Bali's weft textiles losing their shine

Aditya Nusantara, Contributor, Singaraja, North Bali

The village of Jinangdalem, located some 15 kilometers from Singaraja in North Bali, was quiet and peaceful on this chilly morning.

Ketut Kangga rushed to his workshop in front of his hut. His two daughters and some village women joined him and started working on their backstrap looms, known as tenun cagcag.

Jinangdalem is one of the villages in Buleleng regency, North Bali, which is famous for its exquisite weft textiles. Despite its fertile soil, the majority of the 1170 families in the village work as weavers.

Ketut Mursi, 57, a weaver, recalled, "People in this village have been producing weft textiles for many years. I can't remember, but as far as I know, my grandparents and great grandparents also wove and continued this age-old tradition."

Mursi said Jinangdalem's weft textile underwent several changes in terms of design, motif, color and function. Originally, the local people produced long waist cloths, or stagen, for women and belt for men. Each waist cloth is between two to three meters long and 15 centimeters in width. The cloth is usually worn wrapped around a woman's torso, especially by female dancers and by women who have just given birth.

The times have changed. Only a few women in Bali now wear traditional attire that use stagen, and most dress in Western- style clothes. Only on certain occasions, such as during traditional and religious ceremonies, do Balinese women wear stagen. Even then, the stagen is rarely used, and has been replaced by the more efficient and stylish Wacoal or Triumph corsets, and it has been difficult for Jinangdalem weavers to diversify their product range in order to meet the changing demands of modern Balinese women.

Buleleng regency has long been renowned as a producer of the finest Balinese songket weft textile. Among the villages famous for their products is Beratan and Sukasada villages -- all in Singaraja regency.

"We have weft textiles that are out-of-the-ordinary, compared to those produced in other villages. But, we have to admit that we don't know much about marketing and promoting our products outside the regency," said Wayan Danuari, an official of the Jinangdalem cooperative in charge of weft textile marketing.

In Jinangdalem village, every woman is required to own a backstrap loom. "There is no written rule, but this unspoken rule shows that weaving is a preserved tradition that must be kept by all the women in this village," he said.

Weaving is the lifeblood of Jinangdalem women.

After completing their household chores, the women will sit at their looms to finish a piece of beautiful weft textile.

It takes anywhere from two weeks to two months to finish a piece of weft textile, especially when producing long cloths or songket, which is interwoven with gold threads.

"Most women in the village -- young and old -- are competent weavers. They acquired the skills from their mothers and grandmothers," said Mursi.

Every family bestows their married daughters with a weaving loom as a wedding gift.

"Weaving is not merely a tradition or hobby for Jinangdalem women. It is a job that brings in money to support their families," added Mursi.

The price of a stagen ranges from Rp 25,000 to Rp 500,000 each for the finest pieces. A long cloth, or songket, costs between Rp 150,000 and Rp 2.5 million per piece.

"However, weaving takes a lot of time and energy. Women must be patient in order to finish one piece of weft textile," said Ketut Kamiri, an official at a village bank.

Mastering the skills necessary for weaving may begin at an early age. A seven-year-old girl in the village, for example, already knows how to operate the loom and how to weave the threads.

Within the next few years, she will already be able to produce simple waist cloths or large shawls. "Weaving is my after-school activity," said Ni Wayan Riyanti, a high school student who has produced several elaborate songket.

"I can finish one piece of songket each month," added Wayan Riyanti.

Nyoman Karmini, her mother, added that she has never forced her daughter to follow the weaving tradition. "It is just an exercise to enhance her weaving skills, as well as to improve her self-discipline and patience," she said.

Marketing the village's weft textiles is not an easy job. Nengah Ardni, head of Jinangdalem's weavers association, admitted that they were now facing a very difficult period. The bombings of last year and the current conditions in Bali have badly affected their business.

"The sales of our products have dropped drastically since the Bali bombing. Only a few visitors come to our village," he said. Local villagers are also facing serious financial problems in procuring the materials to produce these fine textiles. "We need high-quality threads, gold threads, dyes and other material, which are quite expensive," Ardni explained.

The weavers are dependent on financial institutions, such as village cooperatives or village banks, to sustain the tradition -- and the income-generating activity -- of weaving in Jinangdalem.