indonesian textiles a selected bibliography

8/18/2019 Indonesian Textiles a Selected Bibliography

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/indonesian-textiles-a-selected-bibliography 1/19

INDONESIAN TEXTILES

A Selected and Annotated Bibliography

THE ISLAND GALLERY

Susan Swannack-Nunn

January 2002

This annotated bibliography includes a selection of books and articles onIndonesian textiles. While the bibliography covers the range of textiles produced inIndonesia, there is more discussion on batiks, the primary focus of The Island Gallery.Academic texts, and more popular texts on interior design that show how these textilesare exhibited today, are included. The selections provide a good start for those wishingto read more about Indonesian textiles. However, there are some publications that wereout of print or unavailable when assembling the bibliography, so readers and researchersare encouraged to pursue the most recent publications on the subject.

Ament, Deloris Tarzan. “Threads of Tradition/Weavings are Deep in Texture andSignificance.” two articles discussing the Manring Collection, a portion of which wasestablished in the Seattle Art Museum. Seattle Times, January 12, 1992.

These articles discuss Timothy Manring and his wife, Indrastuti Hadiputranto,who donated 500 Indonesian ikat textiles to the Seattle Art Museum. The couple hascollected Indonesian textiles since 1970. At the time of the article, they said that a 2 ! meter sarong-length batik by a famous maker such as Javanese artist Osy Soe Tjoencould cost $1,000, gold-leafed batiks $5,000, and good silk batiks $80-$200 each. “Still,in one of those ironies that abound in the world of art, batik makers may earn as little as$3 a day.” Prices for fine ikats are harder to predict, because there are no standarddimensions. The Manrings noted that originally they had intended to give SAM examplesof both ikats and batiks, but found that the museum was interested only in ikats. Amentnotes that “Indonesia’s exquisite batiks, tapestry weavings, and shell embroidery all winworldwide admiration. But no textile exceeds ikat in complexity and pure artistic power.”The article discusses that the fineness of an ikat depends on how many threads are bunched for tying. In ordinary ikats, 10 to 15 threads are bunched; in the finest weavings,as few as three may compose a bundle.”

Brenner, Suzanne April. Domestication of Desire: Women, Wealth and Modernity in

Java. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998.

Written by an anthropologist who conducted field research for two years incentral Java during the mid-eighties, this book provides a fascinating view of the socialand economic structures prevailing in Laweyan, a neighborhood of Solo once known forits vibrant batik production. “Laweyan had developed around the turn of the century intoone of the preeminent centers of the batik industry in Solo and, in fact, in the whole of the Netherlands East Indies.” (34) She presents a good history of batik production and tries tounderstand how “a fundamentally modern community in the first half of the twentieth



2

century” was to become in later years “a stronghold of tradition that continually erected barriers…to further modernization.”

She examines gender relationships and the importance of women in batik production and trade. “It is no exaggeration to say that women were the heart and soul of

the community, as they were of the family firm, and that women’s centrality here definedin critical ways the community’s internal social relations as well as its connections withthe outside world. “The domestic sphere in Laweyan….revolves around the woman whostands at its core. As the main agents of domestication in the household, women oftentake on the burden of producing and accumulating not only material wealth but alsosocial status and cultural capital for their families – the latter of which have beeninadequately recognized in most studies of Javanese society.” (204)

Details on social interactions (such as the combined arisan-slametan (the firstterm referring to a social gathering of a women’s rotating credit association combinedwith a formal religious ritual to commemorate a significant life event such as a death or

marriage) provide interesting insights into Javanese culture at the time - how womencould be kasar (unrefined or crude) in contrast to men’s interactions having to be morealus (refined or cultured). However, as a female participant observer, with greater accessto women’s activities, I wonder how this may have affected some of her observations,especially the stark contrasts between female and male behaviors.

“We will also see how gender itself came to figure prominently in thetransformation of Laweyan from a locus of modernity to a site of nostalgia…. It is the belief in the batik industry both as a channel of ancestral value and as a way of assertingtheir own (tenuous) claims to cultural legitimacy, I would argue, that has led Javanese batik entrepreneurs to cling so tenaciously to this field of business even as they see theirown once-substantial profits dwindle to a fraction of what they were in the heyday of theindustry.” While I would agree with some of her conclusions, I think there were anumber of factors probably responsible for the decline of the batik industry in this area,including changing labor markets (the availability of higher paying jobs for batikworkers), inability to access sufficient credit (which she alludes to in other parts of the book), and the rise of crony capitalism (which affected access to credit, among otherthings). It would have been helpful if she would have incorporated some analysis on thesize of batik industry (numbers of firms and workers) that is sustainable in the Indonesianeconomy at various times, because some consolidation was inevitable in the textileindustry, as has occurred in other countries. What is interesting is the continuing role of arange of batik industrial types – from cottage industries of less than 10 workers tofactories employing thousands (see descriptions of batik factories in Fraser-Lu).

In examining the modern family and the New Order regime’s gender ideologiesand policies, she sees the independence of the female merchant class eroded, but does notsee the broader picture of female society as a whole, in particular the female kampongresidents whom she earlier had described in rather bleak terms as the batik workers forthe female juragan. She described these workers as having an impoverished existence.



3

Did their condition improve with the New Order, particularly as the number of poordeclined so dramatically during the eighties and pre-crisis nineties?

The author sees the modern capitalist state evolving in Indonesia with theseparation of home and work place, in contrast to batik industries, which were mostly

home-based. As many in the West establish home offices with modern technologies andcommunications, and there is a better understanding of how innovation occurs - that largeindustries often rely on smaller firms for innovation, the continuum is not asunidirectional as the author implies. Why cannot this be applied to the batik industry andart form; indeed there are examples of periodic efforts to encourage the batik industryfrom the time of the Dutch colonialists, during the period of Sukarno and today. A wholerange of batik industries continue today, and it would be interesting to analyze in moredepth their evolution according to structure and other characteristics, including female participation.

