Читать книгу Textiles of Southeast Asia - Robyn Maxwell - Страница 10

Chapter 2

THE FOUNDATIONS

The ancestors of today's Southeast Asian textile artisans have lived in the region for thousands of years. Gradual prehistoric migrations brought peoples from Taiwan and southern China into the region (and, in the case of the Austronesian speakers, out into the Pacific) where they merged with or subsumed earlier populations. The estimated time span of these eras, based on archaeological evidence, varies considerably across the Southeast Asian region. The prehistorian Bellwood points out that 'the Neolithic period begins at different times in different areas of Southeast Asia, but it is generally superseded by bronze-using cultures soon after 1000 BC, and perhaps by as early as 3500 BC in Thailand' (1979: 153).¹ The early settlers' languages- Prato-Austronesian, Austro-Asiatic and Thai-Kadai-formed the basis of those of present-day Southeast Asia. From the period of these migrations the cultural foundations were established for many Southeast Asian customs and techniques that are still evident today.

Original cultural traits included a belief in ancestors and spirits, shamanism, omens and magic, extended burial rites, head-hunting and tattooing, the domestication of certain animals, early forms of agriculture and boat-building. No centralized class system seems to have existed: status and authority were based largely on family descent groups in localized districts (Bellwood, 1979; 1985). Aspects of early Southeast Asian life are still reflected in the fabrics of the region, in their motifs and the ways in which they are used.²

Throughout the Late Neolithic and Metal Ages, objects of utility and ritual in the region were decorated in increasingly elaborate styles. Prehistoric burial sites across the region provide sufficient evidence of artifacts, tools, techniques and designs to allow speculation on the earliest forms of fabric and decoration (Bellwood, 1979: Chapters 7 and 8). The crafts of bark-cloth making and weaving were probably well developed before the ancestral migrations occurred.³ Significantly, many of the patterns and motifs that form the striking ornamentation found on prehistoric pottery and metal work are also found in the textile art of the region. For example, the spirals of the 3000-year-old Ban Chiang pots are still recognizable on the regional weavings of Thailand.⁴ While archaeologists generally end this prehistoric period at the time of Christ when the region became subject to the growing influences of India and China, some of the textile materials and techniques used during the prehistoric period have survived in the region into recent times.

LEAVES, BARK AND FIBRES: THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARLIEST FABRICS

31,32

Unprocessed leaves and plant fibres have long been used to make clothing, and simple garments from these materials have been worn by isolated Southeast Asian groups into the twentieth century. The similarity of many leaf and fibre skirts across the region indicates that the materials have largely determined the shape and structure of these clothes. Their use in remote areas, from Burma to New Guinea, but especially on the islands of Enggano and Mentawai off the west coast of Sumatra, on Luzon, Palawan and Mindanao in the Philippines, and among the Sakai of peninsular Malaysia, suggests that this type of clothing was worn in Neolithic times. It was probably the apparel of the early inhabitants of the region who were displaced and absorbed by more technologically advanced prehistoric immigrants.

In this century, in many cultures where other clothing materials are now available, leaves and fibres are still used as ritual garb. Examples of such use include the personification of the evil spirit encased in fibre on the island of Buru in Indonesia (Gittinger, 1979c: 50, Fig.20), the masked shamans of Borneo (Khan Majlis, 1984: Col. Plates opp. 48), the fibre-enveloped dancers of certain 'Bali Aga' villages and the delicately folded formal palm-leaf headbands of mountain Sumbawa, Bali and Lombok. In Bengkulu, however, the veil of leaves that forms the bride's head-dress is now fashioned from silver Gasper and Pirngadie, 1927: 153), while in Bali and many other parts of Indonesia, the flowers and leaves previously used to create decorative head-dresses have been transformed into crowns of gold which still retain the essential floral form.

33,34

35

36

Bark-cloth beaters, very similar to those still used today, have been found in a number of Neolithic archaeological sites (Bellwood,. 1979: 173-4).⁵ These stone mallets were obviously used to beat bark to form felted fabric. The texture of bark fabric and its potential as a raw material to fashion garments varies considerably. At one end of the spectrum, crude untreated pieces of bark were stitched together with fibre, a technique used to form effective protective coats for some Dayak warriors in Borneo. Softer, smoother, felted surfaces were achieved by soaking and pounding the bark fibres with mallets, and paper-fine quality was produced from the careful processing of the bark of certain trees.

One of the plants used to make fine bark-cloth, the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), is one of the oldest cultivated plants in Southeast Asia (Bellwood, 1979: 139). The extent of its cultivation is uncertain although it was still being planted in Java in the nineteenth century (Kooijman, 1963: 58-62).⁶ The finest bark-cloth offered great freedom for design, and could be readily painted or printed with pigments, as in many traditional Balinese paintings. Some such paintings were executed on good quality white bark-cloth imported from Sulawesi well into this century (Forge, 1978: 9, Fig.48; Solyom and Solyom, 1985: 3). In Bali it is possibly significant that the calendars for the Balinese 210-day year (wuku) used for prediction were often on bark-cloth. According to some Balinese informants, bark-cloth was also the preferred fabric for death-cloths.⁷ With the spread of written scripts throughout the region, bark became the raw material used for sacred manuscripts, talismanic hieroglyphs and even magical cures for illness.⁸

This turn-of-the-century photograph shows women from mountainous Luzon in the Philippines wearing leaf skirts. Their male companion wears a woven cotton loincloth.

A 1929 photograph of two women from the island of Mentawai, off the west coast of Sumatra, wearing costume constructed of various leaves

38,39

37

Painted decoration on bark-cloth throughout insular Southeast Asia ranges from broad, strong strokes to fine, detailed, linear patterns similar to those found on wood and bamboo carving. Paintings with soot and ochres have been found in Stone Age caves in the region,⁹ and painted bark-cloth made in the central Philippines, Seram, central Sulawesi and by the various Dayak groups of Borneo, appears to draw upon similar ancient designs and techniques. The framing border commonly found on Lake Sentani painted bark-cloth fabrics is an unusual decorative device. The manner in which figures often protrude from the linear frame or even stand outside looking in indicates the strikingly free design format permitted by painting on bark-cloth. While these cloths are worn by women on festive occasions, they are also hung over a young woman's grave (Kooijman, 1959: 20). Further east in Polynesia, the similar design structure of some painted bark-cloths to that of many Indonesian woven cloths led the textile historian, Alfred Bühler, to suggest the possibility of a lost weaving art in that Pacific region (1969: 228). It seems more likely that the ancient design elements of both the Pacific and Southeast Asia, particularly of the Austronesian peoples within the region, have been continually developed and transformed, using various materials and decorative techniques. Consequently, similar patterns have often emerged in both regions.

40

Bark-cloth beaters are easily transportable and many of the groups who used bark-cloth were shifting cultivators and hunters. However, many are now settled agriculturalists and alternatives to bark-cloth, such as various types of thread and cloth, are widely available. As a result, the use of bark-cloth has almost disappeared except for isolated pockets of insular Southeast Asia.¹⁰ However, in some cultures where bark-cloth has long been replaced by woven fabrics for everyday and festive wear, bark-cloth garments, as well as leaf cloaks and skirts, still hold ritual significance and appear to offer the necessary symbolic protection at funerals and other such times of spiritual disorientation. For example, in southern Borneo bark-cloth is donned in rites associated with death, including the simulated death that takes place during ritual tattooing and the ritual rebirth of circumcision ceremonies. In the same region, a widow or widower wears clothing made of bark-cloth until the mortuary feast to ensure her or his own continued 'existence' after the funeral (Scharer, 1963: 89-90). A bark-cloth fabric is included amongst the full set of four death cloths required for an Ifugao of importance, though these are not often worn in Luzon today (Roces, 1985: fn.6).

A photograph by Fay Cooper-Cole, taken in 1907-08, of a group of Batak people dressed for a ceremony on Palawan, in the Philippines. All participants are wearing bark-cloth wraps, loincloths and head-dresses, many of which exhibit hand-painted designs.

Bark-cloth continues to be made to the present day in the northern regions of central Sulawesi and is used for delicate ceremonial garments and sturdy everyday apparel including sleeping covers, rectangular headcloths for men, tunics and huge cylindrical skirts for women. A range of bark-beating implements is shown against a cloth of fine white bark (fuya or nunu) produced by an ancient felting technique. The surfaces of the stone head of the pébamba or iké are of different grades for the early and middle stages of the bark-pounding process. The wooden mallet that is applied to finish the finest cloth is also known as an iké.

baju sungkit man's jacket Tebidah Dayak people, Sintang district, west Kalimantan, Indonesia bark-cloth, cotton, natural dyes embroidery 34.5 x 45.0 ern Rijksrnuseurn voor Volkenkunde, Leiden 781-59

This nineteenth-century bark-cloth jacket displays decoration in the form of stitched reinforcement, one of the earliest forms of embroidery in the Southeast Asian region. The hooked rhornb designs, in white thread, contrast with the brown bark-cloth base. The garment has woven insets at each side and red and blue cotton binding. In other parts of Kalimantan, thick, soft bark-cloth jackets are patterned with painted or stencilled designs (Wassing-Visser, 1983: 12, 84; Gittinger, 1979c: 224).

Two young women wearing layered bark-cloth skirts (nunu) till the rice fields near Kulawi, central Sulawesi.

saboiboi (?) woman's skirtcloth Lake Sentani region, Irian Jaya, Indonesia bark-cloth, ochres painting 127.0 x 57.0 ern Australian National Gallery 1985.1870

The framed asymmetry of this Lake Sentani painted bark-cloth contrasts with the bold repeated designs on other Melanesian bark-cloth. Cloths of these dimensions are worn by women as festive skirts, and on the death of a young woman, bark-cloths are also hung by the grave. This particular cloth, with ochre-brown and black designs on a natural ground, was part of a collection of ethnographic art belonging to and inspiring the European artist Max Ernst. It was probably brought to Paris in the early 1930s.

szga man's headcloth To Bada people, Bada district, central Sulawesi, Indonesia bark-cloth, pigments painting 92.0 x 91.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1982.2296

Studies of Toraja bark-cloth iconography (Kaudern, 1944; Kooijman, 1963; Adriani and Kruyt, 1912; Greub, 1988) suggest that the central motif on this black, white and luminous-pink headcloth of paper-thin, felted bark-cloth represents either the sirih leaves used in the ancient custom of betel-nut chewing or the ears of the water buffalo. However, buffalo-head patterns (petonu or petondu) can be clearly identified in each corner of the cloth. Other motifs on this early twentieth-century bark-cloth may represent the sun or valuable beads.

(detail) baro (?) loincloth Halmahera, Indonesia bark-cloth, pigments, shells painting, drawing, appliqué Museum voor Land- en Volkenkunde, Rotterdam 6814

Meticulous black and white pigment-painted line drawings decorate the belts, loincloths and head-dresses of Seram and the Halmaheras. In this late nineteenth-century example of two ends of a loincloth from Halmahera, the basic fabric is fine, cream-coloured bark-cloth, stained with yellow and brown. The remnants of a shell appliqué trim are still evident.

poté widow's hood Sa'dan Toraja people, central Sulawesi, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes tablet weaving, macramé, tapestry weave 110.0 x 92.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1983.3685

This is an unusual tablet- and tapestry-woven fabric, folded and joined along one side to form a hood. It seems to date from around 1900. Like most Sa'dan Toraja funeral garments, after weaving it has been dyed black, apparently with crushed Homolanthus populneas leaves and mud. Articles of clothing of the deceased are ceremonially blackened with leaves and mud, and it seems that the hoods worn by Sa'dan Toraja widows were also coloured in this way (Solyom and Solyom, 1985: 4 7; Nooy-Palm, 1975: 66). Toraja men also wear poté mourning cloths but of a different type. Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, bark-cloth appears to have been retained as widows' garb, and mourning hoods made from bark-cloth are recorded among certain Dayak peoples of Borneo.

The Dusun and Tempasuk of Sabah wear cowl-like hoods for both work and ceremonial occasions, sometimes with bead or shell bands along the edges. Although comparatively rare, these various examples of shaped hoods may have developed from the widespread Southeast Asian practice of covering the head with an open or folded textile during funerary and other life-cycle rites.

pio uki' ceremonial loincloth; banner Kalumpang or Sa'dan Toraja people, central Sulawesi, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 51 7.0 x 51.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1127

This early twentieth-century ceremonial hanging follows the older format for men's loincloths (pio or piu), with an undecorated white centre for wrapping around the body and intricately worked woven panels which fall in front and behind the wearer. In the twentieth century, the pio have also functioned as ceremonial banners, known as tombi, which are apparently viewed as talismans (Koubi, 1982: 219 fn. 6). The term uki' (ukir, to carve) suggests that the patterns on these loincloths, like the patterning (okir) on cloths woven by the Maranao women of Mindanao, are closely related to the carving done by men.

The realistic scenes of village life including buffalo-drawn ploughs, dogs, chickens in cages and traditional houses found on this cloth are rare on Southeast Asian textiles. The scene evokes images of fertility and prosperity, and the large number of figures suggests the importance of this cloth. The figure in the lower left corner is probably female, while a man sits in the shelter accompanied by his prize fighting-cock. The curved roof of the structure, a rice granary rather than a large dwelling, is identical to those still fou nd in Sa'dan Toraja villages today and this is reinforced by the effect of the floating weft threads which suggests thatching. The empty shape in the upper right-hand corner probably depicts a fish-pond in the rice fields.

In contrast to the human figures, which appear in red, the buffaloes are worked in blue thread, with the heads turned to show their wide horn span. One appears to have a highly valued light blaze on its forehead. The schematic designs in the other supplementary weft bands in red, blue and green, include the star-shaped motif known as doli langi' (spots of heaven), like the buffalo a symbol of wealth and abundance.

A platoon of local Filipino soldiers from a regiment raised in Luzon early this century. Despite their recruitment into the American colonial army, the men still wear their traditional loincloths and brass leggings.

hita; hitilirrati man's loincloth or girdle Oirata district (?), Kisar, South Maluku, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, supplementary weft weave, twining 10.6 x 301.2 cm; 13.0 x 250.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.383; 1985.384

These nineteenth-century men's cotton loincloths demonstrate the contrast between the warp patterns in subdued red or brown, blue and neutral warp ikat and the bright yellow supplementary weft ends which hang when worn in front and behind. Loincloths with these elaborate, asymmetrical, supplementary patterns were reserved for ceremonial wear. The same ancient warp ikat motifs are also found in horizontal bands on woman's cylindrical skirts. While zigzag patterns appear to depict snakes, and other Kisar loincloths also contain bird motifs, the meaning of the hooks and spirals is unknown. Small human figures appear along the borders of the shorter cloth. Loincloths on Kisar, as elsewhere in Southeast Asia, are no longer worn as originally intended and are now used as girdles and shawls.

tanda sirat; klapong sirat end-panels of a man's loincloth Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes, brass bells supplementary weft weave, supplementary weft wrapping 42.0 x 28.6 cm; 47.0 x 31.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1149

The decorative ends of the long wrap-around loincloth (sirat) of the Iban (and those of other closely related Dayak groups in Indonesian Kalimantan such as the Desa and the Kantuk) are usually worked in supplementary thread patterns, usually red and indigo-blue on a white foundation weave. Both panels are sometimes woven in one length of fabric to be cut and sewn to a separate length of plain cloth, in this instance apparently a length of red Indian imported cotton fabric. However, the designs on each sirat end are usually characteristically different. On this late nineteenth-century example, the patterns on the rear panel are contained in narrow bands of supplementary weft weaving (pilih) while the front panel consists of a square of supplementary weft-wrapped design (sungkit) filled with stylized figures. The anthropomorphic figures are reduced to crosses on the front, and pairs of similar stylized figures also appear on the back.

