RI-Korean artists launch 'back-to-nature' drive

RI-Korean artists launch 'back-to-nature' drive

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Korea have long been recognized as
centers of textile production, yet the use of fibers as a medium
for contemporary artistic creations was only developed a few
decades ago.

The development of modern textile-based arts in Indonesia
quite possibly begins with the establishment of the textile
design studio at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in
l968.

With the pioneering works of artists like Yusuf Affendi,
tapestries, wall hangings and other textile-based works became an
inspiring artistic medium.

A current exhibition at the Textile Museum, which opened on
Feb. 14 and runs through to Feb. 18, is displaying the works of
several Indonesian and Korean fiber artists.

Artist Yusuf Affendi, who is also a professor at ITB's Fine
Arts and Design Department, presents an elaborate handwoven work
consisting of natural fibers and mixed media materials in his
Cemeti Madura, while designer Carmanita showcases a large shawl
made from handmade batik using an Indigisol dying technique.

From Korea, artists such as Kim-Ji Hee, Nam Hee-Jung and Kim
Hee-Kyung experiment with a wide range of fibers.

Kim Hi Jee successfully combines Korean traditional patchwork
quilts and needle works using textiles and other materials.

Nam Hee-Jung's work, entitled Millennium Bug, demonstrates an
imaginative use of colorful and luminous polyvinyl sheets.

This joint exhibition invites the public to look into the
wealth of textiles and the sophisticated textile making processes
of Indonesia and Korea.

In a seminar on fiber arts and natural dyeing on Tuesday,
Affendi said that Indonesia's natural environment is rich in
fibers appropriate for use in the making of artistic textiles.

For many centuries, Indonesians have been producing abundant
colorful woven materials using a natural dyeing process.

Affendi mentioned a number of fruits, vegetables and plants
that can be used as natural dyes.

Mangrove bark, acacia, uncaria gambir, divi-divi (caesaipina
coriana) and many others can all be used as sources of beautiful
colors.

"The natural dyeing process is indeed time consuming and
complicated. Only a few modern people are patient enough to
experiment with it," said Affendi.

But this is an environmentally-friendly textile making. The
extensive use of chemical dyes by large-scale textile industries
has caused serious environmental damage.

Textile industries in south Bandung have badly polluted the
rivers and rice fields. Chemical waste has been dumped into the
rivers, he said.

"I am not against the textile industry or any other form of
modern venture. What I am concerned about is the pollution that
goes along with such industrial processes," said Affendi.

These textile companies should manage the chemical waste from
their dyeing and coloring processes properly, he said.

"International buyers have a high environmental awareness.
They have started rejecting the excessive use of chemicals
involved in textile products," he said.

Other textile-producing countries like South Korea are also
making similar efforts to preserve traditional dyeing techniques.

Kim Ji-Hee, a professor at the Graduate School of Design at
the Catholic University of Taegu-Hyosung said that Korea had a
long textile tradition.

"There is evidence of the use of vegetable dyes, mineral
paints and needles made from animal bones, from which we can
conclude the people weaved their clothes," said the professor,
who is also chairperson of Korea's Fiber Artists Association and
president of the Association of Traditional Natural Dyers for
Research and Promotion.

She said more than 200 plants and trees, including indigo,
madder rubia, the sappan and tea trees, the daimyo oak and
turmeric have been used for natural dyeing.

"I am now studying the modernization of traditional dyeing
techniques," she said.

Affandi added that traditional weaving and dyeing techniques
were open to development.

"We are reformulating this environmentally-friendly way of
making textiles, while at the same time are preserving an
artistic legacy," he said. (raw)