Cassidy, Carol. Beyond Tradition: Lao Textiles Revisited (The Handwoven Textiles

of Carol Cassidy). New York: The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology,1995. Printed in Hong Kong by Pearl River Printing Company.

I wanted to read this book as an inspiration for opening a gallery, as thisAmerican woman has been successful in trying to bridge cultures and bring newtechnologies and marketing skills to a Southeast Asian country with an impressive textiletradition. Carol Cassidy, formerly a consultant to the United Nations, in 1989 establisheda business in Vientiane which involves working with and training local Lao weavers anddyers, producing wall hangings, clothing and custom furnishing fabrics which utilizetraditional design motifs in making products to meet contemporary market demands.“With the combination of her entrepreneurial skills and her talent as a weaver, CarolCassidy is a catalyst in the preservation of Laotian weaving. Her fine sense of color anddesign has resulted in the production of finely made fabrics which draw from and preserve past traditions by bringing them to the present.” (Foreword)

This publication was produced in conjunction with the exhibition, Beyond

Tradition: Lao Textiles Revisited that was held June-September 1995 at the Museum ofthe Fashion Institute of Technology. This book, with a brief text and fine quality photographs of contemporary weavings from her workshop juxtaposed to older textilesthat serve as the inspiration for contemporary pieces, is itself an inspiration. Photographsalso illustrate the weaving process. Weaving types are weft patterning, weft ikat, andinterlocking tapestry. I was particularly impressed by the artistry and simplicity ofCassidy’s showroom in Vientiane, which is photographed.

Cote, Joost, Trans. Letters from Kartini: An Indonesian Feminist 1900-1904.Melbourne: Monash Asia Institute in association with Hyland House Publishing Pty. Ltd.,1992.

This book is important because it highlights the “ethical policy” concerns aboutwomen and workers during a period of Dutch colonialism. This is the first complete and



4

unabridged English translation of more than 100 letters which Kartini and her two sisterswrote to her mentor, Rosa Abendanon-Mandiri, wife of the Director of the Department ofEducation, Religion and Industry of the Dutch East Indies between 1900 and 1904. Theoriginal letters, discovered in the early nineties, were edited by F.G.P. Jaquet and held bythe Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-,Land-en Volkenkunde in its archives in Leiden. The

first publication of some portion of these letters was in 1911 in Dutch, followed byvarious editions and translations in Dutch, Malay, Arabic, Sudanese, Javanese,Indonesian, Japanese and English (the latter first available in 1920 under the title of Letters of a Javanese Princess).

The collection includes letters and details that were considered too sensitive tohave been made public in 1911. Kartini and her two sisters were living in the coastaltown of Japara on Java The letters are gripping for what they reveal about the aspirationsof a bright young Javanese woman who has been exposed to modern ideas and longs foran independence that is in conflict to the adat and traditions of Javanese society at the beginning of the 20

th century. Her observations, even to readers today, remain relevant

and reflect the tenacity of traditions in Moslem and other traditional societies and thecompromises that often must be made to further personal ideals. Kartini reveres much inher own culture, endures hardships, and ultimately compromises her personal desire fortotal independence by marrying a regent in order to further her goals of education fornative women. The book also includes a very useful bibliography of editors of Kartini’sletters, other published writing by Kartini, and a chronological listing of works onKartini.

Djoemena, Nian. Batik: Its Mystery and Meaning. Indonesia: Penerbit Djambatan,1986.

Nian, of West Sumatran origin, was born into a textile family. Her father, RahmanTamin, was the first businessman in Indonesia to establish a factory for the finishing and printing of textiles in Surabaya. After completing secondary education, Nian continuedher education at the Hogere Textiel School in the Netherlands. After 1960 Nian began toseriously collect batiks from a number of different regions. This book is the result of herstudies and travels, including interviews with batik-makers, and includes photographsfrom her private collection.

In general, Nian classifies the batiks into two broad categories: (i) the batik ofSolo and Yogya where the symbolic motifs reflect a Hindu-Javanese cultural backgroundand the colors emphasize sogan (rich brown color), indigo (blue), black, white and cream;and (ii) the batik of the coastal areas where motifs are naturalistic, reflecting foreigninfluences, and a variety of colors. She goes on to discuss the motifs and colorcombinations of the batiks in nine regions, which she considers the most important: Solo,Yogya, Cirebon, Indramayu, Garut, Pekalongan, Lasem, Madura, and Jambi. A briefdescription is presented for 273 different designs and color combinations, discussingthem in relation to the geographical situation where the batik is made, the social orderand customs of that particular region, the natural environment, and contact with other batik-making areas. It concludes with short descriptions of well-known batik artists



5

working at the time of publication, linking them to the particular designs for which theyare noted (particularly helpful to anyone considering starting up an Indonesian batik business). A glossary of Indonesian terms is included.

Fraser-Lu, Sylvia. Indonesian Batik: Processes, Patterns and Places. Singapore:

Oxford University Press, 1986.

Fraser-Lu presents a useful classification of batik design into (i) isen or background designs (some 15 different motifs); (ii) geometric designs (Ceplokan orrepetitive designs and Kawung or circular designs, Nitik or weaving designs, GarisMiring or parallel diagonal designs, Tambal Miring or patchwork design, and Tumpal ortriangular design); and (iii) Semen or Non-geometric Designs (flower, fruit, and leafmotifs, bird motifs, animal motifs, rock and cloud designs, mountain and landscapedesigns, ship motifs, and human figures). The explanations include both description andsymbolism with small pictures of each type. Her typology of batik industries is alsointeresting, as she describes specific batik companies and their organizational structure in

the towns that she visited.