41,42

43,44

Despite the replacement of bark-cloth, certain ancient forms of clothing originally made from the fabric are still being used. One example is the decorated loincloth which is still the main male garment of many largely isolated mountain cultures throughout both mainland and insular Southeast Asia. Most loincloths are made of plain, woven fabric with elaborately patterned ends that hang down front and back. The patterns on the end sections of loincloths produced during the last century often resemble those on some of the earliest stone statues found in the region.¹¹

45

Over time the functions of certain textile types may change. Nowadays, for example, heirloom Toraja loincloths (pio) are used mainly as ceremonial banners. Sacred woven cloths taking the name of loincloths (cawet) are also worn around the necks of male participants in certain sacred rites in Bali.¹² The cotton tunics worn by Toraja women were also originally made from bark-cloth, and sometimes bark-cloth has been retained as a lining for cotton garments. In fact, the use of bark-cloth has survived in Borneo and south Sumatra mainly as a foundation or lining for other materials.¹³

46,47

Elaborate matting skills probably existed in prehistoric times. Interlacing (or plaiting) usually requires only a simple instrument to strip the fibre and, as with textiles and the wooden apparatus used to make them, no ancient mats have survived thousands of years of hot, wet, tropical conditions. We are left with imprints on prehistoric pottery which was beaten with basketry or corded paddles.¹⁴ Matting and forms of twining, however, may have been the forerunners of more recent textile traditions, and like bark-cloth fabric, are still the basis for textile seats, mats, bags and some types of tunics decorated with shells and beads.

halili petondu woman's tunic To Kaili people, central Sulawesi, Indonesia bark-cloth, cotton, mica appliqué, embroidery 79.0 x 58.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.590

The major motif on this early twentieth-century tunic from the north-west region of central Sulawesi is the petondu, the buffalo motif depicted as a schematic star with eight curling embroidered points. Although the graceful curve of the buffalo horn is an ancient symbol in this area often appearing on painted bark-cloth and woodcarving, in this instance the appliqué is applied to commercial cotton cloth. Bark-cloth (nunu) is used, however, as a lining. The visual impact of the garment is increased by the addition of mica discs among the red and orange fabric diamonds.

The earliest types of clothing may have included plaited hats, baskets and carry-bags. Similar patterns can be achieved through interlacing and weaving and this suggests that the same visual aesthetics were retained with the change from one technology to the other. On the other hand, the designs on woven textiles, whatever the basic fibre, contrast markedly with those on painted bark-cloth, and appliqué textiles that follow bark-cloth styles. These techniques allow both angular and curving shapes and a greater freedom than can easily be achieved by weaving.¹⁵

48,49

50,51

54

The motifs on basketry and mats are often similar to those on woven textiles. Across the island of Borneo, for example, decorative designs on both mats and textiles have been identified on Metal Age objects found there. Burial sites dating between 1600 and 400 BC in the Niah Caves of Sarawak have yielded shell discs,¹⁶ beads, bone needles, wooden coffins and pottery ornamented with bold, rectangular meanders and spirals in red, black and cream.¹⁷ The designs on mats and other plaited objects made by the Kenyah-Kayan and Ot Danum-Ngaju people exploit hooks and spirals using black and undyed fibres, while patterns in the same style can be found in the supplementary pilih designs on Iban women's skirts and jackets. While most body tension loom weaving uses a simple 'one-under-one-over' tabby weave, twill weaves which have created textures on cloth quite akin to plaiting or matting have also been produced in many parts of Southeast Asia, and discoveries of fragments of twill weave vegetable-fibre fabric in the Niah Caves in Sarawak are the oldest known woven fabric yet to be discovered in insular Southeast Asia. Twill fabrics in Borneo Gager Gerlings, 1952: Figs 18-21) have been made with leaf fibres such as lemba or doyo (Curculigo latifolia), although it seems that the Ifugao textiles of this genre were woven from twisted bark fibres.¹⁸

This rice barn in the Karo Batak region of north Sumatra is decorated with motifs similar to those found on textiles. The plaited bamboo under the roof forms geometric patterns while a long lizard shape is depicted along each side of the lower wall.

Hooked rhomb designs are evident in the painting on this grave structure of a rich Katieng woman from Ratanakiri province, Cambodia, and the finial displays a serpent-headed ship, an ancient transition symbol throughout Southeast Asia. Graves of similar appearance decorated with woven cloth over a bamboo frame are erected by the Jarai of southern Vietnam (Leuzinger, 1978: 235, Pl. 298).

(detail) uhu wai kalung (?) communal mat Punan Aput people, Long Sulé, central Kalimantan, Indonesia rattan fibre, natural black dyes interlacing 570.0 x 154.0 em Australian National Gallery 1986.1247

kain pilih woman's skirt Iban people, Layar River, Sarawak, Malaysia cotton, dyes supplementary weft weave 47.0 x 52.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.1 746

This black, red and white woman's skirt in the distinctive supplementary, floating weft weave known to the Iban as pilih, has the same dramatic visual impact as the two-coloured plaited mats of the non-textile weaving Punan of central Kalimantan. The reverse sides of both mat and textile reveal the same pattern in negative. While the meaning of the formal patterning on the cylindrical skirt is uncertain, the mat motifs include representations of the mighty hornbill in various schematic arrangements, depictions of the North Star and the eye of the blowpipe, and several vegetative patterns. Many of these designs closely follow Kenyah-Kayan motifs from the same region of Borneo. Like Iban textiles, such huge mats are stored as heirlooms and displayed by families on ritual occasions. Both black and white items demonstrate the continuation of ancient skills and patterns into the twentieth century.

pha biang ceremonial shawl Tai Phuan people, Xieng Khouang, Laos silk, cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 236.0 x 42.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1922

The asymmetrical design structure of Lao shawls, with an undecorated centre and unequal ends of different patterning that are sometimes stitched to the central section, is similar to that of men's loincloths elsewhere in the Southeast Asian region. So too are the intricate hooked lozenge patterns that form the basis of this design. On this early twentieth-century Tai Phuan cloth, rows of birds, paired dragons and long-nosed lions have been placed between the formal decorative bands. This cloth uses bright yellow, blue, white and green supplementary silk wefts against a deep lac-red foundation weave of mixed silk and cotton.

kelambi pilih jacket Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 114.0 x 46.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1148

The natural world is a popular source of designs for the weavers of Southeast Asia. The bands of floating red and blue pilih motifs on this early twentieth-century jacket could only be exactly explained by the weaver who made the jacket. However, the various hooks and spirals have been identified by one experienced Iban weaver to include gourd seeds (igi genok), horse mango (buah bunut), forked roots (akar besimpang), the long rice vessel (tungkus asi panjaz) and diamond patterns (buah lunchong). Similar patterns are repeated on the front. A jacket of this length is worn by a ritual orator (lemambang) while officiating at Iban festivals (gawat).

pua kumbu ceremonial cloth Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 279.0 x 167.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1097

pua sungkit ceremonial cloth Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft wrapping 112.0 x 213.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1982. 1296

pua kumbu ceremonial cloth Iban people, Layar River, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 126.3 x 222.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.611

Iban textiles are decorated in the same tricolour as their ancestors' pottery. These three huge, nineteenth-century woven cloths (pua) were used by the Iban in ceremonies invoking the presence of benevolent ancestors and spirits. Such is the power of pua woven by ritually experienced women, that malevolent beings can be kept at bay on such occasions by a display of these fine textiles. The patterns are highly schematic depictions of ideas drawn from the natural world and the shared repertoire of Iban mythical and legendary designs. It is possible that the borders of the ceremonial cloth in Plate 52, which are worked in a different style, were made by a second and younger weaver, a customary way for less mature women to gain textile experience. Clearly from a different district, the motifs in Plate 54 are filled with striking, checkered ikat patterns in black and white forming a strong contrast against the dark maroon ground. While exhibiting similar designs, the pua in Plate 53 is worked in the weft-wrapping technique (sungkit), in which the pattern is established during the weaving process.

gamong ceremonial cloth Ifugao people, Luzon, Philippines bark fibre, natural dyes twill weave Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 113768-2

(detail) ulos gobar; uis gobar ceremonial cloth Toba Batak people, Silalahi district, north Sumatra, Indonesia cotton, dyes twill weave, supplementary weft, supplementary warp 183.0 x 121.0 em Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden 869-20

These red, blue and white cloths display a similar design structure, as broad warp-orientated bands and a twill-weave pattern of concentric diamonds are the major decorative features of each. Both textiles have an important role in burial rituals. The gamong are specifically made as outer shrouds. For the funeral, one panel of the cloth may be only loosely attached to facilitate the custom of tearing away part of a burial cloth so that other spirits will not disturb the deceased or his living kin out of their jealousy of such a fine fabric. The gobar design is the most prestigious cloth in the north-western district of Lake Toba, and is used in life and in death by the most senior members of a lineage. A carefully structured system of rank applies to all Toba Batak ulos textiles (sometimes also known here by the Karo term uis). They are exchanged on all ceremonial occasions when the alliances forged through marriage between the clans or lineages (marga) are reiterated. Both textiles date from the late nineteenth century.

57

Most mat designs show surface patterns achieved by interlacing different coloured fibres; other types of mats are decorated with those ancient ornaments, shells and beads. With such objects, there is no clear division between mats and textiles. The decorative techniques merge, similar designs appear in both media and the objects themselves often serve the same functions. The existence of objects made from both woven cloth and plaited matting further obscures the distinction. The largest examples, the huge beaded mats from south Sumatra, are supported by plaited matting that is covered with handspun cotton cloth and decorated with strands of ancient beads.¹⁹ Although little is known about these remarkable objects, the iconography of the beaded designs is closely related to motifs that appear on woven and embroidered cloth from the same region. The use of decorated, sometimes beaded matting for ceremonial paraphernalia is widespread. In particular, the containers for betel-nut ingredients are decorated with beads, and in many places other types of decorative plaited mats, like textiles with similar iconography, are used as hangings, room-dividers, shrouds, and ceremonial seats. Another term for the palepai, the large supplementary weft hangings of Lampung in southern Sumatra, is 'the big wall', sesai balak (Gittinger, 1972: 5). It is probable that, while textiles were eventually used for such purposes, mats had often been used instead in earlier times.

58

59,60

The related technique of twining or interlacing with rattan or other vegetable fibres also provides a sturdy garment and a base material for painting or adding shells, beads and other appliqué. Jackets thus made are found throughout insular Southeast Asia. In particular, twined flaps and jackets, sporting split or carved shell discs and other decorative materials as protective scales or armour, were used into the twentieth century by the Toraja of Sulawesi, the Ifugao of Luzon and many peoples of Irian Jaya and Borneo. Often these, like many of the bark and beaded coats, were worn during expeditions and ceremonial activities connected with head-hunting. An affinity also exists between plaiting and the twining technique used in textile decoration in many parts of Indonesia and Sarawak where two wefts are alternatively wrapped over and under the warp threads (Gittinger, 1979: 226). The absence of shed-openers or heddles that serve to open the appropriate warp threads to allow the weft to be interlaced suggests that both these techniques may have been the forerunners of weaving.

61

62,63

64

It is fairly certain that loom-woven fibre fabrics have had a very long history in the Southeast Asian region,²⁰ although concrete evidence of particular types of looms and cloth is scarce. Fibres and wooden tools in Metal Age tombs have not survived and instances of the use of the foot-braced loom, depicted on some Bronze Age metal sculptures found in certain locations, are rare.²¹ Nevertheless, other very simple tension looms are found throughout Southeast Asia and into the Pacific region, and the oldest and most widespread of these weaving devices for utilizing local vegetable fibres is the simple back-strap tension loom which uses a continuous circulating warp. The type of looms used in Southeast Asia were also found in neighbouring Micronesia into the twentieth century (Ling Roth, 1918: 64-112), and many of the designs and some of the raw materials that are also used in Southeast Asia enjoy a much wider use in the Pacific are suggesting ancient Austronesian origins.

(detail) selesil; palepai maju (?) ceremonial hanging Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia vegetable fibre, handspun cotton, beads, natural dyes interlacing, appliqué, beading 360.0 x 50.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.618

Although some seventy per cent of this object is in its original state, severely damaged sections of the cloth were rearranged in the process of repair before it came into the Australian National Gallery collection. As a result, some of the mythical creatures appear in a slightly different sequence to the original design. A figure originally on the far left of the cloth has been moved to the opposite end where it is now the final motif. Anthropomorphic figures are mounted on the animals, which bear a striking resemblance to those creatures found on other textiles of different decorative techniques also made in this region of Sumatra. Unfortunately, little reliable ethnographic information is available for these objects, although they clearly date from the nineteenth century or earlier. Mattiebelle Gittinger (personal communication, 1984) has suggested that the term selesil was used for certain beaded cloths in Lampung although we are uncertain whether this term was ever applied to these particular large beaded hangings.

désé hunting jacket Nagé Kéo people, Ndora, Flores, Indonesia vegetable fibre, pigments twining, painting Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam 2104-3

According to Nagé Kéo informants, twined and painted fibre hunting jackets (désé) from central Flores, were only made in the Ndora and Rawa districts, though in the past these skills may have also been evident in other parts of the domain (van Suchtelen, 1921: Fig.116). The patterns on this early twentieth-century example are painted in dark and ochre-browns and black.

warrior's jacket Ifugao people, Luzon, Philippines bangi (Caryota cuminggi) and other fibre twining, knotting 85.0 x 72.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1234

bango back-pack Ifugao people, Luzon, Philippines bangi (Caryota cuminggi), rattan, wood interlacing, knotting Australian National Gallery 1988.522 Gift of Jonathan Thwaites, 1988

This bango back-pack, a basket with shoulder straps, is constructed of interlaced split rattan attached to a wooden base. It has the same tufted black hairy surface as the jacket in Plate 59, an item of apparel that provided protection from the torrential tropical rains. The base fabric of the jacket, however, is not plaited matting but a strong, pliable, twined and knotted fibre mesh. Among the Ifugao the bango is still associated with hunting and ceremonial activities believed to expiate disasters such as bad deaths or illness. Both objects probably date from the early twentieth century.

A photograph taken in the mid-1930s in Laos of a woman, possibly from the Kassang community, who is using a foot-braced loom similar to those depicted on Bronze Age metal sculptures found in Southeast Asia. Such looms have also been used by certain minority peoples in Cambodia and Vietnam (Boulbet, 1964).

A Lamaholot woman weaving a met, a supplementary warp weave belt, on a backstrap tension loom in the IIi Mandiri region of east Flores. A recently recorded bronze maternity figure located in a nearby district of east Flores (Adams, 1977) displays a foot-braced loom being used to weave a band with a pattern similar to those found on these met belts.

A Lamaholot elder wearing a wide ceremonial sash (met) in east Flores, Indonesia. The textile, in handspun cotton and natural dyes, is woven in a supplementary warp weave, reserved for belts and sashes in the Lamaholot region, but used as a major decorative device in other parts of the region, including east Alor and some Atoni domains in Timor.

It is difficult to know what raw materials were used in the earliest weaving processes. Clay whorls for drop-weighted spindles have been found in many mainland archaeological sites and this suggests that cotton was already in use in prehistoric times (Bellwood, 1980: 63). The absence of similar finds of prehistoric spindle whorls in insular Southeast Asia has been used to support the argument that weaving arrived late to the island world of the region.²² However, this may also be explained by the use of wooden spindle-weights which are still widely used throughout eastern Indonesia today and by the fact that spindles are not required at all in the preparation of most bast and leaf fibres suitable for weaving.

Many varieties of wild fibres suitable for weaving thread can be found throughout the region. Their use, without spindles, but knotted or rolled on the leg, still continues today, although this has been greatly diminished by the availability and attractiveness of cotton.

65,68,69

Hemp, taken from under the bark of certain cannabis plants, is preferred by the Hmong of northern Thailand for making their pleated batik skirts, although cotton thread is also used.²³ Another popular bast fibre is abaca. Best known in its commercial form as Manila hemp and exported from Luzon in colonial times,²⁴ it is taken from the inner section of the wild banana plant (Musa textilis), dried and separated into strands and then joined into the long threads needed for weaving. On Mindanao, this fibre is used as both thread and binding material for ikat, the decorative technique whereby threads are resist-tied and dyed into patterns before weaving.

66,67

71,72

70,73

Throughout the island of Borneo, the leaf of a wild swamp grass (Curculigo latifolia) widely known as Zemba, and to the Benuaq people as daun doyo, is woven into fabric with warp ikat patterns to make women's skirtcloths and, in the past, ceremonial hangings.²⁵ On Tanimbar it is the threads of the lontar palm (Borassus flabelliformis) that are tied and dyed into warp ikat patterns before weaving. Other threads for weaving are obtained in eastern Indonesia from the pineapple, from varieties of palmyra plants including the pandanas and sago palms, and from a number of lesser known plants native to the region. Throughout Southeast Asia, the processing of thread, like the weaving of traditional cloth, is the work of women.

tol belts Kusae, Micronesia vegetable fibre, natural dyes linked warp weave, supplementary weft weave 18.4 x 149.0 em 11.0 x 168.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.772; 1984.771

The linked warp fibres of these nineteenth-century Micronesian girdles are an unusual decorative feature, difficult to execute on the standard Southeast Asian body-tension loom with a continuous circulating warp. Patterns of similar visual effect are worked in warp ikat in most parts of Southeast Asia. However, the floating supplementary weft bands and their geometric designs are a familiar feature on the cloths of many islands of eastern Indonesia. The finely woven Kusae ceremonial girdles were highly prized possessions throughout the former Caroline Islands where they were acquired through trade. The longer tol is red-brown with white supplementary wefts, and the shorter, wider belt has a plain black centre, with yellow, red and white end-patterns.

