Sumba ikat: Preserved trade coupled with fading knowledge<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Sumba Island, East Nusa Tenggara<\/p>\n
Within the realm of textiles, weaving from Sumba is one of the
\nworld's best-known arts, and has already become a major
\nattraction to visitor worldwide to the remote barren island.<\/p>\n
The recognition is a justified one. The craft is intricate,
\ndemanding great dexterity and patience, which results in
\nbreathtaking pieces of cloth.<\/p>\n
Among many preserved Sumba traditions, like weddings and
\nfunerals, weaving is likely to continue for a very long time
\nbecause, besides being sought after by tourists and collectors,
\nSumba people themselves still produce it for their own everyday
\nuse.<\/p>\n
The Sumbanese have two main groups of cloth: one is called
\nikat, the other hikung. Ikat, meaning to tie, is made by tying
\npalm leaves onto white threads and dyeing them repeatedly until
\nit shows the desired motifs. Hikung is made by weaving different
\ncolored-cotton yarns into interesting motifs.<\/p>\n
At several villages in eastern Sumba -- even those that are
\nrarely visited -- women can be seen weaving in their porches.
\nMoreover, the skill has been passed on continuously from one
\ngeneration to another.<\/p>\n
For Ama Tukang, a resident of Kallu in Waingapu, East Sumba,
\nall five of his children, even the males, produce woven and tie-
\ndyed cloth in the house.<\/p>\n
He sells a lot of beautiful and valuable ikat and hikung cloth
\npriced from Rp 200,000 (US$22.2) to Rp 5 million.<\/p>\n
Other families in Praiyawang and Pau, Rende, the most famous
\nikat area, also rely on the ikat trade, on top of agriculture.<\/p>\n
In the Umbu Makambombu and Kamba Ipu families the youngest
\ngeneration is learning the art of weaving.<\/p>\n
\"We teach the girls ikat skills from elementary school,\" Kamba
\nIpu said.<\/p>\n
However, not all the weavers knew the stories behind the
\nmotifs.<\/p>\n
With the exception of Ama Tukang, they usually had limited
\nbackground information to hand.<\/p>\n
Ama Tukang explained a few stories behind some particular ikat
\ncloth his family had made. For example, the cloth that commanded
\nthe highest price of Rp 5 million had a motif that belonged to
\nroyal families.<\/p>\n
\"Sumbanese used to weave this motif in the dark, secretly,
\nbecause they risked their lives weaving it,\" he said. \"Royal
\nguards could barge into the house and punish them if they found
\nout what was going on.\"<\/p>\n
He added that, nowadays, weavers could make such motifs
\nwithout fearing for their lives.<\/p>\n
But he said that some weavers had also forgotten about stories
\nbehind the motifs, so that, sometimes, they did not follow the
\ntraditional motif patterns.<\/p>\n
Sumba ikat has different sets of motifs for every occasion and
\ncaste.<\/p>\n
Other weavers could not provide even a basic story about the
\nitems they produced with their own hands.<\/p>\n
\"It's a depiction of a snake with a fish's tail,\" a Pau weaver
\nsaid, stated the obvious to The Jakarta Post when asked about a
\nhikung motif.<\/p>\n
To find out more about ikat, it seems people had better
\nconsult the various textbooks, written mostly by foreigners.<\/p>\n
Brigitte Khan Majlis wrote in her 1991 bilingual book, Woven
\nMessages: Indonesian Textile Tradition in Course of Time, that
\nDutch museums, since the 1920s, had acquired well-documented
\ncollections, invaluable in studying the development of patterns.<\/p>\n
\"The last 30 years have seen important research into the
\nfunctions of textiles in Sumbanese society; they are among the
\nbest researched in Indonesia,\" she wrote, quoting foreign names
\nlike Adams, Bolland and Geirnaert as references.<\/p>\n
Not just knowledge. The best cloth is mostly in the hands of
\nforeign collectors rather than Indonesians, let alone locals.<\/p>\n
Most weaving families usually greet local tourists with
\nsincere warmth; they will happily display all their cloth and
\noffer it to visitors. But they never insist you buy it because
\nthey know most Indonesians cannot afford the more expensive
\npieces.<\/p>\n
\"It's OK, you don't have to buy this; it's beautiful, right?
\nLast week I sold a cloth similar to this for Rp 10 million to a
\nSwede,\" Umbu Makabombu said, knowing that most locals would only
\nsigh in wonderment at the sale.<\/p>",
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