This book is a well-written straightforward text with a brief historical account ofthe origins of batik and the batik process. Of particular interest is her notation of theintegration of batik with the wayang kulit shadow plays and the gamelan orchestras.According to Fraser-Lu, the Javanese dalang (puppeteer) not only presides over the mostimportant of the performing arts, but he also is an important source of batik patterns. Thenames of well-known gamelan melodies have their counterpart in batik (for example,Pisang Bali, Kawung, Limar and Srikaton). In the conclusions, the author notes theexistence of the Wastraprema Society, an organization dedicated to maintaining the purity of Indonesian batik and weaving and the Batik Research Center (Balai PenelitianBatik Kerajinan) in Jogjakarta, as well as the role of Iwan Tirta in preserving the art of batik while innovating in ways to use it more effectively. The author meant this book to be a brief guide or “apertif” for the general reader or traveler, and the small book isindeed something one could take along when studying or purchasing batik.

Gavin, Traude. Women’s Warpath: Iban Ritual Fabrics from Borneo. Los Angeles:UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1996.

This book is the third in a series of projects sponsored by the UCLA’s FowlerMuseum of Cultural History focusing on the textile traditions of Southeast Asia, andaccompanies an exhibition of Iban textile holdings in the museum that was curated by Dr.Gavin. Most of the earlier literature on Iban textiles was based on secondary sourcesrather than original fieldwork; therefore Gavin’s fieldwork between 1986 and 1995 breaks new ground. “My research provides conclusive evidence that traditional Iban patterns are not encoded with a pictorial language of symbols,” in contrast to the earlierliterature that said designs were assumed to originate as realistic depictions of naturewhich over time degenerated into simplified forms. The author illustrates a number ofIban textile patterns and their meaning.



6

Gillow, John and Dawson, Barry. Traditional Indonesian Textiles. London: Thamesand Hudson, 1992.

This book is a standard introductory survey of Indonesian textiles, with separatechapters covering: history; yarns, looms and dyes; batik; warp and weft ikat, plangi and

tritik; the art of embellishment covering supplementary weft and warp, embroidery,appliqué, beadwork and shellwork and bark cloth. The illustrations and color photographsare of fine quality and there is a useful section on museums and galleries with collectionsof Indonesian textiles.

Gittinger, Mattiebelle. Splendid Symbols: Textiles and Traditions in Indonesia.Washington D.C.: The Textile Museum, 1979.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, interest in Southeast Asian textiles “took off,”according to Michael Howard (see Textiles of Southeast Asia below). A number ofimportant books on Indonesian textiles were also published. This particular book became

the standard reference work for collectors at the time. Several chapters are devoted toexploring the role of textiles in the social customs and religion of Indonesia, followed byindividual chapters discussing the general characteristics of textiles in 14 geographicareas: Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, Solor and Lembata,Timor, Roti, Savu and Ndao, Southern Moluccas, Kisar and Tanimbar, Ceram, Sulawesi,Sangir and Talaud, and Borneo. This book was originally published to document acomprehensive exhibition of Indonesian textiles from the holdings of The TextileMuseum and private collections. The quality of the photographs (largely black and white)is far superior in more recent publications.

Gittinger, Mattiebelle, Ed. To Speak with Cloth: Studies in Indonesian Textiles. LosAngeles: Museum of Cultural History, 1989.

This book presents an anthology of essays addressing current research interests onIndonesian textiles by a group of internationally recognized scholars, commissioned bythe UCLA Museum of Cultural History which houses a significant collection ofIndonesian textiles originally assembled in the 1930s with significant acquisitions madeduring the mid-seventies to mid-eighties.

Gittinger notes that previous texts on Indonesian textiles tended to be broadly based, generalizing about many cloth types from various parts of Indonesia. “Happily,now that textiles are increasingly recognized as primary source material, researchers areasking the questions and obtaining the answers that reveal, even more convincingly, howremarkable and important they are in the socio-religious scene of Southeast Asia….In alarger perspective, the conclusion I hope will be drawn from the entire collection ofessays is that textiles deserve to be considered as valuable primary source material,subject to as much scrutiny as kinship structures for the anthropologist and ancientchronicles for the historian.”



7

On batik, Anthony Forge, Professor of Anthropology at the Australian NationalUniversity, in “Batik Patterns of the Early Nineteenth Century,” discusses the earliestknown visual records of particular batik patterns from a collection of carved models or puppets commissioned by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles during his period as LieutenantGovernor of Java (1811-1816). Judi Achjadi, a specialist in Indonesian women’s dress

and wedding ceremonies, writes on “Batiks in the Central Javanese Wedding Ceremony,”discussing the traditional uses of textiles for the marriage ceremony, considered the mostimportant event in traditional community life. She presents a good collection of photographs showing the various uses of textiles, as costumes.

Robyn and John Maxwell, in “Political Motives: The Batiks of Mohamad Hadi ofSolo, reflect upon the relationship between politics and art as seen in the batiks of Hadiduring the early 1960s. Hadi, a painter, was a member of the radical Institute of People’sCulture during the 1950s, a group that “rejected the domination of Western cultural andartistic influences and sought to establish the grounds for an independent national culture based upon the interests and shared experiences of the Indonesian people.” While batik in

its classical form had become closely identified with the Javanese aristocracy, Hadisought to use traditional batik forms and infuse them with artistic expressions of thecommon people. For a short period, until his arrest in 1965, he designed batiks withintraditional formats, subtly adapting traditional shapes into new symbols. One exampleshows how he transformed auspicious elements of the wedding cloth (birds and insects)into symbols of a new social order glorifying the Javanese peasant farmer (ears of cornand stalks of rice). “Hadi’s work…was an example of one man’s attempt to find acontinuing vital role for batik in the culture of modern Java as part of Indonesia’snational heritage. Although his designs were unique, they were firmly located within aJavanese tradition. If it is true that batiks and their designs reflect the batik designer’sown innermost wishes, thoughts, and feelings, then Mohamad Hadi’s work reveals a mansteeped in Javanese traditional culture and possessed of a strong social and politicalconcern for the plight of the people, particularly the peasant farms of rural Java.”

Grayston, Graham, Editor. Cultures at Crossroads: Southeast Asian Textiles from the

Australian National Gallery. Canberra: Australian National Gallery, 1992.

