Pesta Tenun celebrates Acehnese handicraft
Pesta Tenun celebrates Acehnese handicraft
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Although she lives in Jakarta, Rahma Harun's business was ruined
by the earthquake and tsunami in Aceh.
Aceh had been the main market for her embroidery products.
"I'd just sent (embroidery) stocks to some distributors there
a few days before I heard about the news of the tsunami," said
Rahma, a native of Banda Aceh who has lived here for 15 years.
"I have had to start (the business) all over again from zero,"
she said. One way she has survived was by cutting production
costs, she said.
Rahma said she understood that for the survivors in the
province, beautiful embroidered clothes or wall hangings were
not a priority.
Cut Lynda Agus' business, meanwhile, was supplied from Aceh.
Her decoratively embroidered Acehnese bags, tunics and wall
hangings were made in the province and sold in her Jakarta
boutique.
"My products are from Lhokseumawe and, thank God, the people
and their talented hands have survived the tsunami. They are
still producing and we are helping them by supplying them with
raw materials," Lynda said.
Both Rahma and Lynda were met by The Jakarta Post at the Pesta
Tenun 2005 (Traditional Weaving Expo 2005) at the Sahid Jaya
Hotel in Central Jakarta.
This year's exhibition, jointly organized by the non
government organizations working in cultural issues Yayasan Sekar
Saji Nusantara and Mamuli, highlights Acehnese weaving. Proceeds
from the ticket sales will go into the development of weaving
centers in the province.
"We have deliberately chosen this theme, Aceh's Inspiration,
in a bid to revive and to salvage the traditional weaving in
Aceh," the exhibition executive chairperson Okke Hatta Rajasa
said.
Weaving and embroidery have long been part of Aceh's
traditional textile industry, which dates back to the "golden
era" of Sultan Iskandar Muda. During his reign, trade flourished
with Islamic countries like Turkey and Persia.
The influence of Turkey is strongly seen in the motifs and the
use of prime colors of red, green, yellow and black.
"One of weaving centers in Gampong Siem was lost now. Many
weaving artisans perished in the tsunami. It's a great loss for
us all because we have to start again from nothing and it's not
an easy job," Okke said.
Besides a bazaar with 120 stands that showcases ethnic
clothes, handicraft and accessories from throughout the country,
Pesta Tenun also displays rare antique cloth from Aceh, some of
it more than 100 years old.
Teguh from Dharma Mulia Galleries said antique clothes --
found in Langsa, Gayo and Pidie -- and accessories of between 80
and 100 years old were sold in the exhibition.
"One hundred percent of the proceeds of this sale will go to
the tsunami survivors as this is our way to show our concern," he
said.
Also on show is an ancient Indian cloth, owned by Austria-born
Gunter Weber, which was later overlaid in the Gayo region with
magnificent gold thread embroidered motifs. Although they are
abstract patterns, it is believed that the motifs are the forms
of cumi-cumi (squids).
The textile was selected by Jasleen Dhamija, a famous textile
expert from India, for the exhibition at a Jakarta museum in
2002. In her book, Woven Magic (the Affinity between Indian and
Indonesian Textiles), Dhamija also highlights her theories of how
the textiles evolved.
Acehnese food and dance are also featured at the event that
runs until March 31.