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.