This publication, with essays by Michael Brand, Anthony Reid, and RobynMaxwell, was written to document an exhibition of Southeast Asian textiles from theAustralian National Gallery. By focusing on broad cultural interactions betweenSoutheast Asia and the rest of the word as seen in textiles “…we have sought to presentan exhibition that elevates the purely formal beauty of the textiles to a new level ofcultural understanding.” The collection is discussed in chapters on early Southeast AsianTextiles largely represented by ikats and supplementary warp and weft weavings, theimpact of Indian textiles, Chinese influences, textiles for the new faiths of Islam andChristianity, and the many design sources of batik.



8

Hauser-Schaublin, Birgitta; Nabholz-Kartaschoff, Marie-Louise; and Ramseyer, Urs.Balinese Textiles. Singapore: Periplus Editions, Inc., 1991.

This book is based on the extensive Balinese textile collection at the BaselMuseum of Ethnography, where Hauser-Schaublin and Nabholz-Kartaschoff are curators.

Documentation of the textiles was carried out by Ramseyer in 1972-74, when he studiedthe geringsing cloths of Tenganan, and by the three authors between 1988-90 for theother types of textiles. The book is divided into chapters according to the most importantcategories of textiles: Endek, Songket, Perada, Bebali, Keling, Poleng, Cepuk andGeringsing. “Our attempt is to direct the reader’s attention from the material to the non-material – to the social and the semiotic. In other words, textiles are presented here as acultural “language,” to the understanding and interpretation of which we have addressedour special attention.”

This book is one of the most comprehensive texts on the textiles of a geographicarea in Indonesia. For each type of textile, it includes a historical perspective, ritual uses,

the technology and structure of production over time, and comments from the producersor users of Bali reference their views on the particular type of textile. Color photographsand drawings illustrate the ceremonies where the textiles are used, the production process, and the resulting textiles, showing both the older textiles from the museumcollection and new textiles of the type produced today (when the book was published).

I found the comments of the Balinese to be quite refreshing, for example, in thediscussion of cepuk (a special type of weft ikat cloth). According to the authors, the“developments of the last sixty years have been aimed at saving labor and cost in all stepsalong the way. Cheaper and more resistant factory-made yarns, synthetic tying materials,quick-acting synthetic dyestuffs and longer warps are all in demand. Logically enough,cepuk cloths are also now being made on modern ATBM looms with high-speed weft bobbins in the capital city of Denpasar. Needless to say, all of this has been achieved at acost – in quality, aesthetics and variety of patterns used. A comparison of fine old cepuk cloths with modern ones shows the differences only too clearly, and one may readilyappreciate why many Balinese deny that the new cloths possess the inherent power of theolder ones.”

The authors include quotations from interviewees: “And I still have ringing in myears the laughter of weavers in Nusa Penida, who on seeing a cloth bought in Denpasarexclaimed: ‘Oh no! That’s not a proper cepuk . That’s been made by a child or a beginner!’ Yet here again we find the Balinese broad-minded and adaptable, as in theremark made by one of the wives of the late raja of Tabanan, who died in 1987: ‘If we nolonger have an old cepuk , we can make do with a new one. Only fanatics object to the useof such modern cloths in rituals.’” (100)



9

Herringa, Rens and Veldhuisen, Harmen C. Fabric of Enchantment: Batik from the

North Coast of Java. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art andWeatherhill, Inc., 1996.

This book serves as the catalogue of the Inger McCabe Elliott batik collection,

which was donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1991. McCabe Elliottstates that “my collection draws almost exclusively from the exuberant fabrics of northcoast Java, the Pasisir, an area almost forgotten by earlier batik scholars, whoconcentrated on the courtly textiles of central Java. Making sense of these cloths has proven to be a formidable challenge, requiring both visual skills and historical insight.”

The essay “Batik Pasisir as Mestizo Costume” by Rens Heringa, an anthropologistinvolved with Javanese and Pasisir batik as wearer, craftswoman, and researcher formany years, discusses the role of batik cloth in indicating group affiliation, as women’s property, the role of Javanese female batik traders in providing batik textiles to well-to-doEuropean and Indo-European women up to the mid-nineteenth century who were often

segregated and secluded in house compounds, and the evolution of Javanese dressthrough the 20th century. “Instead of serving as lingua franca, it [batik Pasisir] consistedof a series of different dialects and Creole languages based on the same roots.”

This book has one of the best discussions and illustrations of costume of those Ireviewed. The essay, “The Role of Entrepreneurs in the Stylistic Development of BatikPasisir,” by Harmen Velduisen, a well-known collector of Javanese batik and author of Batik Belanda 1840-1940: Dutch Influence in Batik from Java: History and Stories

(1993), presents the best discussion in English that I have encountered on Indo-European,Peranakan, Javanese and Indo-Arabian entrepreneurs active along the north coast of Java,spanning the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Catalogue, written by Heringa andVelduisen together, classifies the collection of 82 batik textiles into (i) traditional Pasisirstyle batik in red and blue, (ii) diversification: batik from Peranakan and Indo-Europeanentrepreneurs, (iii) Pekalongan: stronghold of batik belanda (after 1860), (iv) Emblems ofColonial power, (v) modifications by Peranakan entrepreneurs for Peranakan wearers,(vi) return of the kain panjang (vii) additions to traditional Pasisir dress, and (viii)ceremonial cloths. The authors discuss the maker and wearer of each textile presented,introducing characteristics of particular batik designers or workshops and the person whogenerally wore the particular textile.

A very useful appendix illustrates the design format and stylistic variations of thekain panjang and sarung , variations in design format indicating wearer’s marital status,free or slave status prior to 1860, and ethnic distinctions.

Hitchcock, Michael. Indonesian Textiles. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.

