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on the digital catalogue of Indonesian textiles


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WATCH


Urmila Mohan discuss Balinese textiles


NUSANTARA Six Centuries Of Indonesian Textiles C


elebrating the rich textile heritage


of Indonesia, this exhibition explores the ancient


inter-island links found in this vast maritime region. Textiles and textile trade have a long and continuous history in Southeast Asia, with these cloths showing the changing outside influences, fashions, and tastes of the diverse cultures found in the archipelago. Te exhibition’s title, Nusantara, stems from the original name for the Indonesian archipelago and offers a broad overview of the wealth of imagery in these textiles alongside their remarkable technical mastery. Cloths from Bali and the Lesser


Sunda Islands and southern Sumatra are on show alongside those from Sulawesi, in particular from the Toraja region, as well as ritual examples from Borneo and resist-dyed Javanese batiks. On display are more than 100


examples showing their superb craftsmanship and artistic innovation, offering an opportunity to explore the cultural and historical significances of one of the finest collections of Indonesian textiles in the Western Hemisphere. Te textiles, from the 14th to the 20th centuries, are drawn


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from the gallery’s holdings that are central to the gallery’s Department of Indo-Pacific Art. Te textile collection also comprises approximately 1,200 examples from Indonesia and Sarawak (Malaysia). Significant pieces in this exhibition come from a collection of over 600 textiles originally acquired by Robert


J Holmgren and Anita E


Spertus, later presented to the gallery by Tomas Jaffe. Indonesia has historically been at


the crossroads of major trade routes, resulting in a blend of Indigenous and foreign influences. In the 10th and 11th centuries,


Indonesian textiles


began to show the influence of Indian designs in their creation. Cloth from India, particularly Gujarat, was exported to and traded in all parts of the Indian Ocean. Te impact of Indian textiles on


local island traditions was expressed in many different ways. Tere were often changes of design as well as changes in the techniques used. Hand-painted cotton textiles produced on the Coromandel Coast were mainly traded to Sumatra, with the bulk of the pieces being block-printed textiles. Tese cloths were an essential


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commodity for the Southeast Asian trade


and the dynamics of the


Maritime Silk Road. Te impact of Chinese and later


Islamic cultures is also evident, yet these borrowed motifs were transformed


into


Indonesian traditions. More is known about


Indonesian textiles after as (Hindu, 4th to 11th centuries), the asianartnewspaper |


distinctively the


establishment of the early island Hindu and Buddhist trading empires, such


the Mataram Kingdom


The impact of Indian textiles on the islands’


traditions is seen in many ways


Majapahit Empire (Hindu-Buddhist, 13th to 16th centuries), and the Srivijaya Kingdom (Buddhist, 7th to 13th centuries). Te designs on Indian trade cloths


come from many sources of inspiration brought across the Indian Ocean by visitors from all levels of society – sailors, warriors, traders, and religious leaders. Tese silks and cottons, batiks and


brocades, tie-dyes, and


embroideries display scenes from the Hindu epic Te Ramayana, as well as depictions of elephants and other animals, trading ships, and a wealth of complex floral designs borrowed from Indian chintz. Trade between the eastern coast of


India and Indonesia was facilitated by the trade winds, allowing a constant stream of traded goods to flow between countries. At the heart of this trade was India’s Coromandel Coast – the centre of a textile-producing region famed for its technical mastery of block printing and use of mordants to fix dyes. Intricate patterns could be produced on plain cloth rather than using the traditional and time- consuming method of handweaving. Tese brightly coloured fabrics were


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used as major trading items, traded in Indonesia for spices that were valued in India. Te influence of Hindu imagery was strongly in Bali, which


felt most


remains Hindu today. Stories from the Indian epics were also used to design temple hangings for the island’s Hindu temples. Tree motifs, especially the stylised tree of life, were popular designs commonly found on Indian palempores (bed covers or hangings), and other textiles explicitly made for the European market. Textiles for the European trade were also found in Indonesia, as well as the double ikat patola clothes made in Gujarat for the Indonesian trade. In Indonesia, Indian cloths were


adapted to fit indigenous cloth forms of ceremonial textiles, such as those created in Sulawesi by the Toraja people. Te block-printed, repeated geometric floral designs of Indian patola reappear on sumptuous silk- and-gold-thread


Sumatran/Malay


textiles called songket that intricately weave gold and silver threads into the cloth to form a pattern, as well as being incorporated into the batik cloths of Java.


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