middle of the night, the Calonarang dance begins. Rangda waves a white cloth,
sending her attackers into fits of self-mutilation. What looks like a mere dishtowel, is
in fact a psychic weapon. The Rangda dancer, in trance, runs shrieking from the temple
toward the graveyard, to call down unseen forces. This is a hazardous role for any dancer,
and is only undertaken with great precaution; preparatory rites are observed, and the
dancer wears a special red cloth wound around his hips to protect him from the
overwhelming powers at work. It is kain cepuk, a handwoven ikat cloth from
Nusa Penida that serves as the barrier between the human soul and bedlam. Cloth here is
clearly more than strands of thread woven together. During ceremonies in Bali, textiles
are everywhere. Religious paraphernalia, shrines, dancers, priests, masks, and animals to
be sacrificed - all are wrapped, bound, draped or ornamented with specifically prescribed
textiles, redolent with symbolic meaning. Bali is by no means unique in this regard.
Throughout Indonesia, traditional textiles are more than mere objects.
Textiles are perhaps the most significant single art form in the archipelago. They
are also ritual objects, stored wealth, trade goods, and tokens of power. From Aceh to
East Timor, textiles are the stuff of life.
The Batak people hold one form of textile in highest esteem; the ulos
ragidup, which means cloth of life. It is a composition of sombre-toned cotton, worn
by rajas, and used in major life transition rituals. Its end panels contain weird
geometric diagrams which can be ‘read’ by shamans, for the purpose of
divination. These geometric motifs recall the decorative vocabulary of Bronze Age
artifacts found throughout Indonesia, and thus a piece of cloth represents the persistence
of tradition over thousands of years.
In many regions, heirloom textiles are required gifts during wedding ceremonies, symbolically connecting the clans of the bride and groom. On Lembata Island off the coast of Timor, when asked what they would do without their bridewealth textiles, women answered, “Without the cloth we cannot marry.” If these women did not marry, their culture would soon be extinct. That is how essential textiles can be in Indonesia, and they are therefore woven with extraordinary care and attention, on both a visible and invisible level.
Many
Indonesian textiles are coloured with organic dyestuff, which requires meticulous care.
The dyeing process can take eight years or more, and is accompanied by rituals to ensure a
successful outcome. Like the alchemists of medieval Europe, women who are initiated
into the art of dyeing are workers of magic, and formulas, processes and rituals are
closely guarded secrets.
Among the Iban people of Kalimantan, while warfare is the domain of men, weaving is ‘the women’s warpath’. Ritual textiles are women’s contributions to the martial efforts, and closely-related spiritual life of the community. The intensely powerful human, animal, and mythological figures in Iban cloths are imparted to the weavers in dreams, and so belong to a mystical realm. Certain of these textiles were used ritually to receive and cradle severed human heads, the trophies of battle. Indeed, many old examples have dark stains, bearing gruesome testimony to the previous purpose of these cloths.
Above:
1. Limar cloth from Palembang with high-karat gold thread.
2. Tapis tua skirt with gold counching from Lampung.
3. Gold songket from Solok in the Minagkabau.
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