The author states that this book is intended “to provide an overview that drawsattention to certain issues rather than provide an encyclopedic record.” The book focuseson common themes and issues concerning Indonesian textiles. It is organized by generaltextile-related subject matter: (i) raw materials used in producing Indonesian textiles



10

(cotton, silk and a wide range of different fibers from tropical plants, a whole range ofnatural dyes), (ii) traditional looms, (iii) ikat, batik and other resist-dye methods (pelangiand teritik), (iv) decorative weaving, embroidery and related techniques, (v) textiles insociety, and (vi) dress, design and color. A nice selection of photographs (100 color and50 black and white) illustrates each element of the discussion, and a bibliography is

organized according to the themes presented. A useful list of museums to visit isincluded. The author is formerly an Assistant Keeper at the Horniman Museum inLondon and at the time of publication was a Lecturer at the Centre for Southeast AsianStudies at the University of Hull.

Howard, Michael C. Textiles of Southeast Asia: An Annotated and Illustrated

Bibliography. Bangkok : White Lotus Co., Ltd., 1994.

Howard’s discussion on the evolution of literature about the textiles of SoutheastAsia and, Indonesia, is particularly useful. He also discusses the evolution in thecollection of ethnographic materials, including textiles and weaving implements, by

major museums worldwide. He notes important exhibitions that have been held in variouscountries. A section on Museum Collections describes the collections of museums in 29countries. The bibliography on Indonesia (45-125) is comprehensive, noting for each publication: the format, the types of textiles discussed, regions covered, and the photographs included. A reference section includes small color photographs illustratingthe various types of textiles. The annotation for each publication is very brief and factual,however, and does not give much commentary or any evaluation by Howard.

Kartiwa, Suwati. Kain Indonesia dan negara Asia lainnya sebagai warisan budaya

(Indonesian and Other Asian Textiles: A Common Heritage.) Jakarta: ProyekPembinaan Museum Nasional, 1994/5.

This book, written in both Indonesian and English, accompanied an exhibition inJarkarta in 1994. The Director General of Culture in the Department of Education andCulture, Professor Dr. H. Edi Sedyawati, noted the importance of the exhibition: “Theobjective of this exhibition is to arouse interest and enlighten the public about theimportance of traditional cloths as a nation’s cultural treasury. In making the publicaware of values contained in these traditional textiles it is hoped that they will become asource of inspiration for creativity and so develop the national culture which reflects thenation’s identity.” The book includes a selection of color and black and white photographs of batiks, ikats, and ceremonial cloths as well as photographs of lifeceremonies and people weaving textiles. I found one passage of special interest; notingthat the Indonesian Designers Association has been engaged in the development oftraditional textiles by producing them as printed textiles or on a handloom, and this hascreated a demand for traditional textiles.



11

Langewis, Laurens and Wagner, Frits. Decorative Art in Indonesian Textiles. 1stEdition. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij C.P.J. Van Der Peet, 1964.

According to Michael Howard, “Southeast Asian textiles were virtually ignored by scholars during the late 1940s through the mid-1960s. About the only exception was

the work of a few individuals in the Netherlands focusing primarily on textiles in theDutch museum collections.” This Langewis and Wagner book was considered one of thetwo most important works produced by this group, although these books were consideredto have broken little new ground beyond what had been done before World War II. (SeeHoward, 3).

This book’s discussion is based on the collection at the Royal Tropical Institute atAmsterdam on cloths dating from the beginning of the 19th century to the beginning ofthe 20th century. The authors consider the most beautiful and most interesting textiles to be the ceremonial cloths. “This results from the fact that the sacral objectives aimed atmake it mandatory to use those designs and patterns which developed from tradition.

Such decorative ornamentations are often the purest in style. As the entire communitywhere such textiles have a ceremonial function is interested in the ultimate result, themaker is compelled to give the very best of her craftsmanship.” (9)

The book includes 216 largely black and white plates classified into three maintypes: (1) reserve dyeing techniques (ikats – warp, weft and double, batiks – paste, bamboo stick and tjanting, plangi and tritik), (2) weaving techniques (supplementaryweft, warp, kelim, sungkit, and pilih), and (3) other ornamenting techniques (embroidery,appliqué, painting, shell and bead work, and glue work). Each type is further divided intosix subdivisions denoting general design motifs: human figure, animal figure,representations of vegetable objects, representations of other objects, purely geometricdesigns, other than purely geometric designs, and composite designs. A furthersubclassification is based on the way the motif has been placed in the totalornamentation. There is no attempt to discuss the functions of the textiles. Most examplesare ikats.

Nabholz-Kartaschoff, Marie-Louise; Barnes, Ruth; and Stuart-Fox, David J., Eds.Indonesian Textile Symposium 1991 (Basel, Switzerland). Weaving Patterns of Life.

Basel, Switzerland: Museum of Ethnography Basel, 1993.

These international symposia, apparently convened every 6 or more years, areinteresting to study for the range of topics being researched (symposia were convened in1979, 1985, 1991 and 1999). Four topics were covered in the 1991 symposium, attended by specialists and students of Indonesian textiles: (1) Textiles in Archaeology andHistory; (2) Iconography; (3) Function and Meaning; and (4) Techniques and TheirInterpretation. Several articles, noted below, were of interest to me. I had not encounteredmuch information on these topics in other literature: an inquiry into the hand-drawn batiks worn by villagers today, research on the “smell” of ikat textiles and itssignificance, and some practical techniques to discern different types of batik.



12

Nian S. Djoemena, in “Batik Treasures of the Special Region of Yogyakarta,”433-448, categorizes batik produced today into three types: (1) fine, hand-drawn batiktaking 9 months to 1 year to make; (2) medium or “dagel” (or “rini”) which is acombination of cap and hand-drawn batik; and (3) coarse quality or “kasar” whichincludes hand-drawn batik done by village people. She noted this last type of batik as

hard to find, since it has been outmoded by mechanically printed batik that is more cost-efficient for villagers to buy rather than produce for their own use. “Since there is a possibility that village people’s batik or batik kasar might become extinct, it isworthwhile to look into and take note of its presence.”

