Wastraprema displays traditional Lampung cloth

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

To commemorate its 29th anniversary, Wastraprema has organized a month-long exhibition of traditional Lampung cloth at the Textile Museum in Central Jakarta.

Dozens of examples of imperial cloth, with intricate gold thread and metallic yarn embroidery, are on display.

At Tuesday's opening of the exhibition, Wastraprema (the Association for Admirers of Traditional Textiles) presented a show of women wearing traditional Lampung dress, including royal wedding costumes for the bride and groom and members of the family. Each member of the family wears a specific design that indicates her or his position in the family.

The models were all members of the Association of Lampung Women in Jakarta.

In a 1991 (German and English) book, Woven Messages -- Indonesian Textile Tradition in the Course of Time, author Brigitte Khan Majlis wrote that, textile-wise, Lampung is one of the most interesting parts of Indonesia.

"Textile production was superior in quality as well as in quantity," Majlis wrote.

The most well-known Lampung textiles are called tapis (women's sarongs), palepai (ceremonial cloth known as "ship cloth" for their use of embroidered ship motifs) and tampan (ceremonial cloth resembling palepai, but smaller).

Palepai served as decorations in traditional ceremonies, hung behind noble participants, while tampan played a variety of roles in rites of passage and ritual gift exchanges, Majlis wrote.

The book says that in the early 1970s, economic necessity forced many Lampung people to sell their family heirlooms.

"Thousands of tampan were bought up and sold in the West at low prices -- some even in department stores," Majlis revealed. "In the latter years, more and more families sold their sarongs to finance a pilgrimage to Mecca."

Now the most sought-after cloth is palepai, especially pieces with scenes depicting more than just a large ship.

Lampung, located on the southern tip of Sumatra island, prospered in the 19th century from the lucrative pepper trade.

Toos van Dijk and Nico de Jonge wrote in the Periplus travel guide of Sumatra that the collapse of the trade in the 19th century brought about the demise of many local traditions -- including the time-consuming production of ritual cloth, which has not been woven for over 100 years.

"Nowadays, such fabrics are collector's items, costing a small fortune when they can be found at all," the authors write.

Wastraprema's exhibition displays mainly tapis and tampan from collectors like Eiko Adnan Kusuma.

Wastraprema, established on June 29, 1976, now has about 250 members, most of whom are female Indonesian socialites like Herawati Diah and State Minister for Women's Empowerment Meutia Farida Hatta Swasono. Some of the members are Japanese women living in Indonesia.

On the opening day, dozens of members gathered, all wearing traditional cloth from around Indonesia, exulting in the richness and diversity of the archipelago's culture.

During the exhibition, the Textile Museum is hosting stalls selling a variety of traditional cloth.

On April 21 through April 27 this year, Wastraprema organized its first show abroad in Madrid, Spain, exhibiting 80 examples of top-quality textiles produced by women from Indonesia: batik, songket and ikat, as well as tie-dyed and embroidered cloth.

The exhibition, held at the Indonesian Embassy, was attended by a large audience from the diplomatic corps, governmental and cultural circles, museum officials, businesspeople and fashion designers, including owners of the Loewe and Zara fashion labels.

The exhibited textiles were selected to highlight similarities between the two countries, such as the use of the carnation as a floral motif, cockfighting as depicted on some batik and color preferences as represented in some weavings from Flores and Timor.

Lampung Traditional Textile Expo
through July 27
Museum Textile Indonesia
Jl. KS Tubun No. 4
Central Jakarta
5606613
E-mail: mustekstil@telkom.net