(detail) hoté; tepiké room-divider; hanging Sangihe-Talaud Islands, Indonesia abaca fibre, natural dyes, brass rings supplementary weft weave 775.0 x 160.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1239

Until the twentieth century the textiles of the Sangihe-Talaud Islands continued to be woven of Musa textilis fibre, locally known as hoté. This huge nineteenth-century cloth is composed of five joined panels, patterned in banded, supplementary weft weave and containing the ancient spirals and hooked lozenges that occur on many of the oldest textiles in the Southeast Asian region. Textiles of these dimensions were used as hangings and room-dividers and this particular example still has brass rings attached to its upper side. Finer threads of hoté, sometimes mixed with wild pineapple fibres, were also woven into fabric that was used to make long gowns for men and tunics for women. Because narrow loom widths of fabric were joined in many parts of Southeast Asia to make larger objects, design similarities can often be distinguished in the textiles of neighbouring regions. This hanging is thus similar in structure and motif to the large batik hangings made by the Toraja living further to the south in Sulawesi.

tawit'ng doyo ceremonial textile Benuaq people, east Kalimantan, Indonesia doyo fibre (Curculigo latifolia), natural dyes warp ikat 207.0 x 98.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.386

This nineteenth-century example of a Benuaq ceremonial cloth is formed from two large panels. While the structure of this cloth is similar to the well-known Iban pua kumbu, the central section and the motifs displayed there are stylistically related to both Iban and T'boli warp ikat designs. The natural colours are soft, yet sharply defined, indicative of precise tying of the warp threads of the doyo fibre before dyeing occurs. Little is known of the function of these cloths although their structure and size suggest that they were used as ceremonial hangings.

A Benuaq woman in east Kalimantan knotting dried lemba or daun doyo fibres (Curculigo latifolia) into long strands to make thread for warp ikat skirtcloths (ulap doyo). The woman wears a long wrap-around skirt of more modern decorative technique, embroidery and appliqué on commercial cotton fabric, although the structure of the garment is similar to the ancient fibre ikats.

kumo a pair of ceremonial cloths T'boli people, Mindanao, Philippines abaca fibre, natural dyes warp ikat 65.0 x 220.0 em; 62.0 x 220.0 em Australian National Gallery 1984.1228

These two identical textiles in red, black and natural colours would probably be stitched together to form a ceremonial hanging (kumo). Separately, they may have functioned as women's skirts. The main diagonal grid motif is the snake or python pattern (sawo), a popular and powerful design throughout Southeast Asia, where a variety of ikat motifs are so named. The intervening zigzag lines are known as sigul. During the t'muke kumo ceremony, a protective warp ikat (t'nolak) cloth is placed over the bride, to be removed later by one of the groom's family (Casal, 1978). The same symbolism is evident after the settlement of bride-wealth agreements, when children who are betrothed are blanketed with these abaca ikat. Early twentieth century

A Filipino woman preparing abaca fibres before they are woven into fabric in 1920. The fibre is rolled into yarn on her thigh.

70 Women on the island of Solor in eastern Indonesia spin locally grown cotton using a wooden drop-weight spindle as they stroll to the fields to carry out routine agricultural tasks.

74

The fibre used in many parts of eastern Indonesia as the resist-binding for ikat is obtained from the Corypha palm. While today it is rarely the basic fibre for woven fabric,²⁶ it continues to be used to produce the material for sails in some of the oldest sea-going cultures of insular Southeast Asia.²⁷ The Southeast Asian textile traditions were probably spread to Madagascar from Indonesia early in the first millenitim AD by seafaring travellers using the Corypha sails (Bellwood, 1979: 124; Mack, 1987).

1

One of the most important stages in the preparation of textiles is the dyeing of the woven fabric or, in the case of many ancient forms of decorative textiles, the dyeing of the threads before weaving. Many strong natural dyes and mordants are available to the peoples of Southeast Asia. Of the range of naturally-obtained materials found in the region, dyestuffs used to make blue-black and pink-red-brown colours predominate.²⁸ These include mud²⁹ and varieties of indigo for blue-black colours,³⁰ and barks or roots such as Morinda citrifolia, Caesalpina sappan, and Pelthophorum ferrugineum (saga) for red-brown. Stick lac, the residue obtained from insect deposits in tree bark (Coccus lacca), is the most widely used red dyestuff in mainland Southeast Asia (Prangwatthanakun and Cheesman, 1987: 45). Some art historians believe that indigo has a far longer history in Southeast Asia than red dyes (Buhler, 1941), although indigo has generally been replaced by the red dyes of Morinda citrifolia and stick lac as the preferred dye for ceremonial textiles. Brown soga dyes, like those associated with fine hand-drawn wax-resist batik from central Java, seem to be a later development. The tricolour of red, black and white has symbolic significance for many Southeast Asian peoples, and these are the colours found on very old types of textiles such as the abaca warp ikats of Mindanao, the banded cloths of eastern Indonesia and the bark tunics of the Toraja.

ceremonial hanging, skirt (?) Toraja people, central Sulawesi, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary warp weave 151.0 x 139.0 em Australian National Gallery 1983.3692

(detail) woman's skirtcloth (?) Benuaq people, east Kalimantan, Indonesia doyo fibre (Curculigo latifolia), natural dyes supplementary warp weave, staining 173.0 x 73.0 em Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden 427-26

There is remarkable similarity in the technique and design of these two nineteenth-century fabrics although they were woven on different islands and with different thread. Little is known about the function of either textile since a knowledge of the supplementary warp technique appears to have died out in these areas during the last century and very few extant examples of these textiles remain. However, this technique is still practised in isolated regions of eastern Indonesia. The red, white and blue-black colour combinations are also similar for both textiles, although the black patterns have been painted on to the white supplementary warp bands of the Benuaq textile, said to be a skirtcloth (Jager Gerlings, 1952: Fig. 17).

(detail) hom non woman's skirt Kisar, south Maluku, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 125.0 x 130.0 em Australian National Gallery 1985.382

This woman's cylindrical skirt is woven from fine blue, red and natural handspun cotton thread. The many key designs are carefully arranged in narrow bands. The textiles of the islands in south Maluku (south Moluccas) are often woven from other materials, including the fibres of lontar palm-leaves (a substance also widely used as a binding thread for warp ikat throughout Southeast Asia). This example probably dates from the early twentieth century.

lamba mena (?) shroud; canopy; room-divider Sakalava people, west Madagascar raffia fibre, natural dyes warp ikat Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Lei den 4927-5

Early in the first millenium AD, sailors from the Indonesian archipelago had already begun to roam the Asian world in pursuit of trade and adventure. The contacts and settlements that resulted also left their mark on the culture of the island of Madagascar. The language is Austronesian, and the textile arts reflect those of Borneo from where prehistorians suggest the voyages originated. This provides additional evidence for the antiquity of complex warp ikat in the Southeast Asian region. Some Madagascar banded warp ikat patterns include stylized human figures, although the dyes available there produce different shades of brown from those found in Southeast Asia, and yellow is a prominent colour. The fibre used in this nin eteenth-century example is obtained from the leaves of the Raphia palm. The main function of these large cloths as shrouds (lamba mena; red or colourful cloths) may also reflect their Southeast Asian ancestry (Mack, 1987: 76-80).

HARD FABRICS: THE AMBIGUITY OF BEADS AND SHELLS

Garments often became objects of significance when highly valued items were attached to twining, bark-cloth, woven fibres, and plain or decorated cotton cloth. Miniature bells, shells and beads have been used since prehistoric times to enliven the appearance of fabrics and increase their value. Beads, in particular, have been an important form of jewellery in almost every culture in Southeast Asia. As well as necklaces, bracelets and anklets, they have been threaded into head-bands, belts and other articles of display. In fact, many beaded gar ments are an extension or an elaboration of jewellery, and in rare cases a decorative fabric for festive wear is composed entirely of beads.

75

76

77,78

Shells have been a primary form of decoration since Neolithic times throughout Southeast Asia, and the earliest recorded beads were made from shells, stone and clay, though probably other natural objects such as seeds were also used. Job's tears, seeds from a type of tropical grass, ornament the tunics and shirts of the Karen and Akha women of northern Thailand and seeds are also used to decorate fab-ric in New Guinea and Mindanao.³¹ Small nassa shells, widely used as decoration by both mountain and coastal dwellers, are slit so they can be stitched easily on to fabric with twine or cotton. In the western regions, the Naga people decorate men's shawls and loincloths with stark, white, shell figures and circles on dark, warp-striped, cotton fabric. By the Metal Age decoration included glass, gold and stones such as carnelian, which may have been among the oldest objects to arrive in the region from India.³² Shells and ancient beads are still valued as heirlooms and trade items in many cultures, and as objects to be fixed to garments for ceremonial occasions, although the natural fibres used to thread them have gradually been replaced by cotton and nylon. So highly valued are beads and shells that they have become the subject of legends, a major form of currency and a source of wealth.

83,84

85

79

Metaphorically, beads and shells are 'hard' objects, sometimes classified like ivory, metal jewellery and weaponry as 'male'. Opposed to this category are those complementary objects regarded as 'female' and 'soft'. These include textiles as the most significant item made by women, although when beads are worn as garments and attached to textiles, they may also be classified as female. As bead and shell appliqué requires the work of both sexes the creation of these objects symbolically links both the male and female realms. The role of men in making or acquiring shell discs and beads is complementary to the exclusively female activities of thread preparation and weaving. Among the Dayak peoples shell and bead appliqué is sometimes coordinated with men drawing the designs and women threading the beads. On Mindanao pearly shell discs made from larger shells require holes to be drilled by men before they can be attached to clothing by women. In the case of the Naga it is the woman who weaves, while the man who wears the shell-decorated wrap signifying his martial successes, sews the white shell discs to the prepared fabric (Femenias, 1984: 50-1). In rare situations, as among the Toraja where beading is also performed by men,³³ the objects might be viewed as jewellery rather than clothing. Men are the workers of jewellery, especially metal objects, throughout the whole of the Southeast Asian region (Rodgers, 1985).

ceremonial man's jacket Ayatal people, Taiwan vegetable fibre, shells supplementary warp weave, twill weave, twining 48.0 x 88.0 em Australian National Gallery 1988.639

The Austronesian-speaking peoples include the indigenous inhabitants of the island of Taiwan and prehistorians have concluded that the ancestors of many of today's Southeast Asians migrated from that region thousands of years ago. Many similarities remain between the arts of the various indigenous peoples of Taiwan and their Southeast Asian neighbours (Feldman, 1985). This long nineteenth-century jacket is constructed from hemp fabric woven on a body-tension loom. The bands of simple supplementary warp patterning are in red and brown, while the foundation weave is in finer white thread with a strong twined trim. The garment is a high status object, decorated with many strands of slit-shell discs that were used in ceremonial exchange (Barbier and Newton, 1988: 344- 5).

woman's jacket Akha people, north Thailand handspun cotton, natural dyes, Job's tears seeds appliqué, patchwork 133.0 x 66.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1246

The indigo blue cotton jackets of the Yer Tung Akha display multicolured patchwork and stitching in linear rows of triangles, diamonds and rectangles. The angularity of the patterns is similar to those found on Hmong batik. Some jackets are decorated with rows of seeds, shells, beads, bells and coins. Job's tears seeds were once reserved for the jackets of older women, and these were donned by new brides only after modest public displays of 'reluctance'. Similarly, a young woman may wear a white skirt at her marriage celebrations, although this is regarded as a sign of great authority normally reserved for knowledgeable and mature Akha women (Nabholz-Kartaschoff, 1985: 162). This example dates from the mid-twentieth century.

kaya bé; baju bé woman's tunic Toraja people, Kalumpang region, central Sulawesi, Indonesia cotton, shells, beads, felt pieces appliqué 73.0 x 43.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3174

The white shells, red cloth appliqué and bindings, and the black cotton ground on the Kalumpang woman's ceremonial tunic reflect the fundamental tricolours of the Toraja world. Despite the remoteness of inland mountain valleys, split shells and beads were traded into the hinterlands of Southeast Asia where they were used to decorate ceremonial garments worn by the local nobility. For most of this century at least, imported milled black cotton fabric appears to have been used as the base cloth for many appliqué decorated garments.

A Toraja schoolteacher dancing at a family wedding in the Kalumpang district of central Sulawesi wears a kaya bé decorated with shell appliqué, with a nine-metre-long skirtcloth edged with braid (kundai pamiring), a beaded shoulder-sash (kamandang or seke), and a Javanese batik sash for dancing (kembe). Informants pointed out that this cloth should have been a sarita or a mawa, both prestige heirloom imported textiles in this region. She also wears an elaborate horn-shaped head-dress of bamboo, brass and feathers known as tanduk rembé.

kandauré beaded neck-piece; ceremonial object Sa'dan Toraja people, central Sulawesi, Indonesia beads, cotton beading, tablet weaving, plaiting 40.0 x 121.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1983.3688

This early twentieth-century example is threaded with yellow, black, red, white, blue and turquoise beads. The key-shaped motif known as pa' sekong (spiral motif), which is widely used in Toraja art, appears below a row of small white human figures. This large spiral shape is also known as pa 'kandauré after its prominent use on these beaded objects. The red and blue diamond-patterned cotton band at the top of the object is produced by a tablet weaving technique and a plaited braid completes the lower edge. Kandauré appear to symbolize abundance and splendour and are worn at many ceremonies by dancers with the long strands of beads tied in front across the breasts and the cylinders hanging down the women's backs. They are also hung from tall poles at funerals and from clan houses at the merok ceremonies that maintain a family's well-being. On these occasions the kandauré are hung so that the small beaded human figures appear upright at the neck, perhaps indicating a more ancient function for these beaded objects.

A young Maloh woman in west Kalimantan beading a band for a woman's skirt (kain lekok)

sapé buri ceremonial jacket Maloh people, west Kalimantan, Indonesia cotton, split shells appliqué 46.0 x 51.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1982.1298

kain manik woman's ceremonial skirt Maloh people, west Kalimantan, Indonesia cotton, beads warp ikat, appliqué, beading 46.0 x 55.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1982.1303

Maloh women make jackets and skir ts in a number of styles using bead (manik) and shell (buri or parus) appliqué. This fully beaded skirt has yellow human figures (kakalétau) between black water serpents (naga), appearing in stylized form in the upper and lower bands. Within Maloh iconography, the kakaletau represent guardian and ancestor spirits. On occasions, the slaves who were owned by the Maloh ruling class (samagat) were sacrificial victims and, significantly, the figures on this skirt are placed near the mouth of the water serpent. The motifs on the shell appliqué jacket are also arranged in bands with the kakalétau motif flanked by creatures that seem to be a playful rendition of the dog motif (asu). The base fabric for both the skirt and the jacket is black with a red trim, although the fabric used as a lining for the skirt is a faded Iban warp ikat skirt (kain kebat). Both objects date from the twentieth century.

In Mindanao, a Bilaan man drills holes in small shell discs which are to be sewn in decorative patterns on clothing: an early twentieth-century photograph.

umpak (?) woman's shirt Bilaan people, Mindanao, Philippines cotton, dyes, shell pieces embroidery, appliqué 112.0 x 33.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.2119

Drilled shell discs (kalatz) are a subsidiary decorative device on this heavily embroidered blouse. On other Bilaan garments, they are the sole decorative material. Commercial cotton fabric, black for the body and red for the sleeves, has been used as the basis for the elaborate yellow, red, black and white cross-stitch work and has replaced the earlier gauze-like abaca fibre cloth called sinamay. Early twentieth century

dàgom shirt Kulaman people, Mindanao, Philippines cotton, beads appliqué 121.0 x 40.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1226

The white seed-bead decoration on this mid-twentieth-century blue cotton blouse with red trim follows older patterns that were executed with small, split-shell discs. Other examples of this type of garment may have a base-cloth of imported handspun cotton or of dark locally woven abaca.

Bagobo women decorating bags and bands with fine beads, and wearing warp ikat, abaca-fibre skirts. The photograph was taken at a turn-of-the-century trade exposition at St Louis, USA.

80,81

82

Beads embellish and enrich many objects: jackets and skirts, mats and hangings, and accessories such as belts, bags, boxes and bands. On Borneo ingenious beaded items abound amongst the various Dayak peoples and beads decorate Dayak head-pieces, seat-mats and baby-carriers. Ornamental appliqué of various other materials including animal teeth, coins and bronze bells are also added to these objects. While the baby-carriers are among the most complex beaded items of the Kayan (Sheppard, 1978: 91), probably the most spectacular Borneo headwork of all is made by the Maloh women of the upper Kapuas River in west Kalimantan where it covers the surface of the base garment or is applied in narrow decorative bands Q.R. Maxwell, 1980).