A second article, “Batik Plagiate? How to Distinguish between Batik Tuliks,Batik Cap and Direct Prints,” by Annegret Haake and Hani Winotosastro, 449-455, givessome hints on how to tell if a batik is wax resist; the reverse side will never be lighterthan the facial side and single uncolored threads on the reverse side in a colored area are proof of direct prints or drawings. Illustrations are given to distinguish between batik tulisand cap, while noting that definitive decisions on natural vs. synthetic dyes can only be

done in a laboratory.

Janet Hoskins, in “Snakes, Smells and Dismembered Brides: Men’s and Women’sTextiles in Kodi, West Sumba,” 229-246, discusses the pungent smell of indigo cloths produced by the Kodi people on the western tip of Sumba. “The ‘sniff test’ determinesthe appropriateness of the cloth to be used in certain ritual contexts, especially funeralsand marriages, and its place in the hierarchy of local textiles.”

Shambhala Agile Rabbit Editions. Batik Patterns, Book and CD-ROM. Boston:Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1999.

This book, which should be used in combination with Van Roojen’s book on Batik Design, contains high-quality images for use as a graphic resource (free of charge).All the images are stored on an accompanying CD-ROM in professional-quality, high-resolution format and can be used on either Windows or Mac platforms. The documentscan be imported directly from the CD-ROM into a wide range of layout, image-manipulation, illustration and word-processing programs. It will be extremely useful foreducational purposes, and I expect to utilize this resource for projecting onto a largescreen and for producing graphics in connection with my gallery.

Solyom, Bronwen and Garrett. Fabric Traditions of Indonesia. Pullman, Washington:Washington State University Press and The Museum of Art, Washington StateUniversity, 1984.

This book was originally published in conjunction with the exhibition FabricTraditions of Indonesia organized by the Museum of Art, Washington State University,largely based on the textile collection of alumnus Timothy Manring and his wifeIndrastuti Hadiputranto. The authors have looked at the evolution of textiles in Indonesialinked to non-loom traditions such as painted bark-cloth, beadwork and plaitwork. The publication is organized with separate chapters on bark-cloth, mats and plaitwork



13

traditions, beads and shells, warp stripes and warp ikat, silks and international trade,cotton supplementary weft traditions, cloth painting and batik traditions. The authors tryto show that the sophistication and artistry of non-loom products equals that found inloom-woven textiles. The discussion includes 72 color and black and white figures.

The Textile Museum. Arts of Asia. Washington D.C.: January-February 1996. TheJournal of the Textile Museum is a useful reference for students and collectors, coveringa broad range of subjects related to research on textiles.

This particular volume is noteworthy for several articles. The first, “Legacy ofCollector George Hewitt Myers,” by Carol Bier, discusses the establishment of TheTextile Museum in 1925, preceding the National Gallery of Art that was established in1941. Myers always challenged his Board to consider the wisdom and benefit of utilizinghistorical collections to inspire contemporary artists and designers, as evidenced by theMuseum’s active role in exhibitions, research and licensing. “Always perceptive ofhistorical textiles as indicators of cultural change, Geroge Hewitt Myers knew that to

study textiles was to learn about the world. With that understanding he laid theintellectual foundation that continues to sustain the institution…” (64)

The second, “Southeast Asian Textiles at The Textile Museum,” by MattiebelleGittinger, discusses the role of collector George Hewitt Myers in collecting SoutheastAsian textiles. She makes the point that only recently has Southeast Asia been recognizedas a major textile producing area of the world, despite the early efforts of a few Dutchscholars in the first quarter of the twentieth century. She notes that the intent of most ofthe early acquisitions of textiles from this region was as ethnographic specimens not astextile art. “Admittedly a few individuals who had access to this material recognized itsartistic value [A.K. Coomaraswamy at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston as well as anumber of individuals in the Netherlands], but there was not the swell of interest thatwould eventually grow during the last half of the twentieth century to culminate in thetextile collecting frenzy of the 1980s.” (94) Gittinger therefore treats Myers generouslysince he collected a few Indonesian textiles as textile art in 1931 and 1943 (purchasesfrom Colin McPhee) and again between 1953 and 1957 (from Laurens Langewis, a Dutchcollector). At this time, there was not a literature base on these textiles to serve as a guideto collection building. The remainder of the article highlights textiles from the collection.

The third, “Caring for Textiles,” by Sara Wolf, Director of Conservation andCollection at The Textile Museum, provides extremely useful advice for the collector on: properties of textile fibers, deterioration of textiles, care and maintenance of textilecollections, and proper storage and display. One particular fact, that some of the worstdeterioration occurs when wood, paper and cardboard are used improperly in display andstorage, has already led me to reconsider my gallery design. Addresses of archivalsuppliers in the United States are included.



14

Tirta, Iwan. Batik, A Play of Light and Shade (Volume 1) and Gallery, A Collection

of Batik Patterns and Designs (Volume 2). Jakarta: Gaya Favorit Press, 1996.

This two-volume set is a piece of art itself with pen and ink drawings and photographs, telling the story of batik within the structure of a classical wayang kulit

play. The Talu or overture discusses the history of early batik; the Adeg Jejer gives anoverview of batik in the royal courts; Adeg Sabrang explains outside influences; Goro-Goro, a period of upheaval, Tirta uses as a metaphor to discuss the period starting withthe outbreak of World War II and the downfall of the Dutch administration during which Hokokai batiks appeared and pagi-sore batik compositions emerged as a practicalinvention to conserve cotton. Batik with a pan-Indonesian character emerged in the early1960s and culminated in the late 1970s; he highlights the roles of Harjonagoro (alsoknown as Go Tik Swan) whom he considers the pioneer of ”Batik Indonesia” (born into awell-known peranakan Chinese family that had made quality batik for years in Solo).Harjonagoro added new colors and enlarged traditional designs from central Java andwith Mrs. Bintang Sudibyo (known as Ibu Sud) opened Indonesia’s first batik boutique in

1953. Harjonagoro was heavily patronized by Sukarno and his batik activities wanedfollowing the aborted coup in 1965. Other personalities that Tirta considers importantare: Ibu Kanjeng Harjowiratmo from Wonogiri and her daughter Raden Ayu PraptiniPartaningrat who are well-known for their golden soga batiks, Nyai Bei Mardusari whose batiks are distinguished by the use of special isen-isen, Haji Maria Noor’s workshop inYogyakarta whose brown and white batiks are considered of special quality, Mrs.Setyowati Sakri from Pekalongan who specialized in soft pastel batiks, and theworkshops of Madmil and Masina near Cirebon. Iwan himself is well known for hisexperimentation, what he calls his “microscope approach” to batik design where heenlarges designs. He has also experimented with different materials and with designmotifs from all parts of Indonesia.

