Bali's weft textiles losing their shine

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 Even then, the stagen is rarely used, and has been
replaced by the more efficient and stylish Wacoal or Triumph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.