30

Maloh skirts and sleeveless jackets are decorated with realistic and formalized images, and contain important messages about Maloh social structure, legends and trade. These appliqué garments combine many precious foreign and heirloom items, including beads, shells, Dutch coins and brass bells (made either by Chinese or Maloh craftsmen). The base fabric of these garments often consists of warp ikat cloth made by the neighbouring Iban and obtained through trade by the non-weaving Maloh. The beaded motifs encompass dangerous designs from Maloh cosmology, including the mythical serpent and the ancestor or guardian spirits. Other motifs symbolize the solid prosperity of Maloh society: the hearthstone and certain animals that are an important source of food. The success and status of a family and its social position is indicated by the wearing of such finery on ritual occasions.

women's dance aprons Doreri district, Kepala Burung (Bird's Head) and Cenderawasih Bay region, Irian Jaya, Indonesia beads, fibre thread, commercial cotton cloth beading 52.0 x 52.0 em 71.5 x 57.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1251; 1986.2456

Although little is known about these beaded objects from Irian Jaya, they are used worn tied around a dancer's waist by women of the Bird's Head and Cenderawasih (formerly Geelvink) Bay areas (D. Fassey, personal communication, 1985). The use of green beads is a striking feature of the design of one of these aprons which is divided into a grid of asymmetrically matched triangles and squares, suggestive of the patterns used for body painting and carving across a wider area of New Guinea, and in many Austronesian cultures.

A stylized anthropomorphic or reptile figure in bold black and white dominates the design of another apron. The figure itself is filled with intricate lozenge shapes, repeated in larger versions on either side of the central motif in blue, green, yellow, and orange beads. These diamonds are worked in key and S spiral details. A fine fringe with tassels made from strips of imported cloth falls from the lower edge.

hanggi ngoko; hanggi wolo remba nobleman's cloth; shroud Kodi district, west Sumba, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, weft twining 149.0 x 274.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1987.1817

The men's cloths (hanggz) of west Sumba show a small range of largely schematic designs (wolo, wola, to ikat; remba, net, net-like, plaited) and on this example only the gold ceremonial ear pendant (mamulz) is realistically depicted. In the Kodi district, textiles contain icons representing the male gifts exchanged for cloth at marriage. In particular, the men's cloth displays the mamuli, the omega-shaped emblem of female sexuality, while women's skirts depict the diamond-shaped buffalo eye or horse tail (Hoskins, 1988).

Though the design structure is that of a man's cloth, these are rarely worn and then only by the rich and noble. It is largely intended as a shroud for mature men of high rank, and as such it is appropriate that it exhibits the dappled pattern of the python skin (ngoko). Snakes and other reptiles are associated in Kodi legend with ancestral deities and the afterlife, and the python's ability to change its skin is a powerful analogy for rebirth. The hanggi shrouds serve the deceased in his travels to the next realm like the thick skin of the great python. In contrast to other Southeast Asian textile traditions, which have increasingly striven for intricate, finely worked patterns, the thickness of handspun thread and the finished fabric is a desirable feature of these protective Kodi cloths (Geirnaert-Martin, 1990).

89 An early twentieth-century photograph of a Gaddang man in ceremonial costume

87

86

The beadwork still practised in many isolated parts of insular Southeast Asia relies on beads from a variety of foreign sources. The Maloh have adopted an extensive range of colours using beads now widely available from Europe and Japan. So, too, have the women of Irian Jaya whose dance aprons retain ancient key and spiral designs and sometimes anthropomorphic motifs in rhombic and triangular grids.³⁴ Elsewhere in insular Southeast Asia the characteristic red, black and white colour combination has prevailed, even though other colours are often available. The headwork of Mindanao is spectacular yet often conservative in colour, with the Bagobo, for example, adding fine red, black and white seed-beads to a variety of objects made from woven abaca fabric, including pants and shirts, bags and bands.

88

Jewellery, including ornamental earrings, are among the objects that have been recovered from prehistoric sites in Southeast Asia. Like beads, items of jewellery are symbols of wealth and prosperity and since textile decoration is not an isolated art form, the metal earrings and head-pieces that are used by a number of Southeast Asian people on ceremonial occasions also appear as symbols of wealth on traditional fabrics. Golden head-dresses repeat the upturned buffalo horn or boat shape and are decorated with similar images to the textiles. On the island of Sumba, gold jewellery, like textiles, plays an important role in marriage settlements, and displays images such as the fighting warrior, the cosmic tree, the domestic fowl and the horned buffalo. Jewellery motifs, in particular head-dresses and earrings, occasionally appear as separate designs on cloth or are sometimes evident on the anthropomorphic figures displayed on certain textiles.

TEXTILE STRUCTURES: TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN TECHNICAL CONSTRAINTS

89,90,91

92,93

Many similarities in woven textile designs across the region can be partly attributed to the immediate possibilities of the simplest back-tension loom with its continuous circulating warp, the commonest and most ancient weaving apparatus in the region. It is probable that the earliest woven ornamentation was narrow, plain, or simply patterned warp stripes. One of the oldest design structures on loom-woven cloth is the organization of patterning in warp bands, as certain other decorative techniques, such as complementary and supplementary warp weaving and warp ikat, are simplest to achieve when they are worked in narrow widths. As more elaborate techniques developed, larger and more complex designs became possible.

95

94,99

The warp stripes found on many Southeast Asian textiles are not randomly assembled.³⁵ For example, every band of a traditional Flores skirtcloth, whether decorated with ikat or plain-dyed threads, is deliberately proportioned and appropriately named, and these design formulae have been passed down from generation to generation. On the islands of Lombok and Bali, specific combinations of colours and stripes are required on cloths that serve different healing or talismanic functions, while the border stripes on the large woven fabrics of Borneo and Sulawesi are an integral part of cloth composition. On lban textiles the border stripes are believed necessary to keep the central pattern confined, which is vital if the main body of the cloth depicts a dangerous tiger or crocodile.

An early twentieth-century photograph of a Gaddang woman using a backstrap tension loom and weaving with a long, continuous, striped warp strung underneath a traditional house. The resulting fabric was cut into lengths to form the basic Gaddang garments for men and women - wrap-around skirts and loincloths, jackets, belts and cloaks.

woman's skirt (lufid); belt (wakes or inawin); jacket (...) Gaddang people, Luzon, Philippines cotton, dyes, beads tabby weave, supplementary weft weave, appliqué, embroidery 77.0 x 104.0 em; 12.0 x 185.0 em; 107.0 x 30.0 cm Austrafian National Gallery 1984.1212; 1985.1693; 1984.1211

The textiles woven by many of the peoples of the mountainous interior of Luzon are composed of basic warp stripes or bands, evident on the articles of female apparel worn by the Gaddang. The combinations of colours and stripes indicate the particular ethno-linguistic origins of the wearer: these examples are red, white and blue. Archaeological finds in Luzon dating from the fifteenth century confirm the early use of beads to form decorative patterns on skirts and other garments, and the Gaddang are noted for their striking headwork. Probably mid-twentieth century

man's loincloth (baag or wanes); jacket (...); betel-nut or tobacco bag (...) Gaddang people, Luzon, Philippines cotton, dyes, beads, silver, brass tabby weave, beading, embroidery, appliqué, twining 267.0 x 12.5 em; 45.0 x 31.0 em; 15.0 x 65.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1208; 1984.1207; 1984.1210

cape Gaddang people, Luzon, Philippines cotton, dyes, beads tabby weave, beading, embroidery 53.0 x 93.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1209

Like some inhabitants of the more isolated parts of Southeast Asia, the men of central Luzon continued to wear an ancient garment, the loincloth, into the twentieth century. However, the Gaddang man's cape, joined at two adjacent corners, is an unusual item of clothing for Southeast Asia, where most men's shawls consist of rectangular fringed cloths. A cloak permits far more freedom of movement than a shawl, and a similar garment is worn by Paiwan men in Taiwan. The Gaddang male garments, like those worn by women, are made from locally woven red, white and blue striped fabric trimmed with embroidery and beads. The blue in the cape, however, is much brighter than the other textiles and is embroidered in bright yellow thread. The betel-nut or tobacco bag, however, is prepared from a square of imported cotton cloth pulled through silver and brass rings. The age of these garments varies from early to mid-twentieth century.

(detail) kekombong; lempot umbaq ritual cloths Sasak people, Lombok, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp-faced tabby weave 49.0 x 150.0 em 97.0 x 35.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3181; 1987.1094 Gift of Michael and Mary Abbott, 1987

The Sasak use a variety of names for this type of cloth throughout Lombok. Lempot umbaq means literally a shouldercloth (lempot) to carry the baby. Elsewhere the term used is umbaq kombong or kekombong. Although only decorated with simple warp stripes, these are considered to be important cloths. They are woven by old women in many different but established combinations of natural colours, and often in a rather rough, open weave, suggestive of the urgency with which they are required. These textiles are worn at the various ceremonies heralding changes in a person's social status. Their talismanic or curative functions are called upon during rites associated with both individual and communal well-being, and special copies of heirloom kekombong are sometimes prescribed to cure physical or social diseases, such as deafness or kleptomania. The combination of rich colours of the nineteenth-century red and brown-black cloth suggests that it may be a kekombong ragi majapahit, a pattern believed by the Sasak to have originated during the golden age of the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century east-Javanese empire of Majapahit, which claimed suzerainty over large tracts of the archipelago including the island of Lombok. The rainbow stripes on the uncut mid-twentieth-century cloth demonstrate the wide range of tones achieved from the natural dyes of the bark of Morinda citrifolia roots, Indigofera tinctoria leaves and crushed turmeric, Curcuma domestica.

hoba woman's skirt; ceremonial gift Nagé Kéo people, Flores, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, supplementary weft weave 200.0 x 170.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.577

Of the traditional garments of the Nagé Kéo, only the woman's skirt (hoba) is still woven in the Boawai district of central Flores. (Men's shawls (sada) and a rectangular cloth bound with blanket-stitch, probably a saddlecloth for the horses of prominent leaders, are no longer made or used.) The hoba are composed of two predominantly maroon banded panels flanking an indigo central panel. All three panels of this mid-twentieth-century textile are decorated with bands of small white ikat motifs. A few bright yellow and pink supplementary threads, which are evident only on one side of the fabric, are an essential feature. As important ceremonial gifts, the hoba are usually sewn together with the continuous warp threads still intact. Unlike these ceremonial cloths, cylindrical skirts intended for everyday wear (niko nako) are composed of randomly arranged stripes.

ulos rujat ceremonial cloth Toba Batak people, north Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, supplementary weft weave, twining 93.5 x 219.4 em Australian National Gallery 1983.3696

Throughout Southeast Asia the simplest warp ikat patterns consist of narrow warp bands of S spirals, V and rhomb motifs. On this wide, single panel cloth associated with the Porsea district of the Toba Batak region of north Sumatra, the central patterning is flanked by red-brown borders woven in threads dyed with Morinda citrifolia roots, known to the Toba Batak as bangkudu. (Another popular cloth made elsewhere in the Toba region, the ulos sibolang, has a similar structure and design although it is woven entirely in shades of indigo from Marsdenia tinctoria, known locally as salaon.) A little supplementary weaving appears across each end and the design of the cloth suggests that in the past it may also have been made in three sections in the manner of some other Toba Batak textiles. The fringe and the twined borders, traditionally the work of men, show precise and detailed patterns that contrast with the soft blurring of the central ikat, and are suggestive of the carving on architectural structures and other objects also executed by men and painted in the same red, black and white colours. Early twentieth century

A woman on the island of Lembata ties an ikat pattern (mowak) of interlocking human figures (ata diken) with strips of gebang palm fibre on to bundles of warp threads set out on a tying-frame.

The subtle use of stripes for textile decoration is not confined, of course, to warp-decorated traditions. On Bali and Lombok subtle shades of natural colours are graded in weft stripes to produce beautiful textiles. The optical tricks created by the use of stripes, which have been exploited by many twentieth-century Western artists, have been applied dramatically to a number of traditional Southeast Asian textiles composed of stripes or the intersection of stripes in grids.³⁶

96,98

100

The strength of narrow banded patterns is evident in the simple lines of two-colour warp ikat woven by many ethnic groups, such as the Batak peoples of north Sumatra, who have remained comparatively isolated from external influence and trade until recent times. However, banded patterns have been retained even in Southeast Asian cultures long exposed to foreign ideas, materials and designs. The Malays of Terengganu, for example, have created silk textiles with weft ikat bands, and both Batak and Malay artisans work with combinations of ancient chevron and rhomb shapes to achieve comparable patterns.

Designs created from small blocks of ikat-protected threads stretched into pointed V patterns between narrow warp stripes, are also found on Bontoc cotton cloth on Luzon, and in slightly more elaborate patterned bands on a great many warp ikat textiles from eastern Indonesia. The simple V and lozenge also decorate other Luzon cloths woven with a supplementary warp technique, in which an extra set of warp threads in contrasting colour, is interwoven with the normal warp to produce the pattern (which appears in· mirror image on the reverse side of the fabric). Like many ancient designs, the arrowhead or chevron also appears on other types of textiles woven on different kinds of looms. This usually led to its transformation from warp to weft decoration and hence the arrowhead banded design is found on many weft-decorated silk textiles throughout Southeast Asia.

(detail) ija plang rusa; ija plang rutha man's waistcloth; wrap Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia; used in Kelantan, Malaysia silk, natural dyes warp ikat 96.4 x 190.8 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.381

This nineteenth-century man's wrap is an item of ceremonial dress in Kelantan, Malaysia, where men's trousers were also made of the same fabric. However, other Kelantan ikat silk fabrics are decorated with weft patterns and there is no clear evidence that the arrowhead warp ikats sometimes attributed to Kelantan were actually woven there. This particular textile was almost certainly woven in Aceh, north Sumatra. Despite its proximity to India and its position on the old trade routes, Aceh was one of the very few areas in Southeast Asia to continue to use the warp ikat technique after silk thread was introduced. Weft ikat was never practised in Aceh, although according to early travellers' records, silk thread was widely used there and was eventually produced locally. This cloth is deep red with narrow stripes of black and white ikat. Cotton textiles of almost identical size, colour and design are woven in the nearby Toba Batak region of north Sumatra where they are used as ceremonial baby-carriers (ulos mangiring).

(detail) ana 'nene' sacred textile Sasak people, Sembalun, Lombok, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes weft ikat, tapestry weave 193.5 x 94.2 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.1743

This Sasak weft ikat cloth, possibly belonging to a class of textile known as sokong after the village of that name, contains graded bands of superbly moderated colours. Accotding to Dutch sources, these textiles were known as ana' nene' (child of the ancestors) in the Masbagik area of Lombok, and were used during ceremonies to collect water from a holy spring (Haar, 1925: 74; Goris, 1936: 227, 230). The weft ikat designs repeat the spirals and rhombs found in ancient warp ikat patterns and a narrow tapestry band finishes each end of the fabric. The colours are white and shades of blue to black. No examples of these weft ikat cloths were collected during the colonial period and, unlike the warp-striped lempot or kekombong, there are only occasional references to these textiles in any accounts of Sasak weaving. Nineteenth century

kain Iemar ceremonial wrap; shawl Malay people, Terengganu, Malaysia silk, gold thread, natural dyes weft ikat, supplementary weft weave 103.0 x 206.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1248

While the field of this nineteenth-century textile displays motifs based on simple V and rhomb shapes known as the cuai pattern, the refined development of the weft ikat technique has permitted the dyer to use seven different colours in narrow patterned bands. The dominant colour of the cloth is red, and the narrow green stripes are unusual. In contrast to this exquisite but subdued field, the ends of the cloth glow with opulent gold thread.

(detail) kain sandang (?) shouldercloth; waistcloth Bengkulu-Pasemah region, Sumatra, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes, metallic thread, lead supplementary weft weave 64.0 x 163.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.571

pha sin woman's ceremonial skirt Tai Phuan people, Laplae, Uttaradit province, Thailand cotton, silk, natural dyes supplementary weft weave, supplementary warp weave 142.0 x 92.0 em Australian National Gallery 1986.1242

Textiles often combine design elements and decorative techniques derived from different stages of their culture's history. In both of these early twentieth-century cloths, the central field is filled with simple spots of supplementary thread, although the supplementary warp patterns (muk) of the Tai cloth are woven with a complex set of heddles (Prangwatthanakun and Cheesman, 1987: 38-9). The borders of each cloth, however, are spectacular examples of the supplementary weft tradition using silk and gold threads, although in the working out of the patterns ancient elements have been retained - zigzags, spirals, stars and hooks. The weavers have exploited this contrast between elaborate borders and simple centres to achieve dramatic cloths. On the Tai cloth, the lower decorative edge of the skirt (tin chok) is woven separately and then sewn to the main section of the cloth (dta muk). T he fine discontinuous supplementary work (chok) in yellow and green silk contains tiny birds and stylized ship images, which are also links with the earlier cultures of this part of Southeast Asia. The Sumatran cloth is deep indigo with red ends, and at each end a section of unwoven (or pulled) warp threads has been wrapped in lead to provide additional decoration.

