Betsy White told me that the Indonesian ikat she had listed for sale online had been purchased when her family was living on Sulawesi between 1976 and 1978. That island did not seem to be the type of place that the average American tourist would be likely to visit and there was something about Betsy’s words. They dropped hints without filling in the whole picture as if she knew the right person would naturally want to learn more.
As our correspondence continued, I learned that Betsy’s husband, Gene, loved textiles including rugs. They had travelled extensively and she had ikats from India, and central Asia as well as Indonesia. During their time in Indonesia, Gene went from island to island working on projects to improve access to fresh water during the long dry season. He made it a point to visit remote villages and to ask if they had any ikats for sale.
I was delighted to take Betsy up on her offer to send me more photos of Indonesian ikats. What is more, her recently published memoire, Balancing Act: Mountains, Family, Career proved the perfect way to learn more about her and how she had managed to live her adventurous dreams.
From the photos of additional ikats that Betsy sent me, I could tell that Gene and I appreciated some of the same qualities found in these diverse textiles. The influence from specific island cultures is clear, but each piece also bears the individual contributions of the weaver-artist who put so much time and effort into their painstaking work.
In addition to providing fascinating information about the textiles’ cultural context and designs, the books listed below include wonderful stories about individual weavers and their communities:
Between the Folds; Stories of Cloth, Lives and Travels from Sumba by Jill Forshee
Textiles of Timor; Island in the Woven Sea edited by Roy W. Hamilton and Joanna Barrkman
Gift of the Cotton Maiden; Textiles of Flores and the Solor Islands edited by Roy W. Hamilton
The ikats I purchased from Betsy are from (top to bottom): West Timor, Sumba, Flores, Sumba, an antique fragment that is likely from Flores, and lastly, an “everyday” sarong from West Timor.
Radiant Refuge 