Finally the Tancep Kayon or epilogue discusses the mass production of silk-screened prints and his vision of batik in the future. While he believes that batik has arobust future, he predicts that the mid-sized batik workshops will disappear, that batikcap will no longer be profitable, and that studio-type workshops producing high-qualityhandmade and hand-drawn batiks will survive, directed to highly discriminating clients.“It is ironic to end my reflections on batik by saying that the batiks of Java, which startedas ceremonial cloth worn by a precious few, now in a modern form will emerge again asa specialty product for the elite in Indonesia, as well as abroad. It will be available tothose who recognize and support batik for the high artistry and top quality this fabledcloth has brought to the world.” (198) Volume 1 includes a glossary of important termsand a selected bibliography.

Volume II includes a collection of 69 color plates that are personal choices of theauthor based on what he perceives as beautiful, organized according to regional origin.They are preceded by pen drawings of batik motifs, which show the intricacy andstructural basis of the patterns before they are enhanced by dyes. On the reverse side ofeach plate are some historical, artistic and personal observations about the patterns anddesigns, the artists, the craftspeople, and the methodology.



15

Van Hout, Itie. Editor. Batik – Drawn in Wax: 200 Years of Batik Art from Indonesia

in the Tropenmuseum Collection. Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute/KITPublishers, 2001.

The most recent publication on batik that I have read, this book is published in

conjunction with the 2001 exhibition Drawn in Wax – 200 Years of Textile Art from Indonesia mounted in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. The Tropenmuseum now ownsa collection of over 3000 pieces from the major batik centers on Java, Madura andSumatra. The book emphasizes batik as a product of intercultural contact in a societywhere different ethnic groups lived “next to or with each other” and containscontributions based on recent research in batik discussed from a historical or a combinedhistorical/anthropological point of view. There is an attempt “to avoid presenting textilesas ‘timeless’objects from a ‘timeless’ culture, as ethnographic objects are so oftenrepresented, and to see them as meaningful items from a specific cultural context and awell-defined historical period.” The authors accomplish this by tracing the personalstories of the textile donors and relating these stories to the textiles.

The book presents an interesting collection of essays covering history, design,and research methodology on batik. The book is particularly strong on tracing thechanging Dutch-Indonesian relationships through the changing Dutch approach to batik between 1815 and 1950. There are good discussions on Juynboll and Rouffaer, the role ofKartini (who also wrote on batik), exploring the main theme of Rouffaer’s writing “that batik is in danger and the authentic quality of Javanese design and production will be lostunder the influence of ‘Europeanization.’ Gerret Pieter Rouffaer and H.H. Juynboll published the famous De batik-kunst in Nederlandsch-Indie en haar geschiedenis in1900, a very influential book that included detailed descriptions of batik from all knownsources at that time including social and economic studies conducted by colonialgovernment officials, scientific research about the history of Javanese culture, exhibitionsand private collections that were available to their research, Kartini’s manuscript on batik, and the experiments conducted by Dutch artists in the Colonial Museum inHaarlem in the 1890s. Rouffaer, Secretary of the Royal Institute of Linguistics andAnthropology in Leiden for many years, was considered by many as the ultimateauthority on batik. “His authority connected the world of private collectors with the worldof museums and research and with the commercial use of batik.” (56)

A chapter on “Javanese batik for European artists: Experiments at the KoloniaalLaboratorium in Haarlem” by Maria Wronska-Fiend is especially interesting, showinghow Javanese batik techniques were used by European artists as part of the movement torevive Western crafts at the turn of the century, in opposition to industrial mass-produceddecorative objects. “The fascination of Javanese batik…had not only to do with its perception of being the ultimate example of a harmonious integration of practicality andaesthetics …Javanese batik textiles offered European artists the technical qualities theymost admired: hand-applied wax-resist provided each of the decorated fabrics withindividual, unique features resulting from the touch of the human hand and allowed agreat deal of personal expression.” (107) The students and artists who worked at theHaarlem laboratory, including a number of foreigners, were influential in popularizing



16

batik in Europe. “..although the direct impact of Haarlem batiks on European textilescame to an end with the First World War, the introduction of this Javanese technique toEuropean art remains the lasting contribution of the Koloniaal Museum, which allowedthousands of Europeans to become acquainted with one of the greatest textile traditions inthe world.” (123)

Chapter 6 on “The Chinese batiks of Java,” presents interesting genealogicalresearch that G. Duggan carried out on Peranakan or Indo-Chinese batik manufacturersalong the north coast of Java, discussing what the signatures on batik cloths reveal about batik designers. Chapter 9 on “Batik on Batik: A Wayang Story as a Record of BatikDesign” by Itie van Hout is instructive in showing how the latest research techniques areapplied to an unusual textile that had been studied several times in the past. In the last part of the book, the various themes of the exhibition are illustrated by many of themasterpieces from the collection.

Van Roojen, Pepin. Batik Design. Boston: Shambhala, 1997.

Following a brief discussion of batik techniques and applications, the book presents four classifications of batik designs: classical batik, Pasisir batik (batik of the Northern Coast of Java), batik in Sumatra, and batik from the Malay Peninsula. Theauthor traces the origins and developments of the motifs and patterns; enlarged color photographs of batik textile fragments allow a detailed view of the particular designs,while the addition of black and white design illustrations help to delineate the majorfloral, plant, and animal motifs. Batiks are also identified by the workshop or designer.The most extensive treatment is of Pasisir batik. A useful glossary of Indonesian terms isincluded.