97

103

53

Although it is uncertain when the development of the warp ikat resist technique (the resist tying and dyeing into patterns of the loom threads, the warp, before inserting the weft) began in Southeast Asia, it is clearly of great antiquity. In parts of New Guinea, a proto-ikat technique is still used to pattern the free-floating bast fibres that make up skirts, although these differ from the warp ikat garments of Southeast Asia in that they are not woven.³⁷ The harsh tropical climate of the region has prevented the discovery of archaeological textiles comparable to the important finds in the Middle East, China and South America. Consequently the earliest decorated textiles so far found in insular Southeast Asia apparently date from only the fourteenth or fifteenth century. While these warp ikat textile fragments found in caves on Banton Island near Mindoro are not of the same period as the earliest archaeological finds in Southeast Asia, they provide the earliest known examples of narrow warp fibre bands with simpleS spiral, square, rhomb and triangle shapes, patterns that are comparable to those of textiles still made in many parts of the region.³⁸

101,102

104,105

53

Although many of the oldest textile designs use warp decoration, the patterns of some supplementary weft textiles suggest that this technique also has a long history in Southeast Asia. These patterns are formed on the surface of the fabric from supplementary floating weft threads introduced between the foundation weave. In other instances, such as certain Shan,³⁹ Iban and Timorese textiles, the extra weft threads are wrapped around the warp threads between the throws of the basic weft, resulting in a decorative effect very similar to embroidery. However, by choosing from a repertoire of designs and motifs also found on other types of weaving, such as warp ikat and supplementary warp patterning, the weaver, by using the weft-wrapping method, produces cloths that look very similar to the other textiles of that culture. In Timor, for example, reptilian motifs are produced by many decorative textile techniques including supplementary warp weaving and supplementary weft wrapping. In Sarawak, the Iban weave pua sungkit, a textile made with supplementary wefts wrapped around the undecorated warp. Many display similar designs and structural arrangement to the warp ikat pua kumbu and fulfil similar important ritual purposes.

A proto-ikat technique, in which fibres are tied and dyed, although not woven into fabric, is still practised in areas bordering on Southeast Asia (Larsen et al., 1976: 18-22). This Mundugumar woman in New Guinea wears a loose fibre skirt, resist-dyed with bright chemical dyes.

A woman in the Oelolok district of central Timor weaving a textile with supplementary weft wrapping known as buna. A number of weft-wrapping techniques are practised throughout Timor, each of them known by a particular term. The decorative effect of this technique, which is used in various parts of Southeast Asia, is often confused with embroidery.

Similarities evident in the layout and structure of cloths from many different parts of Southeast Asia woven from quite different fibres (such as lemba, abaca and cotton) suggest the sustained use of these structures over a long period. While the simple, continuous warp, body-tension loom is capable of producing most elaborately decorated textiles, the width of the fabric that can be consistently produced on this equipment is limited, whatever the fibre. As a result, garments and ritual objects made from these fabrics are constructed of parallel panels. The minimum of cutting and the maximum use of selvage produces durable garments composed of joined panels -rectangular cloths for men and cylindrical skirts for women.

106

This technical limitation of the narrow loom has given rise to striking design structures. By combining odd numbers of fabric panels, decorative and highly formalized arrangements of warp bands became possible. For example, two identical panels are often separated by a different central panel. Symmetry is thus maintained while extra width is achieved. This central section sometimes continues a banded pattern found in the side sections, but in other examples a stark contrast is provided by either an elaborately decorated or quite plain panel. On certain cloths, such as the Kisar men's wrap, the use of different coloured grounds in the side bands and in the central section is an integral feature of the design. Even the stitches used to join panels may create additional ornamentation. These design features, and the colours in which they are worked, are one way of indicating a person's place of origin.

Throughout insular Southeast Asia this tripartite design feature has gradually become a major decorative device on warp-decorated textiles and may also have influenced the format of weft-patterned designs.⁴⁰ Where the central panel contains the most important design elements it is sometimes described as the 'mother'. The Bagobo of Mindanao refer to this panel as the mother (ine) and the flanking side panels as the child (bata). The metaphor linking cloth structure with the human body is repeated in different ways in other cultures. The Ifugao, for example, identify the correct side of the textile as its back (odo'gna) while the reverse side is known as the cloth's stomach (putu 'na).⁴¹

108

107

111,112

113,114

While the technical constraints of these decorative textile techniques affect the ways in which motifs and patterns are executed and explain some of the familiar and recurring variations, the underlying similarities of deep-rooted custom and belief in many Southeast Asian cultures help to explain the similarities evident in designs on cloth from quite different parts of the region. In these textile designs we frequently find ideas and symbols repeated again and again. The double or S spiral motif, sensuously curved or strongly cornered, is evident throughout Southeast Asia and out into the Pacific. Sometimes it provides the dominant patterning, while on other textiles it is confined to border meanders or filling. A diagonal orientation of these patterns is a feature of ancient Southeast Asian art that is still prevalent. The hook or key is also found everywhere, as a major pattern or as ornamental detail. Schematic patterns are formed of repeated keys while the same motif embellishes readily recognizable shapes drawn from everyday life. On the palepai and tatibin textiles of south Sumatra, the prow and stern of the ships are formed with bold curling hooks, and on even the most stylized of the tampan a vague impression of the ship is maintained within the overall key patterns. In central Sulawesi, the textiles of the Toraja provide some of Southeast Asia's most striking examples of the use of hook and spiral motifs.

funé mama (?) man's bag for betel-nut Tetum people, Besikama district, south Belu region, Timor, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes, ivory, bone, beads, shells supplementary weft wrapping 63.0 x 22.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1249

This mid-twentieth-century betel-nut bag is finely worked in supplementary weft weave (buna). The brightly coloured motifs against an indigo ground are apparently the crocodile (be'i or hau sufa) and the human figure (atonz), although these shapes are occasionally interpreted as the frog (beso). The use of such powerful images and the supplementary weft wrapping technique was once restricted in Timor to rulers and war leaders, and the women who weave such motifs are aware of their potency. A long, bright, rolled fringe is an additional decorative feature of this drawstring bag.

man's cloth Kisar or Luang, south Maluku, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 220.0 x 105.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.605

Most items of apparel composed of two, three or more panels exploit the necessary constraints of narrow, backstrap loom fabrics by retaining the symmetrical design structure with a contrasting central section. This unusual nineteenth-century cloth from the islands of Kisar or Luang is made in two identical panels but follows the tripartite design format of the eastern Indonesian man's wrap. Although textiles of this exact structure are not recorded for this region of the south Moluccas, the bands of figurative warp ikat indicate the textile's origins. The patterned bands of human figures, fowls and schematic shapes are all ancient motifs. The human forms, wonderfully proportioned with wide shoulders and a powerful stance, may have ancestral connotations. The figurative and plain striped red bands form a strong contrast with the striking blue and white spotted central section.

tatibin ceremonial cloth Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes, metallic thread, silk supplementary weft weave 44.5 x 122.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.573

The curving prows at each end of the great ships that are the central motif on the supplementary weft cotton cloths of the south Lampung region of Sumatra are one of the most striking examples of the use of an ancient decorative motif, the hook. The smaller and rarer tatibin exhibit the same iconography and style as the huge palepai textiles. This late nineteenth-century cloth resembles the single blue ship designs found on the palepei of the Kota Agung district on the south coast of Lampung. Turmeric dyes have been generously used, and spots of pink silk and silver thread appear amid the yellow-orange, red and blue supplementary threads.

shroud Isnai people, Luzon, Philippines cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 142.0 x 213.0 cm Newark Museum 30.601 Gift of Mrs Sadie De Roy Koch, 1930

This striking indigo and white textile, with strong red warp stripes, is described in the museum notes as a death blanket. It is one of the few examples of large warp ikat designs remaining from the island of Luzon. Nothing is known of the design's exact original meaning, although the large hooked motifs are similar to those identified by the art historian Schuster (1965: 342) as 'genealogical patterns', a succession of deceased ancestors. Late nineteenth or early twentieth century

pha biang ceremonial shawl Tai Daeng people, Laos silk, cotton, dyes supplementary weft weave 200.0 x 47.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3193

The rhomb and hook pattern appears in a quite different guise on this twentieth-century Lao shawl. The green, white, orange and purple silk threads are a brilliant contrast against the sombre indigo cotton ground. Apart from small creatures in the borders of the main decorative section, the design is non-figurative, although its arrangement hints at the dragon design (naga), which is a popular image on the textiles of northern mainland Southeast Asia. Similar supplementary weft diamond-key patterns are found on textiles from Vietnam through to the Himalayas.

kemben; kain kembangan offering cloth; breastcloth Javanese people, central Java, Indonesia cotton, dyes stitch-resist dyeing 492.0 x 52.2 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3183

A large rhomb section occupies the centre of a number of central Javanese cloths, including certain huge ceremonial textiles (dodot) and men's headcloths. It is also the main decorative device found on a number of breast-wrappers. These long, cotton textiles with a stark, tie-dyed or stitch-resist (tritik) central lozenge are a type of kain kembangan (flowered cloth). Such textiles are part of the traditional offerings made to deities, and are of greater ritual importance than Javanese batik. They are worn at the most sacred ceremonies at all levels of Javanese society - in court and village alike. This early twentieth-century dark indigo textile with its green centre (jumputan?) may have been associated with annual homage and offerings orientated to the south, the location of the home of Kanjeng Ratu Kidul, the goddess of the south seas and legendary ancestor of the Surakarta ruler.

skirt; ceremonial hanging Toraja people, Rongkong district (?), central Sulawesi, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary warp weave, warp ikat 185.0 x 145.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.612

(detail) pori situtu' ceremonial hanging; shroud Toraja people, Rongkong district, central Sulawesi, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 375.0 x 158.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1982.2295

(detail) pori lonjong ceremonial hanging; shroud Toraja people, Rongkong district, central Sulawesi, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 132.5 x 434.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.616

The intricacies that can be achieved with rhomb, key and spiral configurations can be judged from these Toraja examples. The twentieth-century pori lonjong (pori, ikat; lonjong, long) has crisp bold ikat in two panels. The much older textile, possibly a woman's skirt, contains subtle variations of interlocking spiral patterns in unusual supplementary warp bands. The huge, early twentieth-century pori situtu (probably from the term tutup, to close or cover) also includes the characteristic side stripes but the textile is composed of four panels. The striking, but enigmatic, spotted central pattern is surrounded by continuous, flowing spirals outlined in white. The colours on each cloth are white, a powerful red, and a dramatic blue, which are all characteristic of Rongkong textiles. To achieve such clarity in the warp ikat, Toraja weavers increase the impact of the pattern by using a double thickness of warp threads. These Rongkong textiles are used throughout the Toraja region in a variety of ceremonies, and the warp ikat cloths are associated particularly with mortuary rites. In the northern region around Kulawi, however, they are also worn as layered skirts by women of high status.

Unlike the usual practice in Southeast Asia, where each woman ties the ikat threads for her own cloths, the tying of the warp ikat for the huge ceremonial hangings of the Toraja is a communal activity involving a number of women working together. This group of women live in the Rongkong district.

109,110

117,118

The lozenge or rhomb is a common pattern used as a separate isolated motif, as part of a continuous repeated design, or inter-meshed and embellished with other decorative devices. The intersection of popular diagonal patterns may produce a lattice grid. As the diminishing diamond-within-a-diamond pattern, it provides an overall twill effect on certain textiles such as the blouses of the Karen women of northern Thailand, the belts of the Toba Batak of Sumatra and the coverings of the Kalinga of Luzon. The diamond sometimes appears on its own but is also used in conjunction with hooks or V shapes. The hooked lozenge, sometimes combined with a smaller lozenge, is one of the most basic forms used to represent living creatures, both human and animal.

115

Many of these designs have a far wider distribution than the Southeast Asian region. One author, noting the universality of the hooked lozenge as a decorative device, has suggested that it may have originally been the woman's symbol, signifying birth (Allen, 1981), though this explanation is rarely offered by Southeast Asian textile artisans. It is common for similar patterns and motifs to be interpreted differently by weavers across the region, and there are even conflicting accounts within a single ethnic group about the actual meaning of certain schematic designs.⁴²

116

119

Many minimal designs are composed of the most simple arrangements of dots and dashes. Such basic patterns are painted on to bark, formed by beads and shells, and worked in simple forms of ikat and wax-resist batik. The rough handspun village batiks of Tuban on the north coast of Java contain all-over patterns of dots that make a sharp contrast to the more complex and elaborate batik patterns executed on fine commercial fabric elsewhere in Java. Combinations of dashes form chevron patterns and some of the most elaborate ikat designs of the region are actually composed of dots or are filled with intricate stippling.

53

Triangular shapes are an ancient motif in Southeast Asian art, and the narrow bands on one of the earliest dateable textiles found in insular Southeast Asia - a fourteenth- or fifteenth-century warp ikat abaca cloth from a burial site - includes double rows of small triangles (Solheim, 1981: 79; Roces, 1985: 9). The adoption of triangles into border patterns allows unlimited scope for decorative filling and elaboration. These motifs are often identified by very specific terms. To the Ifugao of central Luzon, the triangles denote rice sheaves, or when they are displayed in pairs, a dragonfly (Ellis, 1981: 224), while the people of Tanimbar identify these motifs as flags (McKinnon, 1989). Triangles are also associated with sharp and dangerous objects, such as daggers and teeth, which will protect either the person wearing the cloth or the central motif it contains. This interpretation is offered by Iban weavers nowadays for the elaborate end pattern of triangular points used to enclose the field patterns on pua sungkit textiles.

(detail) kumo ceremonial cloth; hanging T'boli people, Mindanao, Philippines abaca fibre, dyes warp ikat 163.0 x 370.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1216

This huge abaca red, black and white hanging is composed of three recently woven panels. These textiles are especially prominent at betrothal and marriage ceremonies. The central ikat panel displays the bangala pattern depicting a person within the security of a house. The hooked decorations on the sides of the hexagons are likened to the roof ornaments on old traditional houses, and the figures that are enclosed within this grid represent humans (Casal, 1978). The hooked rhomb image has sometimes been interpreted as a female symbol and some of the more realistic human figures do appear to be giving birth to smaller images of the same shape. The bangala is also a popular T'boli tattoo pattern.

(detail) kain sruwal material for trousers Javanese people, Nggaji, Tuban district, Java, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes batik 150.6 x 58.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.490

In the past throughout rural Java, men wore knee-length pants made of this type of cloth - locally woven, plain, checked or striped fabric known as lurik, which is sometimes decorated with batik patterns. An arrowhead pattern of small white batik dots, known as 'soft rain' (udan liris), stands out against the blue-black ground which is referred to as 'blackened' (irengan). The dyes are obtained from natural indigo (known in this district as tom) and a special type of wood (kayu tingz). In the Tuban district, trousers made from this type of fabric are worn by the groom as a change of dress (salin manten) during a wedding (R. Heringa, personal communication, 1984). Twentieth century

pha lo hua chang; pha lop elephant's headcloth; sleeping sheet Tai Lue people, Laos; Thailand handspun cotton, silk, natural and synthetic dyes supplementary weft weave 146.0 x 45.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3191

pha biang ceremonial shawl Tai Nuea people, Laos silk, cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 107.5 x 41.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1987.1819

The major diamond pattern on each of these Tai cloths is built up of increasingly wider and more complex patterns and reveals the endless variations that can be developed from a limited number of simple ornamental designs. The mid-twentieth-century Tai Lue textile is based on the structure of an elephant headcloth (pha lo hua chang), although recently such cloths have been used as sleeping sheets (pha lop) presented at marriage by young women to their mother-in-laws (P. Cheesman, personal communication, 1989). Bound by red fabric, it presents a bold diamond configuration in red, blue-black and white cotton. On this cloth the usual plain central section is no longer evident. Schematic animal figures and geometric designs have been subtly incorporated within the large hooked diamond motifs and into the surrounding bands of both cloths, although the silk thread of the nineteenth-century Tai Nuea shawl has permitted clearer images to be woven. Mythical creatures appear in the borders of both textiles, in particular the twin naga serpents and bird-like creatures within the cream, green, gold and light-blue bordering bands of the Tai Nuea cloth.

