Entrance to what I came to think of as 'the women's house' - a gathering space and learning centre built from the collective profits of weaving sales. The entrance is made of living banten (Makassar) trees, whose bark is used for natural dyeing. Read more
Inside the women's house. Read more
Some natural dyes used are: mahoni (mahogany) wood, nangka wood, banten bark, indigo, mango leaves, ketapang leaves and kangkung jawa. After soaking in the dye, they are soaked in fixatives which are: tawas (alum), kapur (lime) and tunjung (iron). The final color depends on the fixative, which sometimes gives a dramatically different color than the mother dye. Read more
The colors of mahoni and banten bark, fixed with tawas, kapur and tunjung respectively. The threads are hung out to dry, away from direct sunlight. A windy, sunny day is ideal. The chicken is optional. Read more
Bergulung benang (winding the thread). Skeins of dyed thread are wound into balls, not too tight or too loose. The tool used is called an andir. One should strive to achieve an unbroken spinning rythym of the andir. Read more
Natural dyed thread all wound up. Read more
Merani, or setting the warp (pakan). The wooden stand is called a perani. The number and color of threads wound around the perani determines the size and overall motif of the weaving. All this is done by memory. Read more
The warp threads are set on the loom. Every single thread is separately threaded through a tool called a sari (or seri). Read more
Bergulung pakan (rolling the warp). This process takes at least 4 pairs of hands. Now we see how weaving can't be practised in isolation, although each ibu has a loom in her own house. Read more
The pakan all rolled up. Read more
Finally, the weaving! This was actually the first thing I was shown, on the first day, before I knew anything. Read more
With Ibu-ibu in the village. Read more
Final installation in the group exhibition at National Museum Singapore. Read more
Photo by Chan+Hori Contemporary. Read more
Photo by Chan+Hori Contemporary. Read more
Photo by Chan+Hori Contemporary. Read more
Photo by Chan+Hori Contemporary. Read more
Photo by Chan+Hori Contemporary. Read more
Strips being woven. Photo by Fathiati Martini. Read more
Strips being woven. Photo by Fathiati Martini. Read more
Strips being woven. Photo by Fathiati Martini. Read more
Yang Tersurat dan Tersirat (Kolaborasi dengan Ibu-Ibu Desa Lenek Lauk)
In June 2019, I spent a week learning about weaving from the women of Lenek Lauk, a village in East Lombok, Indonesia. This was under the ENTWINE Maybank Women Eco-weavers Exhibition programme, jointly organized by Maybank Foundation and Chan+Hori Contemporary.
‘The Seen and Unseen’ is an installation made in collaboration with the weavers of Lenek Lauk. Woven on backstrap looms, a standard length of cloth in Lenek Lauk is 80cm wide and 400cm long. I asked the weavers to make narrow strips 2.5cm wide – basically to weave negative space onto the loom. What is not apparent is as important as what is obvious; sometimes to do less takes more effort.
In the final installation, the strips were hung to form curtains at a few levels. The group exhibition ENTWINE: Maybank Women Eco-Weavers meet Southeast Asian Artists was held at The Concourse, National Museum Singapore, from 21 Aug – 8 Sep 2019.
Deepest appreciation to Ibu-ibu of Lenek Lauk for spending their time and sharing their knowledge with me. Thanks to field officers Ibu Tin, Ibu Ririn and Mas Yunk from LPSDM (Lembaga Pengembangan Sumber Daya Mitra) Indonesia for their guidance and translation.