Warming, Wanda and Gaworski, Michael. The World of Indonesian Textiles. Tokyo:Kodansha International Ltd., 1981 (paperback edition, 1991).

This book is an introductory text on the range of textiles found in Indonesia today,with separate chapters devoted to warp ikat, other ikat cloths and tie-dyeing, weaving andwoven patterns (supplementary warp textiles, embroidery, prada cloth and beadedtextiles) and batiks. The discussions are detailed with 52 color plates and 153 photographs and illustrations of textiles and textile techniques and tools. The discussionof batik includes formulas for actual wax resists used in both hand-drawn and stamped batik and formulas for dyeing and fixing solutions.

Books on Architecture and Interior Design

Ginanneschi, Isabella and Wijaya, Made. At Home in Bali. New York: Abbeville Press,2000.

Helmi, Rio and Walker, Barbara. Bali Style. New York: The Vendome Press, 2000.



17

Sosrowardoyo, Tara; Schoppert, Peter; and Damais, Soedarmadji. Java Style.Singapore: Periplus, 1997.

Tan, Hock Bong. Indonesian Accents: Architecture, Interior Design and Art. NewYork: Visual Reference Publications, Inc., 1999.

I have reviewed all four of these books to see how architects and interiordesigners, from both the East and West, have integrated Indonesian textiles into theirdesign concepts. All of these books have wonderful photographs of Indonesianarchitecture and landscaping, showing the evolution of design incorporating varioustraditional motifs and modern design concepts and technologies, yet they do not reflect asmuch of the textile arts as I had expected.

Indonesian Accents highlights the work of the architecture and design firm ofGrahacipta Hadiprana in Jakarta, a firm that has handled residential and commercial projects throughout Indonesia. While acknowledging the importance of Indonesian

textiles, in particular batik, ikat and prada, the work shown in this book features relativelyfew examples in the interiors other than an antique Sumba weaving and batik-cladwayang kulit puppets. Java Style is the best of these books in showing how Indonesiantextiles are utilized in interior design within Javanese homes owned by higher incomeartists today. The chapter on “Contemporary Homes: Java Style for the 21st Century,”shows batiks as table linens, batik designs in tinted concrete floors, the homes andworkshops of two well- known batik designers K.R.T. Hardjonegoro and Iwan Tirta (thelatter showing quilted batik bed linens started by a group of Americans living in Jakartain the late 1980s), Madurese batik, Savu ikat hangings, batik and other textiles in thehomes of batik designers Asmoro Damais in Jakarta, Ardyanto near Yogyakarta, andJosephine Kumara of the Bin House in Jakarta (a gallery and workshop in centralJakarta). A useful chapter illustrates the furniture of traditional Indonesia, Batavia, Neoclassical, and Modern periods – all of which are still produced and exported today.

Bali Style and At Home in Bali include a wonderful selection of photographs,capturing the exotic beauty of the landscape, architecture and art of the island. At Home

in Bali features 24 houses, both traditional and modern, built in different settings – a pondok pavilion dwelling amongst the rice fields, a classic village house situated in themountains, and beach homes and gardens. Many of the homes or sites are owned byWestern artists and designers who work in Bali, and include restorations of homes owned by legendary Western artists who lived in Bali in the early twentieth century. Theseinclude a series of cottages approximating the original pavilions on land once owned byColin McPhee (the Canadian born writer and composer who lived on Bali during the1930s), Walter Spies and Theo Meyer. The author is an Australian-born architect andlandscape designer who has lived in Bali since 1973. Bali Style is a broader treatment ofBalinese religion, custom and culture (agama, adat and budaya), illustrated with some330 color photographs of temples, homes, arts and crafts. “Bali’s distinctive style is amultiplicity of concepts intricately woven for dramatic effect; a layering of vivid colors,textures and rhythmic patterns boldly revealed in elegant forms…Startling imagery andhighly sophisticated design motifs are unexpectedly interlaced with pure whimsy.



18

Incredibly beautiful art forms contrast with a sense of humor to create a smile and provide a reminder that life is not so serious.” A section, “Architectural Notebook,”illustrates principles of architectural design and design motifs. The author is BarbaraWalker, an American design consultant to several museums in the U.S.

Clifton-Mogg, Caroline. Textilestyle: The Art of Using Antique and Exotic Fabrics toDecorate Your Home. London: Jacqui Small, an imprint of Aurum Press Ltd., 2000.This book features photographs of interiors designed by five internationally known professional decorators and includes a discussion and photographs of the major groups oftextiles, which has the distinction of omitting batik and within the category of woventextiles – the great variety of those produced in Indonesia! The book is wonderful for theinterplay of color and texture in the textiles displayed and the ways they are displayed inhome interiors. But what a shame that this author apparently has no knowledge ofSoutheast Asian textiles, although she devotes one section to paisley shawls fromKashmir! This book is sold through the Textile Museum in Washington D.C.



19

THE ISLAND GALLERY

INDONESIAN TEXTILES IN SEATTLE MUSEUMS

MAY-JUNE 2002

I. BURKE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND

CULTURE

27 ITEMS ARRANGED BY BATIK AND IKAT

II. HENRY ART GALLERY

107 ITEMS ARRANGED BY BATIK AND IKAT

III.

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

466 ITEMS FROM THE MANRING COLLECTION

ARRANGED BY PROVINCE

SUMATRA: 1-234

JAVA: 235-260

BALI: 261-279

KALIMANTAN: 280-281

SULAWESI: 282-292

LOMBOK: 293-300SUMBAWA: 301-305

FLORES: 306-318

LEMBATA: 319-322

SUMBA: 323-352

SAVU: 353-365

ROTI: 366-394

TIMOR: 395-426

TANIMBAR, KISAR AND LUANG: 427-435

LAOS, INDIA, MALAYSIA: 436-466

IV. INDONESIAN TEXTILES: A SELECTED AND

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

indonesian textiles a selected bibliography

Documents