(detail) tama woman's ceremonial skirt; ceremonial gift Palué people, Palué, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 170.0 x 72.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1921

The warp ikat cloths from the tiny volcanic island of Palue, off the north coast of central Flores, exhibit bright red and black colours which are quite distinctive and may be influenced by the limited sources of water on this barren island. The combination of tiny ikat dots, used to build schematic patterns in bands, is a feature of these cloths. Fine old tama are now rare on Palue, and certain cloths still in the possession of elderly women are believed to have special healing qualities, and are used to treat the skin diseases that are a recurring problem on the island. The motifs on this twentieth-century example are said to represent natural objects such as corn, tubers, chickens' feet, pig-pens and serrated knives.

These are a few of many schematic motifs and patterns that can be traced back to very early Southeast Asian art. The patterning found on prehistoric pottery and metal-work includes rhombs, keys, spirals and double spirals, circles and crosses, meanders, T shapes and triangles. These designs became part of the art heritage of the entire region and despite the passing of more than two thousand years, they are still important elements in present-day textile ornamentation. While continuity with the past is maintained, novel combinations of these ancient motifs are now evident and new motifs are often developed to incorporate them.

CLOTHING AND IDENTITY

120,121

While textiles are woven for other purposes the making of clothing is niost significant. In the past the main types of Southeast Asian garments were simple and depended on each culture's definition of modesty. Certain basic social divisions- sex, age, marital status and family affiliation - are often reflected in the structure and design of clothing. There is usually a clear division between male and female, no matter how simple the structure of the textile or its decoration,⁴³ and these distinctions are indicated by the shape, size and structure of the garments for each sex. Formerly, men usually wore the loincloth and women wore skirts, either short or to the ankle. Clothing for the upper body was rare, although men often used shawls and wraps, and sometimes elaborate jackets for festive occasions. Babies were carried in slings and shawls, and in basketry packs. Children often went naked until they approached the age of puberty when they adopted clothing appropriate to their age and unmarried or uninitiated status. Elaborately decorated fabrics were usually intended for important occasions: as ritual objects, as clothing for significant ceremonies, or as ritual gifts.

41,45,77

29

In some places decorative technique seems to have been gender specific. The supplementary weft weaving and tapestry weave of the Toraja appears only on men's loincloths while shell and patchwork appliqué are found only on women's tunics. The use of motifs to delineate gender is less common and cloths used by men and women for everyday occasions are often similar in materials and decorative technique. In some instances certain motifs are restricted to particular textiles. For example, the warp ikat skirts of Iban women do not display powerful deities, as these are considered more appropriate motifs for their sacred ceremonial hangings. For the neighbouring Maloh, however, this is clearly not the case since the dangerous and unpredictable water serpent frequently appears on women's beaded skirts and jackets.

122

123

124

In many cultures, while certain motifs and colours are appropriate for different ages, these distinctions also depend upon the social and ritual maturity of the wearer. As many new patterns have begun to appear in recent decades, it is often only elderly women who continue to wear the older and thus more traditional styles of cloth while young women are allowed to experiment with motifs and designs. In the Sikka region of Flores in eastern Indonesia, all women's skirts were once very long and composed of four panels. These are now rarely worn, and only by elderly women from remote mountain villages. Two-panel skirts, waist to ankle in length, are now worn by everyone throughout the Sikka domain, although the long multi-panel skirts are still widely valued as an important form of bride-wealth in Sikka and neighbouring Lembata.

The manner of wearing traditional clothing and the choice of textiles to be worn, varies according to age and experience, and these are important factors for determining status in many societies. In eastern Flores and the Solor archipelago, young unmarried women wear their skirts tied by a string around the neck or pinned at the shoulders, young married women wear their skirts up around the breasts and mature women fold them around the waist (Maxwell, 1981: 62). Similar rules often apply to particular garments. Among the Kankanay of Luzon, while jackets are appropriate for young women, new mothers do not wear them because this would indicate that they do not care for their offspring or their new status (Ellis, 1981: 237). Similar ways of differentiating between garments according to age and status are also found in mainland Southeast Asia.

Ritual experience and wisdom, to a large part a function of age, is sometimes indicated by distinctive textile decoration. The colour, the structure of the designs and the use of ritually important motifs are often related to a strict hierarchy in the making of cloths. Only those women of social and ritual maturity may attempt to create certain motifs, perform certain types of weaving, or process particular dye-stuffs (Vogelsanger, 1980; Maxwell, 1981: 53; Maxwell, 1985: 145-53). Such restrictions are especially important in the case of ritually significant textiles.

In the early twentieth century some more remote peoples of Laos and Cambodia were still wearing the same type of clothing as their ancestors -the loincloth for men and the cylindrical or wrapped skirt for women. This photograph taken in Laos shows a Kha man and woman wearing these garments.

(detail) kain kebat woman's skirt Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 51.5 x 117.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1982.2305

Within the warp ikat traditions of Southeast Asia, the length of women's cylindrical skirts varies considerably. Some garments are worn folded, while others allow maximum movement and reach only to the wearers' knees. The lban skirt falls into this latter category and is held in place with hoops of rattan, and on festive occasions with silver belts and coin chains. On this early twentieth-century example the clarity of the red, brown and natural warp ikat indicates the work of an already accomplished weaver, although the weaving of a kain kebat usually occurs at an early stage in a woman's career before she undertakes the more prestigious and ceremonially important pua. The motifs on these skirts are selected from nature and usually include various small creatures and plants. Although this skirt consists of only a single woven panel, it still displays a common Southeast Asian design feature - a central section enclosed by narrow striped bands.

utang lian tipa woman's skirt; ceremonial gift Sikka people, lwangete district, Flores, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 219.0 x 135.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1144

Four-panel, bride-wealth cloths are a category of Sikka textiles generally known as utang wiwir wanan or utang wata hutung ('four joined together') and are still made in some parts of the Sikka domain. This example, from the mountainous Iwangete area, has narrow, banded, warp ikat designs which are in marked contrast to the larger, wider, ikat patterns on two-panel skirts. The widest of the bands (ina gete) contains several different motifs including the lizard (teké), the circle under a plate (pigang uben), the pineapple flower (petan puhun) and the spinning-wheel (jata seter). Another motif appears to be a human figure with a child. The patterning of this skirt (utang) is apparently associated with the spirit of the snake, suggested by its special name!ian lipa ('the snake-like pattern'). Twentieth century

The two-panel Sikka skirt is generally known as an utang hawatan (a single skirt, as distinct from the double length of the older style utang wata hutung). The shorter skirt is now widely worn with a blouse. The skirt has a number of design structures each with its own name.

(detail) petak karen; kewatek nai telo woman's skirt; bride-wealth gift Lamaholot people, south Lembata, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 153.0 x 115.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1239

These long skirts of southern Lembata are no longer prominent as women's ceremonial costume. Nevertheless, the red-brown textiles are still highly valued items in the circulation of bride-wealth that accompanies marriage and other rites of passage, particularly funerals. At such ceremonial gatherings the participants restate their kinship alliances through appropriate male and female gifts. Skirts intended for marriage gifts must be worked only in handspun cotton and natural dyes. Since these valued textiles are stored between use, rarely worn, and never washed, bright but fugitive colours - such as the turmeric yellows and greens, and pale unsaturated pinks and blues - are frequently included. The patterning of the central field is a sign of the weaver's clan membership and the motifs are drawn from family heirlooms. The banded borders include the giant ray (mokum) and the boat with paddles (tena). These are important symbols in the coastal whaling community of Lamalera, and indicate that this cloth was probably woven there. Mid-twentieth century

tengkuluak woman's headcloth Minangkabau people, west Sumatra, Indonesia silk, cotton, natural dyes, gold thread supplementary weft weave 246.0 x 103.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3187

This nineteenth-century supplementary weft headcloth still retains the strong banded elements of early Southeast Asian design using red, white and gold threads. Like many Minangkabau headcloths, cotton is used for the warp threads and also for the weft threads in those sections of the textile hidden from view when it is worn folded.

These early twentieth-century photographs illustrate the characteristic.buffalo-horn shape of the head-dress worn as ceremonial costume by Minangkabau women. Each subdistrict of the west Sumatran highlands has its own method of tying the tengkuluak. The woman in Plate 126 is from the Payakumbuh district, while the woman in Plate 127 wears her tengkuluak in Padang Panjang style. In addition to these regional differences, at marriage ceremonies, the selection and arrangement of the headcloth and shouldercloth also indicate the marital status of the wearer and her relationship to the bride or groom (Ng, 1987).

The most ancient social systems are those based on descent -family, lineage, clan or moiety. These vary from place to place and may emphasize affiliations with either paternal or maternal relatives, or in some cases follow both descent lines. In those societies where great stress is placed on family alliances, particularly during participation in ceremonies, the signs of a person's family membership are frequently indicated by his or her apparel, especially that reserved for ritual occasions. At such ceremonies, the linch-pin of appropriate behaviour is the relationship by birth or marriage between those present and it is important to establish lineage membership.

4

On some textiles certain patterns or the structure of the designs indicate the ancestry of the wearer, and motifs belonging to a particular family or group are confined to its members. Threats of dire consequences are often made if these restrictions are transgressed. In the Lamaholot areas of east Flores and the islands of Sol or, Lembata and Adonara, the family affiliations of the maker or wearer are identified by certain motifs in the widest band or central panel of warp ikat (R.J, Maxwell, 1980). On Savu, where the population is split into two along maternal lines, the two moieties wear skirts with slightly different design structures, and the finer subdivisions of the moiety are revealed in the main warp ikat decorative band (Fox, 1977a: 98-9; Maxwell, 1985: 145-7). The women of Savu also make men's cloths that show quite different banded designs for each moiety.

125,26,127

Even in societies with bilateral family arrangements, textiles also play a significant role at times of marriage and death. Here the focus is on the display of wealth through the magnificent hangings that the extended family can muster for these occasions. Among the Minangkabau of Sumatra the relationships of the female guests to the bridal couple are indicated by the choice of specific garments and the way clothing is arranged, especially the shawl and headcloth (Ng, 1984: 22-38; Ng, 1987: 185-203).

cabir (?) bag for betel-nut and tobacco Bagobo people, Mindanao, Philippines abaca fibre, beads, brass bells supplementary warp weave, appliqué

This early twentieth-century Bagobo betel-nut bag displays an elaborate geometric beaded design. It was photographed in Mindanao.

The ceremonial exchange of betel-nut is an important part of the protocol that is observed at the meeting of traditional rulers throughout Southeast Asia. This mid-twentieth-century photograph from Timor shows two Atoni or Dawan rulers in full costume and regalia.

128,129

130,131

132,133

Since the chewing of betel-nut as a stimulant began in prehistoric Southeast Asia, the paraphernalia associated with the custom also has a very long history.⁴⁴ Elaborate boxes, bags and wraps were deviseu to carry, store and offer the raw materials of nuts, sirih leaves and lime which are combined to create a mildly euphoric effect. The accoutrements of betel-nut chewing also developed ceremonial significance, and betel-nut is essential in most offerings to gods, ancestors and spirits. Weavers and dyers in Savu, for instance, place offerings that include betel-nut in the roof of the house - the dwelling place of benevolent deities - and at the corners of the loom or ikat tying-frame to distract or repel any mischievous spirits who might meddle with the threads (Maxwell, 1985). In Borneo, the Iban shamans use the flower of the sacred areca ·palm for augury and the betel-nut is a part of the offering covered with a magical pua textile. Beautiful betel-nut bags are part of the grave goods of a great ruler in Timor and Sumba.

130

In many Malay and Indonesian languages, the term pinang, meaning 'to offer betel-nut', is synonymous with courting and the formal request for a woman in marriage when, often in ceremonial procession, the groom's extended family visit the home of the bride or her superior male relative.⁴⁵ Special textiles are sometimes used to envelop the betel-nut or the bearer. Beaded boxes were often reserved for serving betel-nut at home, while more portable textile pouches with drawstring straps carried betel-nut ingredients, or in more recent times tobacco, when travelling. In the northern mainland regions of Southeast Asia shoulder-bags are an important item of clothing. Special boxes and bags, including many made from fabric, are a common part of a family's heirloom treasures all over Southeast Asia.⁴⁶

A yovng Rotinese woman visiting the house of her male relative's fiancee, as part of the betrothal ceremonies. Both the woman and the box of betel-nut ingredients that she carries are wrapped in the sidi ana soka (or in some parts of Roti, sidi aba dok), a short cylindrical textile now solely reserved for this occasion. The sidi ana soka cloth is an unusual but important Rotinese traditional textile woven for this one specific purpose. Formed from two narrow panels into a short but uncommonly wide cylinder, it is designed to cover the head and shoulders of the bearer of symbolic betel-nut during the betrothal ceremony. Soka and dok are Rotinese terms for gebang Q.J. Fox, personal communication, 1986), and this suggests that this ritual fabric was originally made from the fibre of the Corypha gebanga palm. This material is used today in Roti to tie ikat patterns on to cotton warp threads.

lidded box for betel-nut ingredients Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia matting, beads, fibre interlacing, bead appliqué 14.0 x 22.0 x 18.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.587

ceremonial betel-nut bag Sumbanese people, east Sumba, Indonesia cotton, beads beading 35.0 x 56.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1248

alu inu betel-nut bag with lime container Atoni or Dawan people, Timor, Indonesia cotton, bamboo, beads, horsehair, coins, brass bells beading, appliqué 15.0 x 22.0 em 12.0 x 14.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.583

The shape of the beaded betel-nut box from Lampung suggests both the curved roof form of many Sumatran houses, and the ship-of-transition, a motif that also appears in coloured beads on each side against the orange ground of highly valued muti salah beads. Boxes of this shape were also made from brass and precious metals and these containers are placed on or covered by a special textile such as a tampan. This example, like the other Indonesian betel-nut containers, seems to date from the late nineteenth century.

Elaborately decorated textiles and headwork are included among the possessions of the noble families of Sumba and Timor, and ancient symbols such as chickens and reptiles are frequently depicted on these treasures. Red, black and white beads are common in several parts of Southeast Asia but the Atoni betel-nut bag and lime container with its horsehair fringe is also decorated with coins issued by the Dutch trading company (Vereenigde Oostindische Companie, VOC) period in the seventeenth century.

TEXTILES AND THE DUAL ASPECTS OF THE COSMOS

There are certain fundamental aspects of the social order that continue to affect the use of textiles throughout much of the region. Some prehistorians suggest that the concept of cosmic dualism, the division of the universe into two orders, was already formed by the Metal Age (Bellwood, 1985: 156). In societies where this form of dual organization developed, daily routines and ritual activities are ordered into two complementary yet opposing parts basically defined as male and female.

Early political systems were small scale with rank dependent on descent from the founding ancestors and from personal achievements in socially significant activities such as head-hunting, textile-making and agriculture. Status, particularly in groups that focus on unilateral descent, is still established largely according to relative superiority or dependence in marriage relationships, with the wife-giving group, the family of the bride, in a ritually and socially stronger position than the wife-takers, the groom's kin. The wealth exchanged at the establishing of marriage alliances in many Southeast Asian societies is consistent with this dual cosmic ordering and is made up of distinct but complementary male and female valuables.

Since textiles are the products of women, they are understood as tangible representations of the female elements of the bipartite universe. On Sumba this male-female complementarity is encapsulated in the notion of the Highest Being who is the Father Sun-Mother Moon and the Creator of Human Life-Weaver of Human Life (Adams, 1969: 29). Although different cloths are appropriate apparel for men or women, textiles are seen collectively as a female component, along with the Lower World, darkness, inside, left, moon, and death. Cloth is a symbol of the woman's family, the wife-givers, who are ritually superior on ceremonial occasions.⁴⁷ Female aspects of the cosmos oppose yet complement the male characteristics of the Upper World, light, outside, right, sun, and life. In ritual exchanges textiles are a prominent part of the reciprocal gift for male objects such as metal, ivory, and buffalo from the man's family, whose burden in gift-giving is heavier because of the inferior status of the wife-takers.

In social settings where marriage alliances between families are reiterated, especially at mortuary ceremonies, gifts between marriage partners are very common, and textiles and metal goods or cattle are again exchanged. For example, at a funeral amongst the Lamaholot of east Flores and the Solor archipelago, the family of a deceased male leader will bring ivory to pillow the head of the dead, while the family of his wife will bring grave-gifts of valuable textiles to cover the body. The division of material objects into male and female types at marriages and funerals applies also in non-weaving regions, with textiles as appropriate female presentations from the wife-givers and goods associated with maleness such as metal, sailing equipment, or tusks from the wife-takers.⁴⁸ Within these two broad, dual categories for objects, further subdivisions into complementary male and female objects may be integrated, with gifts formed, for example, from pairs of male and female buffaloes, or paired men's cloths and women's skirts.

