Textiles show binding thread of culutres<\/p>\n
Mehru Jaffer, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
There is much that is bewitching about Indonesia, but the
\nmagical spell cast on people by textiles here is legendary.<\/p>\n
Irwan Holmes first traveled to Jakarta in 1967. He grew so
\nobsessed he with the batik that he saw that he dropped his art
\nstudies at a U.S. university to begin lessons in batik painting
\non cloth from artisans.<\/p>\n
In 1970, he decided to make Indonesia his permanent home.<\/p>\n
Over the years, he has collected a rare collection of textiles
\nfrom across the country.<\/p>\n
Spreading out a Balinese ritual cloth that he believes is at
\nleast 100 years old, Irwan points to the motifs of people engaged
\nin the sport of boxing with great glee.<\/p>\n
One piece even uses the pattern of the American flag.<\/p>\n
One favorite features yet another ceremonial cloth from Bali
\ncalled Tirtanadi, or holy waters, probably woven in the early
\nyears of the last century.<\/p>\n
Silken yarn is used to create a pattern that strongly
\nresembles a canvas of modern, abstract art.<\/p>\n
The oldest piece of cloth is another altar cloth folded inside
\na copper box that is intricately carved with floral motifs from
\nthe times of the pre-Islamic Majapahit rulers of east Java.<\/p>\n
Another textile freak is Inger McCabe Elliot, a
\nphotojournalist and author of Batik: Fabled Cloth of Java.<\/p>\n
She has emotional recollections of a colorful day in 1963 when
\nthe first became acquainted with the splendor of Java's batik,
\nwhich turned her black-and-white world into a rainbow of glorious
\ncolors.<\/p>\n
Inger recalled being pleased and, at the same time, disturbed
\nas she saw the amazing textiles on which lions roared
\nferociously, ducks paddled serenely, and mythical animals leaped,
\nwhile grains of rice dappled the cloth.<\/p>\n
She observed that batik artists splashed their colors about
\nwith controlled abandon.<\/p>\n
And they break all the rules.<\/p>\n
Somehow, they are able to use green with red and end up with
\nsomething that does not look like a Christmas card: somehow, they
\ncan combine pink, yellow, brown and aqua blue without bringing to
\nmind Mae West's boudoir.<\/p>\n
Inger was so ecstatic that she came to Indonesia in the 1970s
\nto unravel the mystery of batik herself.<\/p>\n
It is quite possible that, at first, people here had no use
\nfor cloth. They were likely content to clothe themselves in the
\nshade of the lush, green rain forest that surely covered the
\nentire length and breadth of this tropical paradise.<\/p>\n
It must have been merchants from miles away who came with the
\nfirst meters of material here. Chinese records from 1,400 years
\nago mention a king in northern Sumatra who wore silk. And it is
\nsuspected that the silk he wore at that time was imported.<\/p>\n
Cloth was clearly a prized possession only the rich and mighty
\ncould afford to covet in those early days.<\/p>\n
For a long time, the most important use for the textiles were
\nas a gift to loved ones, or as an offering to God.<\/p>\n
This importance came both from the real value of textiles, and
\nfrom their symbolic value as the product of the magical hands of
\nhuman beings.<\/p>\n
For many Indonesians, textiles have sacred origins in myth and
\nthis aura is not completely lost to this day.<\/p>\n
In Splendid Symbols: Textiles and Tradition in Indonesia,
\nMattielelle Gittinger illustrated how Arabs and other traders had
\nmade cloth the primary medium of exchange.<\/p>\n
Early in the 16th century it was said that, on the spice-rich
\nisland of Maluku, Indian cloths were held in great value.<\/p>\n
Every man toiled to own a great pile of the cloths so that,
\nwhen they were folded and laid out on top of each other, they
\ncould have been stacked into a pile several feet tall.<\/p>\n
To possess that much of the cloth signified what it meant to
\nbe free and alive.<\/p>\n
If taken captive, the owner was ransomed for nothing less than
\nthe very pile of cloth he owned. In 1603, the price of imported
\ncloth was worth 40 pounds of nutmeg on the island of Banda.<\/p>\n
During most of its 2000-year history, Indonesia has been an
\nimportant trade route for merchants from around the globe.<\/p>\n
Like a vast net, it has caught migrating people from
\neverywhere, along with their way of life and beliefs and the land
\nhas captured the imaginations of scholars, artists, fortune
\nhunters, and travelers for centuries, all of whom have
\ncontributed to the romantic musings about the region's fortunes
\nin aromatic spices and sandalwood.<\/p>\n
The Java coast was also visited by Marco Polo, Ferdinand
\nMagellan, Sir Francis Drake, and Saint Francis Xavier, trade
\nbringing with it both material and spiritual rewards.<\/p>\n
Along with the goods also came a succession of religions --
\nHinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity -- which left their
\npermanent influence here.<\/p>\n
All of these experiences, both foreign and local, eventually
\nmarried and transformed into robust patterns that are being woven
\nto this day on luxurious looking textiles, as if with the thread
\nof life itself.<\/p>\n
It is now possible to share some of these human experiences
\nimmortalized on rare and unusual textiles, along with an array of
\ntools used in the variegated activity of picking cotton, the
\nmaking of yarn, and finally the weaving and wafting of cloth
\nitself.<\/p>\n
An exhibition of textiles chosen by the Dharmawangsa Hotel
\nfrom Irwan's vast collection that will be inaugurated by Ghea S.
\nPanggabean, one of Indonesia's leading fashion designers here.<\/p>\n
The exhibition begins on Feb. 16, and runs through Feb. 24 in
\nthe Bimasena Club in the lobby of the Dharmawangsa Hotel. For
\nmore information, call 725-8668.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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