Bali's weft textiles losing their shine<\/p>\n
Aditya Nusantara, Contributor, Singaraja, North Bali<\/p>\n
The village of Jinangdalem, located some 15 kilometers from
\nSingaraja in North Bali, was quiet and peaceful on this chilly
\nmorning.<\/p>\n
Ketut Kangga rushed to his workshop in front of his hut. His
\ntwo daughters and some village women joined him and started
\nworking on their backstrap looms, known as tenun cagcag.<\/p>\n
Jinangdalem is one of the villages in Buleleng regency, North
\nBali, which is famous for its exquisite weft textiles. Despite
\nits fertile soil, the majority of the 1170 families in the
\nvillage work as weavers.<\/p>\n
Ketut Mursi, 57, a weaver, recalled, \"People in this village
\nhave been producing weft textiles for many years. I can't
\nremember, but as far as I know, my grandparents and great
\ngrandparents also wove and continued this age-old tradition.\"<\/p>\n
Mursi said Jinangdalem's weft textile underwent several
\nchanges in terms of design, motif, color and function.
\nOriginally, the local people produced long waist cloths, or
\nstagen, for women and belt for men. Each waist cloth is between
\ntwo to three meters long and 15 centimeters in width. The cloth
\nis usually worn wrapped around a woman's torso, especially by
\nfemale dancers and by women who have just given birth.<\/p>\n
The times have changed. Only a few women in Bali now wear
\ntraditional attire that use stagen, and most dress in Western-
\nstyle clothes. Only on certain occasions, such as during
\ntraditional and religious ceremonies, do Balinese women wear
\nstagen. Even then, the stagen is rarely used, and has been
\nreplaced by the more efficient and stylish Wacoal or Triumph
\ncorsets, and it has been difficult for Jinangdalem weavers to
\ndiversify their product range in order to meet the changing
\ndemands of modern Balinese women.<\/p>\n
Buleleng regency has long been renowned as a producer of the
\nfinest Balinese songket weft textile. Among the villages famous
\nfor their products is Beratan and Sukasada villages -- all in
\nSingaraja regency.<\/p>\n
\"We have weft textiles that are out-of-the-ordinary, compared
\nto those produced in other villages. But, we have to admit that
\nwe don't know much about marketing and promoting our products
\noutside the regency,\" said Wayan Danuari, an official of the
\nJinangdalem cooperative in charge of weft textile marketing.<\/p>\n
In Jinangdalem village, every woman is required to own a
\nbackstrap loom. \"There is no written rule, but this unspoken rule
\nshows that weaving is a preserved tradition that must be kept by
\nall the women in this village,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Weaving is the lifeblood of Jinangdalem women.<\/p>\n
After completing their household chores, the women will sit at
\ntheir looms to finish a piece of beautiful weft textile.<\/p>\n
It takes anywhere from two weeks to two months to finish a
\npiece of weft textile, especially when producing long cloths or
\nsongket, which is interwoven with gold threads.<\/p>\n
\"Most women in the village -- young and old -- are competent
\nweavers. They acquired the skills from their mothers and
\ngrandmothers,\" said Mursi.<\/p>\n
Every family bestows their married daughters with a weaving
\nloom as a wedding gift.<\/p>\n
\"Weaving is not merely a tradition or hobby for Jinangdalem
\nwomen. It is a job that brings in money to support their
\nfamilies,\" added Mursi.<\/p>\n
The price of a stagen ranges from Rp 25,000 to Rp 500,000 each
\nfor the finest pieces. A long cloth, or songket, costs between Rp
\n150,000 and Rp 2.5 million per piece.<\/p>\n
\"However, weaving takes a lot of time and energy. Women must
\nbe patient in order to finish one piece of weft textile,\" said
\nKetut Kamiri, an official at a village bank.<\/p>\n
Mastering the skills necessary for weaving may begin at an
\nearly age. A seven-year-old girl in the village, for example,
\nalready knows how to operate the loom and how to weave the
\nthreads.<\/p>\n
Within the next few years, she will already be able to produce
\nsimple waist cloths or large shawls. \"Weaving is my after-school
\nactivity,\" said Ni Wayan Riyanti, a high school student who has
\nproduced several elaborate songket.<\/p>\n
\"I can finish one piece of songket each month,\" added Wayan
\nRiyanti.<\/p>\n
Nyoman Karmini, her mother, added that she has never forced
\nher daughter to follow the weaving tradition. \"It is just an
\nexercise to enhance her weaving skills, as well as to improve her
\nself-discipline and patience,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Marketing the village's weft textiles is not an easy job.
\nNengah Ardni, head of Jinangdalem's weavers association, admitted
\nthat they were now facing a very difficult period. The bombings
\nof last year and the current conditions in Bali have badly
\naffected their business.<\/p>\n
\"The sales of our products have dropped drastically since the
\nBali bombing. Only a few visitors come to our village,\" he said.
\nLocal villagers are also facing serious financial problems in
\nprocuring the materials to produce these fine textiles. \"We need
\nhigh-quality threads, gold threads, dyes and other material,
\nwhich are quite expensive,\" Ardni explained.<\/p>\n
The weavers are dependent on financial institutions, such as
\nvillage cooperatives or village banks, to sustain the tradition
\n-- and the income-generating activity -- of weaving in
\nJinangdalem.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/balis-weft-textiles-losing-their-shine-1447893297",
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