Category: Testiles

Ikat Adventures

A little research confirmed my suspicions that the eastern Indonesian island of Sulawesi was not the type of place that the average American tourist would be likely to visit, especially during the unsettled times in the 1970’s. So when Betsy mentioned that the ikat that she had for sale online had been purchased when her family was living on Sulawesi between 1976 and 1978, I knew there must be an interesting story involved.

It was not just the lovely ikat that drew me in; there was something about Betsy’s words, how they dropped hints without filling in the whole picture as if she knew the right person would naturally want to learn more.

When I told her I was planning to write this post, she explained that her husband, Gene, was the one who loved textiles – all kinds including rugs; not just ikats. While they were living in Indonesia, he was traveling from island to island working on projects to improve access to fresh water during the long dry season. He would make a point of visiting remote villages and would ask if they had any ikats for sale. In that way, he gained access to many special weavings that they would hold up for his inspection.

When Betsy asked if I might be interested in seeing more of Gene’s lovely ikats, I told her that I definitely was. My timing seemed perfect to get to know her better as Betsy had recently published a memoir and the lessons I learned from her adventurous life are the subject of this separate blog post.

When Betsy sent me photos of additional ikats, I told her that Gene and I seemed to appreciate many of the same qualities to be found in Indoneisan ikats. Their diversity speaks of the influence of their specific island cultures, as well as expressing the individuality added by the weavers who put their whole hearts into their work. I decided to purchase ones from Sumba, West Timor and Flores.

As it happens there are great books on textiles from those three islands that include wonderful stories about individual ikat 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

It is my understanding that these ikats that I purchased from Betsy are from (top to bottom): West Timor, Sumba, Flores, Sumba, an antique fragment that is likely from Flores, and an “every-day” sarong from West Timor.




The Joy of Indonesian Ikat

Indonesian ikat weavings have always had multiple uses. They are worn as sarongs and wraps as part of everyday clothing. They express and preserve cultural identity with outstanding examples playing an important role in various rites of passage such as marriage and funerals. In hard times, these valued and appreciated weavings can mean survival as they can be sold or traded for food and other critical supplies.

The patterns are produced by wrapping sections of (usually cotton) threads so that they resist a particular dye that is applied to the rest of the (usually warp) thread. With traditional dyes, the multiple dippings and dryings needed to achieve the desired shade can be quite time consuming. Modern dyes can make that process considerably faster while extending the range of possible colors.

Once all of the desired colors are dyed into the thread, ensuring precision in the complex designs calls for a great deal of attention to detail and sometimes subtle adjustments during the weaving process. In fact, quality hand-made ikat calls for a great deal of care during all stages of the sometimes years it takes to complete one. For that reason, I was not surprised to learn that in Indonesia, Ikat is generally considered the domain of women.

I decided to hang a particularly colorful modern example over the door to my office. This one combines a dark central ikat section with many different fanciful animals and two red outer sections with sewn-on cowry shell designs.

The last image shows an indigo-dyed Ikat hanging up in my tea hut in place of a scroll. Its Christian symbols are not a problem for its use during Japanese tea ceremony practice. In fact, Christian foreigners were among early adopters of Japanese tea ceremony and there are examples of a variety of early tea ceremony utensils including tea bowls that incorporate Christian symbols.