8,68

This pattern of exchange and reciprocity is found throughout much of Indonesia and also in parts of the Philippines. Among the T'boli of Mindanao during the mo 'ninum, the final feast to celebrate a marriage, the groom's family builds an umbrella-like structure known as the tabule, using spears and bamboo decorated with valued heir-looms which are part of the bride-price payments: mats, horse-bridles, gongs, and ancient Chinese plates. Meanwhile, the bride's family hangs the kumo magal from a long bamboo line. This consists of masses of special, three-panel warp ikat cloth (kumo) which will be the reciprocal gift. The culmination of the ceremony involves the groom's family wielding the tabule to symbolically penetrate the kumo wall, after which the remainder of the ceremony and exchange of gifts takes place within the bride's home (Casal, 1978: 82-4). Another Mindanao society, the Maranao, have continued this custom with the bridegroom 'entering' a large canopy to claim his bride (Roces, 1985: 3).

In ceremonial gift exchanges there is often a hierarchy in which some types of textiles of more complicated design and larger size are rated as having more value. The choice of cloth to be presented at Toba Batak weddings, however, is determined by a potential wearer's age and status in the wider family group, the seniority of the giver and by the closeness of the family ties between giver and receiver. The parents of the bride wrap the seated couple in a highly valued cloth such as an ulos ragidup, while distant uncles and aunts of the bride cover them in textiles of lesser ceremonial value (Gittinger, 1975: 22-6; Niessen, 1985a: Chapter 2). Upon the arrival of a grandchild, it is the maternal grandparents who envelop the child in a ritual carrying cloth, the ulos mangiring. As we shall explore below, the use of textiles in these rites evokes their protective qualities, a common and ancient property. None of these cloths is specifically associated with a lineage, a family or even a village of origin and they are all widely used throughout the Toba Batak area.⁴⁹ For these people, ulos gifts, predominantly textiles, are always associated with the wife-giving group and pis au (knife) gifts, which now include rice and land, come from the wife-receiver's family and each is a sign of the support and protection that the marriage alliance affords each party.

This same male-female dichotomy is symbolically reflected in fine detail by the different directions in which men and women in certain cultures wind their hair, and wrap their head cloths and skirts.⁵⁰ The diagonal spiral patterns of central Javanese batik, known as parang, are arranged to slope in one direction for men, and in the opposite for unmarried women (Geirnaert-Martin, 1983). In east Sumba the fundamental understanding of these opposing characteristics- male-female, right-left, life-death- results in the inversion of everyday principles for the cloths associated with the dead.⁵¹

While these opposing categories are seen most vividly in societies that trace their descent unilineally, the metal-textile dichotomy has wider application in Southeast Asia. Symbolic structures incorporating both male and female elements, such as cosmic trees constructed from metal spears and complementary textiles and mats, are found throughout the region. They are evident, for example, amongst the cognatic peoples of Borneo and the patrilineal Sumbanese. Heavenly staircases of swords and cloth are part of the ritual of both the peoples of south Sumatra who have bilateral family patterns and the patrilineal Mien (or Yao) of northern Thailand.⁵²

Perceptions of cosmic dualism that include the division of the universe into Upper and Lower Worlds inform the ancient depictions of animal life in Southeast Asian art. Birds and flying creatures of the Upper World are juxtaposed with aquatic creatures of the Lower World such as fish, lizards and crocodiles, snakes and sea-serpents. Depictions of animal life have similar connotations elsewhere in Southeast Asia, for this is the form that the founding ancestors often assume in legend and in art.⁵³ Representations of animals and reptiles on ceremonial cloths clearly symbolize important identities from their spirit world.

15

The Sumbanese of eastern Indonesia believe a person is able to acquire the special powers and qualities of certain creatures when textiles displaying such motifs are worn. Particular animal patterns are equated with the characteristics of royalty and are depicted on those Sumba textiles and jewellery to be used by members of the Sumbanese ruling class, the maramba (Adams, 1969: 129-43). The identifiable creatures that appear on royal Sumba textiles include chickens or cocks (animals of ritual sacrifice), the deer with large spreading antlers (a symbol of royalty who also wear an upright, branching, golden head-dress), and the shrimps who shed their shells in a process of renewal (symbolic of a ruler's powers).

Lau hada woman's ceremonial skirt Sumbanese people, east Sumba, Indonesia cotton, mud dye, shells, beads tabby weave, needle-worked fringe, beading 158.0 x 62.0 em Australian National Gallery 1984.1246

Both real and imaginary reptiles are favourite images on the most ancient of textile techniques in Southeast Asia and the headwork of Sumba provides many striking examples. This creature (or creatures?) has multiple legs and appears to have two heads. According to the documentation attached to a similar beaded skirt collected in 1883 after the Colonial Exhibition in Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden 370-3767), the creature is tentatively identified as a scorpion. Its bold white shape is outlined in bright red, blue, orange and green beads.

Black m1,1d-dyeing is probably one of the oldest techniques in Southeast Asia and can still be found in a few places, including Lombok, central Sulawesi and Sumba. In each case it appears to be the woven cloth rather than the threads that are treated. A hot mud process is used in Sumba to dye certain types of women's skirts (tau), including those to which bands of heirloom beads (hada) are later added. The fringe of a cloth can be made during the weaving process or it can be added later with a needle. Although fringes usually appear at either end like the cut warp, needle-inserted fringes decorate the surface of the fabric on this type of lau hada. Thus two forms of designs are formed on the same mud-dyed ground - one in the brightest beads and shells and another in a dark embroidered fringe. Late nineteenth or early twentieth century

(detail) tapis woman's ceremonial skirt Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia silk, handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, embroidery 65.5 x 127.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1980.1633

The mature and careful weaver can harness the very qualities and power that make certain spirits, animals and insects so dangerous to humans. However, the original meaning of the ambiguous motif appearing in the embroidered bands on this Lampung textile is now unknown. The presence of small creatures within the larger squid-like form suggest that it may have been one of the imaginative Paminggir monsters also found on the tampan cloths. In other renditions of this type of embroidered skirt these motifs appear to be stylized human forms. The base fabric of this nineteenth-century textile is decorated with bands of warp ikat.

alu mama betel-nut bag Atoni or Dawan people, Timor, Indonesia cotton, shells, beads, natural dyes supplementary warp weave, appliqué 53.0 x 21.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1250

In Timor, the great crocodile motif (besi mnasi) is based upon a creature of central importance in ancestral legends. Offerings are made to appease the crocodile spirit, and this always includes the ingredients for betel-nut chewing. This twentieth-century woven betel-nut bag also displays rhomb, spiral and key motifs in indigo and white, with subtle stripes of other natural colours, and illustrates how shells and beads are used as a subsidiary element to provide finishing decoration to textiles.

314

135,136

Crocodiles, pythons, and predatory beasts are linked in east Sumba with the ruler whose power over life and death is unquestioned. However, the relationship of mortals with such potentially dangerous creatures is often ambiguous, so the crocodile and snake are both symbols of danger and symbols of protection throughout many parts of Southeast Asia. When these creatures appear on cloths used as funeral shrouds they are invoked as figures of the Underworld to secure safe passage for the dead to the next life.

137

138

15,139

Birds, also significant in legend and ritual, are widely depicted in textile iconography as the domestic fowl, various exotic species of bird from the natural world, and mythical winged creatures rep-resenting the gods, spirits and ancestors who inhabit the Upper World and frequently assume these guises. At their most important rituals, especially those connected with male prestige and head-hunting, the Iban prepare a carved and painted effigy of the mighty horn bill. This is known as a kenyalang, and is associated with the legendary god of war and supreme augury bird-deity, Lang Singalang Burong. On occasions when the kenyalang is displayed in his honour, textiles are always present. A bird identified as the hornbill also often appears on various art forms, including mats, textiles and carving, in other parts of Borneo and in the Lampung region of Sumatra. Another ancient textile motif is the domestic fowl, a part of Southeast Asian village life in prehistoric times which remains a minor but essential sacrificial animal in many family and community ceremonies.

Colours are also a part of the ancient Austronesian dualism that has ordered conceptions of the universe. Black is often associated with the left and with femaleness, while red is associated with the right and maleness. Hence red is the suitable colour for a warrior's outfit. While the application of these colours reflects the availability of dyestuffs during early history, the significance of these colour categories can still be detected in Southeast Asian costume. For example, in the Thai court of the late Ayutthaya period, the right-hand guards wore red and the left-hand contingent wore black (Terwiel, 1983: 11); and at the court of Bima in Sumbawa, the Sultan's troops wore red as a sign of bravery, while his civil retainers wore blue-black (Hitchcock, 1985: 19). Throughout Southeast Asia, it is common to find that red is the favoured colour for ceremonial costume while black is used for everyday apparel.⁵⁴

Red, black and white threads twined together into yarn form a symbol of the unity of the cosmos and the divergent or conflicting forces it encompasses. Bundles of these threads are used as magic talismans by the Balinese and the Bataks of north Sumatra, and a jacket of red in northern Thailand is adorned with a black and white cross which is believed to lengthen the wearer's life (Campbell et al, 1978: 37). Certain Balinese offerings are only considered complete when they incorporate both black and red sacred geringsing double ikat textiles.⁵⁵ The Karo Batak of north Sumatra, on the other hand, believe that the tricolour threads represent the three elements that form the foundations of their social structure. The intertwining of threads of the three colours (benang tiga rupa) symbolizes the ideal unity and co-operation which should exist between a family and its bride-givers and bride-takers, since no ceremony can be properly and effectively performed without the presence of these three essential elements of the Karo kinship system.⁵⁶

(detail) kuma ceremonial cloth; hanging T'Boli people, Mindanao, Philippines abaca fibre, natural dyes warp ikat 766.0 x 57.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1217

The birds depicted on Southeast Asian textiles are often legendary creatures. The stylized motif on this mid-twentieth-century ceremonial hanging is said to be a large bird with great flapping wings (g'mayaw) that possesses the power to make the observer dizzy. This is not a bird familiar to village Mindanao but is known only to the ancestors and today 'is seen only from afar' (Casal, 1978). This long single panel with a plaited fringe is a recent fine example of abaca ikat.

tambai gawai ceremonial banner Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, twining 122.4 x 26.4 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1111

Long banners (tambai) are hung from a kenyalang, the carved wooden representation of the mighty hornbill at important Iban festivals (gawai) connected with male prestige and head-hunting. This is one of three banners, collected in the Baleh region of Sarawak in 1950 by Emeritus Professor Derek Freeman and Monica Freeman. It shows three mythical water serpents (nabau).

(detail) hom non cloth for a woman's skirt Kisar or Luang, South Maluku, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 69.4 x 260.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.606

The major bands of warp ikat on this length of cloth contain motifs representing the domestic fowl, as well as human figures and schematic star motifs. These motifs are known generally as rimanu in this region Gasper and Pirngadie, 1912b: Plates 26- 7). Although the exact meaning of the term is unknown, in many Austronesian languages manu is a word used for the domestic chicken. Such designs were only worn by local leaders and their families. This early twentieth-century textile was taken as a souvenir to the Netherlands and so was never cut and formed into a woman's cylindrical skirt as the weaver had intended. In south Maluku, women of the small island of Luang specialized in weaving and their cloths were traded to the more arable neighbouring islands. It is possible that this early twentieth-century cloth was made there where it would be known by the ancient Austronesian term lawar or lavre, a name for skirts which has wide currency elsewhere in eastern Indonesia, and is related to the Hawaian term for skirt, lau.

WARFARE AND WEAVING, TALKING AND TEXTILE-MAKING: COMPLEMENTARY RITES OF MEN AND WOMEN

140

Head-hunting was an important ritual central to life in many societies and was believed to be a way of generating fertility and prosperity.⁵⁷ The taking of heads to re-establish equilibrium and well-being after death or disaster still features prominently in the legends of many ethnic groups. Head-hunting and the rituals of warfare provide important symbols that establish cosmic order and represent the social well-being of society. Such symbols are evident on many objects including textiles. In east Sumba, the most striking example is the skull tree (andung) that stands in large villages. The andung pole, hung with skulls and firmly embedded in a stone platform, stood as a central altar for head-hunting rites associated with agricultural increase and inter-village warfare, and it is often re-created in detail on the warp ikat and supplementary warp textiles of the area (Adams, 1969: 130-1; Adams, 1971a: 32).

142

lban textiles associated with head-hunting rituals contain many powerful motifs. Nineteenth-century examples of pua sungkit show the severed trophy skulls (antu pala) hanging from branches. These designs are a vivid depiction of the fruitfulness of past expeditions, and were an ideal symbol on textiles used by ritually important women to receive and cradle newly acquired heads when Iban warriors returned from successful raids. Heads were not only trophies demonstrating success in warfare; they became fertility metaphors - both agricultural and human. In an Iban legend the mighty Lang Singalang Burong splits an enemy skull and from it pours seeds which when planted yield a human crop (Freeman, 1979: 233- 46).

143

141

Other Southeast Asian peoples, such as the Ifugao of Luzon and the various Dayak groups of Sarawak and Kalimantan, stored captured heads, and these were displayed during preparations for war and at fertility rites during the agricultural cycle. The Naga of western Burma also believed that success in head-hunting would harness the essence of enemies' souls and ensure agricultural abundance (Hutton, 1928). For men in such societies, status was originally achieved through prowess in warfare and this was recognized and displayed by the wearing of special costume (Femenias, 1984: 50-1). The Bagobo and Kulaman of Mindanao also had certain items of apparel - stitch-resist jackets and pants, and tie-dyed headcloths in rich red-brown blood colours - that were only worn by warriors who had taken an enemy head.

hinggi kombu man's cloth Sumbanese people, east Sumba, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, weft twining, staining 304.0 x 127.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1240

The bold use of a large, diagonal, central pattern flanked by elongated male figures contributes to the striking vertical effect of this hinggi design. The major motif at each end is the andung, a tree-like structure on which the skulls of vanquished enemies are hung. This twentieth-century cloth is worked in natural red and blue vegetable dyes with some additional yellow staining.

sawal and k'gal sara trousers and jacket for a warrior Kulaman people, Mindanao, Philippines abaca fibre, natural dyes stitch-resist dyeing Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 129644; 129645

In this unusual resist technique, the motifs are stitched on to the abaca fabric before the cloth is dyed. Items of costume in these rich red-brown dyes and with intricate designs were reserved for successful head-hunters, and among the lozenge and spiral motifs, human figures appear to symbolize past or future victims.

pua sungkit ceremonial cloth Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft wrapping 88.0 x 210.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1980.1659

A powerful nineteenth-century pua sungkit depicts the severed trophy-head design (antu pala), associated with head-hunting expeditions, longhouse prosperity and Iban notions of fertility. The motifs have sometimes been identified by Western observers as depicting the great Iban patron god of war, Lang Singalang Burong, hung with skulls. However, even the most ritually experienced weaver would not dare to depict that legendary warrior-ancestor on a pua sungkit, the lban textile type synonymous with power (M. Heppell, personal communication, 1987). The six rows of antu pala motifs have been worked in supplementary weft wrapping technique against the rich maroon ground, and those sets of trophy heads worked predominantly in dark indigo are more prominent than those worked in buff undyed thread. The triangular end patterns depict the coiled python (leko sawa).

58

114,115

116

59,60

Warfare required fine regalia and special protective clothing. Twining was frequently the medium for hunters' and warriors' jackets and these are still found in a few isolated places. The tightly twined jackets of Flores, Sulawesi and Borneo were all intended to deflect enemies' blows. In Borneo, institutionalized inter-tribal fighting and head-hunting led to an amazing range of war jackets made of woven fibre and thick cotton, quilting, embroidered bark, skin, rattan, beads, shell discs of various shapes and sizes, and even anteater scales (Avé and King, 1986: opp.16; Khan Majlis, 1984:326-32, 342-3). On the most elaborate Iban warp ikat cotton jackets and coats, twining and tapestry weave are employed for the bright medallions and border trim, and in Timor the intricate twined and tapestry-woven accessories of the méo warriors are some of the finest textile work from that island. The Ifugao of Luzon make twined jackets with a technique similar to macrame.⁵⁸ These jackets, and the hairy backpack (bango), seem to be associated with hunting and with ceremonies such as exorcism and those following violent deaths, when sacrifices are necessary.⁵⁹

man's shawl Naga people, north-east India handspun cotton, natural dyes, shells supplementary weft weave, appliqué 168.0 x 110.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1923

The sombre black and brown warp stripes on this nineteenth-century Naga warrior's shawl provide an appropriate contrast for the white shell appliqué. The circular motifs are believed to represent the moon, a propitious symbol for head-hunting raids, while the human figures are intended to indicate the tally of his victims and act as omens for the future. Small checkered badges of red supplementary thread are scattered across the surface. These shawls are used by local chieftains and their families, and the precise arrangement of the stripes indicates the rank of the wearer.

pilu saluf, ilaf belt or sword decoration; head decoration for the méo (ritual war leader) Atoni or Dawan people, Timor, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes, beads tapestry weave, twining, supplementary weft wrapping 130.0 x 11.5 cm; 61.0 x 21.2 cm Australian National Gallery 1980.1661; 1980.1662

Coloured lithograph first published in 1864 by J.Th. Bik in his book Aantekeningen nopens eene reis naar Bima, Timor, de Moluksche eilanden, Menado en Oost java

The elaborate ceremonial regalia of the Timorese ritual warrior-leaders (méo) are recorded in this lithograph based on the voyage of the two Bik brothers to the Indies around 1822. It clearly shows the finely worked, tapestry weave sword and head ornaments, the ceremonial betel-nut bag, a beaded lizard neck-piece, and a plaid sash and headcloth (possibly plangi tie-dye) imported from a neighbouring region. The warrior's wrap is a locally woven, cotton, supplementary warp and is typical of the textiles of the Molo district in central-west Timor, from which the narrow belt and head-piece in Plate 144 may have come. Many of these Timorese tapestry weave items, such as those illustrated here, are predominantly red, the colour associated with bravery and warriors in many parts of Southeast Asia. Other colours are typically white, orange, yellow and black. Early twentieth century

A woman in the Amanuban domain of central-west Timor plaiting a decorative tie for an Atoni ceremonial bag or piece of regalia. She uses smooth stones as weights to provide simple even tension.

royal horse blanket Tetum people, south Belu region, Timor, Indonesia handspun cotton, silk, natural dyes, kapok supplementary weft wrapping, warp ikat, quilting 104.0 x 215.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1989.846

lafa ina horse blanket Rotinese people, Roti, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 179.0 x 89.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1103

Horses have been an important animal in eastern Indonesia for centuries, and the small ponies of Sumba, Bima, Flores and Timor have gained a considerable reputation for their sturdiness and suitability in Southeast Asian conditions. They are ridden almost exclusively by men throughout the Lesser Sunda Islands and play a prominent role in ritual related to hunting and warfare. Fine saddle-cloths have been created for these important occasions. The Rotinese horse blanket a medium-sized rectangular cioth, displays red, blue and white banded warp ikat designs. These textiles generally can be distinguished from Rotinese men's wraps by their lack of a fringe. The spectacular nineteenth-century Tetum horse blanket, used by a ruler of a domain in the south Belu region, is a remarkably elaborate textile. It is constructed of layers of finely decorated fabric, and the central sitting section is padded with kapok. The effect is of alternating bands of red and brown warp ikat and gleaming brightly coloured silk supplementary weft wrapping on a dark indigo foundation weave.

tais woman's skirt Tetum people, south Belu region, Timor, Indonesia cotton, dyes supplementary weft wrapping, supplementary warp weave 114.4 x 59.4 cm Australian National Gallery 1988.640

Although the horse is a prominent feature of Timorese life, it is not alluded to in the earliest ancestral legends and it is still recognized as a foreign image (kasz) in Timorese art. Nevertheless, for at least the last century the horse has been an important part of textile iconography in the south Belu region. Asymmetrical design, with each motif created separately by the weft wrapping technique, is a characteristic feature of Tetum textiles. Figures, standing and on horseback, are arranged vertically on this brilliant red cloth, according to the way it would be worn, with the warp bands apparently unable to constrain the weaver's enthusiasm. This mid-twentieth-century example has been produced using bnghtly coloured commercial dyes.

seda man's shawl Ngada people, Flores, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, braiding 291.0 x 116.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3188

Spindly animal figures often appear indistinctly on the dark indigo textiles of the Ngada of central Flores. On this early twentieth-century man's shawl the images are remarkably clear. The cloth reads in one direction asymmetrically, indicating that the two bands were woven separately, and were not cut and joined as is customary for symmetrical design structures. A hooked square motif enclosing a diagonal grid alternates with the horse. The ninth strand of the long fringe is knotted in diagonally opposite corners but the significance of this, if any, is unknown.

The complementarity of gender specific skills is such that among the Iban, weaving was known and valued as 'women's war'. Young Iban women are chided - in life and in legend - if they have not yet made a complex patterned pua, and without passing this test in the past they could not receive a captured head. Just as men are encouraged to travel far in their quest for experience and adventure, the further a pua travels, the more prestigious the reputation of the woman who wove it.⁶⁰ Old heirloom pua, especially those that were carried by the longhouse communities in their mid-nineteenth-century migrations, are particularly revered.

In Bima on the island of Sumbawa, this complementarity of warfare and weaving is also expressed in a rhyme sung by young women to their warrior sweethearts:

'Arrows in your shield can be used as heddles,

So go forward in battle, I'll hear no excuses.'

(Hitchcock, 1985: 48)

On the island of Savu in eastern Indonesia, a woman spins yarn throughout a ceremonial cockfight held by men at the Great Altar in Mahara (Mesara), marking the opening of the Praise of the Earth, an annual period of festive dancing and gong-playing (Kana, 1983: 87). The competitive sport of cockfighting is closely associated with male blood-letting and in many parts of Southeast Asia it has replaced various forms of traditional warfare that are now prohibited.

While it is not known when or how the first horses arrived in Southeast Asia, this animal has become closely identified with ritual warfare, hunting and associated ceremonial activities in many parts of the region. Special horse blankets have been created for use by men of high status, and throughout insular Southeast Asia the horse is a familiar and recurring textile motif. Where it is closely associated with male prestige and wealth, it has become an established transition symbol and appears, like the buffalo, on textiles with and without riders. In particular, it is a popular image on men's shawls and wraps. Its depiction varies from the realistic horses of east Sumba and Tetum textiles to the simple schematic patterns of Endeh and Ngada. In mountain Luzon, the horse has also become a popular motif on the supplementary weft ceremonial textiles of the Tinguian.

147,148

153

149,150

151,152

While the complementarity of weaving and warfare is symbolically represented throughout Southeast Asia through the pairing of spear and cloth, it is not only the male activities surrounding warfare that are symbolically linked with the tasks of women. Important rituals performed by men find parallel meanings in the textile-making of women. In ancient Austronesian cultures, male oratory can be viewed as a weaving of legends, genealogies and history, and men's oral symbols can be linked with the visual symbols women provide through matting and textiles. The great oral and written chronicles of Southeast Asia not only extol the feats of gods, ancestors and great leaders but detail their fine apparel and rich regalia. In Iban genealogies, for example, men are identified by their names while women are known by the pua patterns that they have invented.

owes ceremonial shawl; hanging; shouldercloth Tinguian people, Luzon, Philippines cotton, dyes supplementary weft weave, embroidery 116.0 x 192.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1252

The supplementary weft textiles of central Luzon also contain anthropomorphic and animal motifs, and this mid-twentieth-century example alternates human figures and horses. This type of cloth consists of three red, white and blue panels that are usually joined by bright embroidery stitches. Carried as shouldercloths by men, these figurative textiles are most prominent in the mortuary rituals of the Tinguian and the Kalinga, when they are part of the textile wealth displayed around the body of the deceased.

Boat-building and house construction are two specific male activities that are central to the well-being of the community,⁶¹ and both are often linked in legend and ceremony to textiles and weaving. On the small island of Palue, off the coast of central Flores, textiles are hung as symbolic sails at the launching of traditional fishing boats.⁶² Throughout the Indonesian archipelago, cloth is hung from the roof and rafters of newly constructed traditional houses, temples, rice-barns and community treasure-houses and is also placed along the ridge pole of houses under construction as a symbol of protection. This is also suggestive of masts and sails since houses and ships are often symbolically linked. On the island of Roti, the combination of structures built by men and covering textiles created by women is understood as an essential part of the establishment and maintenance of harmony and order. The T'boli of Mindanao believe that if certain food prohibitions are not observed by young children, boys will grow up incapable of building a house and girls will be unable to weave (Casal, 1978: 96-7). Similarly, the Iban believe that, while in the womb, the unborn child is offered a spear or a weaving-sword, and the choice determines its sex.

Status in these societies is dependent upon age, experience and wisdom, in particular the acquisition of ritual knowledge, and the attainment of great proficiency in those skills necessary to apply it. For women too, special ritual expertise and knowledge establishes status and this often includes prowess at weaving important cloths. The traditional division of labour in all Southeast Asian societies leaves textiles as women's work and art. With rare exceptions, the entire process of making and decorating textiles in Southeast Asia has been the craft of women and their major outlet for creativity and⁶³ Where exceptions exist, the patterns or techniques with which men work are usually closely related to traditional male activities and iconography like carving, pigment-painting and in some societies writing. For example, the braid that is added by Toba Batak men to complete an ulos cloth is called sirat, a term also meaning letters or writing. While their activities are viewed as distinct and separate, at times both male and female crafts are required for the ultimate success of a textile. The apparatus for thread preparation and wooden looms are usually made by men, sometimes lovingly carved to impress a sweetheart or provide a wife with the best possible equipment to ply her highly valued skills.⁶⁴

The Tinguian of Luzon surround the body of the deceased with textiles while it sits in state before burial. Early twentieth-century photograph

The wearing of tattoos is an ancient sign of ritual maturity for both men and women. In the twentieth century tattooing has remained an important form of body decoration throughout eastern Indonesia, north Sumatra, Borneo, Luzon, Mindanao and the upland areas of Thailand and Burma. It has been traditional in many of these places to apply tattoos as symbols of merit after the performance of a particular feat, such as the successful taking of a head, bravery in warfare, the completion of an arduous journey (Chin, 1980: 60) or the weaving of a ritual cloth (Volgelsanger, 1980). Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, tattoos are also part of the process of initiation into adulthood and full participation in the social life of the group.

154

As in other crucial transition stages, during the rites of tattooing an individual is often protected by a powerful textile. Since clothing and tattooing serve as body decoration and indicate ritual prestige and experience, similar patterns and motifs are often found in both media, and the meaning of certain textile motifs and designs may be explained by a comparison with tattoos, as well as other art forms such as carving and bamboo work. Tattooing is widely practised by the T'boli of Mindanao and many of the motifs are similar to those on their warp ikat and embroidered cloths. Certain stylized motifs, and the tattoos themselves, are believed to have important protective powers. Animal motifs (bakong) and anthropomorphic figures (hakang) are said to glow after a person's death to assist the departed to a safe destination in the afterlife (Casal, 1978: 34, 36). The same parallels between textile and tattoo motifs are evident among the Tetum people of Timor where it is believed that no matter where a person dies, their tattoos (makerek) will also ensure a safe journey to the next world. These protective qualities are also claimed for many textiles throughout Southeast Asia.

ceremonial hanging; heirloom cloth Abung people (?) south Sumatra, Indonesia silk, gold thread, cotton supplementary weft weave, embroidery 221.3 x 152.7 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1221

Little is known about this rare and important nineteenth-century cloth, although the Abung aristocracy are known to have displayed such textiles as hangings on ceremonial occasions. The iconography and technique suggest that it falls between two different traditions: the ancient supplementary cotton weavings that are filled with symbolic ships and strange mythical animals, and the silk and gold thread textiles of the Indianized courts of south Sumatra. Mysterious creatures are evident here within the clearly defined weft bands, although they also bear some resemblance to the familiar horse motif. On other cloths of this type anthropomorphic figures and spiral motifs have been noted. The images are formed from floating wefts of gold-wrapped thread (which are now rather worn). The horse motifs, each slightly different, were woven without the aid of heddle sticks, and a number of missing motifs appear to have been filled in with couched embroidery, a technique that has been widely used on Abung ceremonial skirts. The magnificent rich colours of the weft stripes are also evident on many early Abung tapis, although on those textiles these colours are displayed in warp bands.

SYMBOLS OF DEATH AND LIFE

Archaeologists confirm that elaborate burial procedures were already practised in prehistoric Southeast Asia. It is clear from several significant burial sites that these rites involved items of wealth -pottery, beads and metal objects (Bellwood, 1979: passim). Funeral ceremonies still dominate the ritual calendar in many parts of the region and elaborate burial rites remain a feature of many Southeast Asian cultures. These are occasions when textiles are especially prominent as ceremonial gifts, as elaborate textile displays, as ritual apparel for both the dead and the living, and as objects of magic and spiritual power.

152,155

156,157

158,166

When primary or secondary burials are performed, textiles have a prominent role in the ritual. Bodies are clothed, wrapped or draped in decorative shrouds before and during burial. Textile canopies are raised above the deceased, and displays of the finest textiles that a family can muster line the rooms and hang from houses, compounds and graves. Offerings to ancestors and spirits include sacred textiles, which are sometimes perceived as clothing for the gods. Textile causeways are erected along which the dead proceed on their road to the afterworld, and carved effigies of the dead dressed in magical finery are paraded to burial caves- often with the purpose of deceiving malevolent spirits. During secondary burials the bones of the dead are exhumed, washed and carefully wrapped in highly valued textiles.

In some cultures it is customary to prepare special burial clothing. Hmong women, for example, create costumes from woven hemp for both themselves and their husbands. These textiles display additional layers of richly embroidered outer garments and are the finest examples of Hmong ceremonial clothing (Lewis and Lewis, 1984: 128-9). Textiles that are woven specifically as shrouds may require particular precautions, and a Kalinga woman in Luzon will only undertake the task of weaving such a cloth - a dangerous activity best performed by a shaman or seer - if she is barren or past child-bearing (Races, 1985: 3).

Textiles are used on these occasions in particular and regulated ways, which may vary slightly from one village to another even within the same culture. Among the Ifugao, only the first-born son is buried with a full set of four ritual cloths and certain cloths are designated for specific categories of deceased persons. An Ifugao man is buried wearing an ikat loincloth, and a widow in a special type of wrap. Using a shroud fringed at only one border, the Karen place this fringed end of the cloth over the body to indicate to the deceased and any observers that he or she is dead (Lewis and Lewis, 1984: 80).

An early twentieth-century photograph of a man from Luzon in the Philippines wearing a loincloth that repeats the patterns tattooed on his chest, arms and face. A close similarity between textile patterns and body decorations is a common feature of many island and mainland Southeast Asian cultures.

A long warp ikat textile encloses a grave outside a village between the Kalumpang and Rongkong regions of Sulawesi. Textiles from neighbouring regions are used for rituals in this part of central Sulawesi as the women in this area do not themselves weave. This particular type of warp banded cloth from Kalumpang is called rundun lola.

(detail) pori lonjong ceremonial hanging; shroud Toraja people, Rongkong district, central Sulawesi, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 485.0 x 165.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1988.521

The huge pori lonjong textiles, in bold, bright red, blue and white warp ikat, provide dramatic backdrops for the Toraja rituals of death. They are used throughout the Toraja region as hangings, temporary walls and shrouds, and also as women's ceremonial skirtcloths in the north of central Sulawesi. Each pori lonjong has a wide, patterned centre, usually composed of repeating sets of ancient schematic patterns- rhombs, spirals, crosses, zigzags and circles. These designs are bordered on each side by stark red, black (or blue) and white stripes. Most cloths are formed from two extremely long parallel panels. Twentieth century

A wooden chest containing the bones of the ancestors is stored under the eaves of a traditional Lio house. A fringed textile, which has faded over the years, is draped over the chest.

(detail) luka semba ceremonial shawl Lio people, Flores, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 70.0 x 220.2 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1094

Fringed warp ikat textiles in deep rednues are worn by Lio men on ceremonial occasions, and are also draped over the deceased during funerary rites. This design combines simple spots divided into warp bands with elaborate triangular end patterns. Twentieth century

(detail) At Toba Batak funerals, textiles seal the bonds established in life between individuals and their kin (dongan sabutuha), wife-givers (hula-hula) and wife-takers (boru). In this photograph the body of an elderly woman lies covered with an appropriate cloth (an ulos sibolang) while her kinsfolk surround the coffin wearing other ulos shawls. From a family album, mid-twentieth century

tapis woman's ceremonial skirt Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia cotton, silk, natural dyes warp ikat, embroidery 143.0 x 136.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1124

tapis woman's ceremonial skirt Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia cotton, silk, natural dyes warp ikat, embroidery 130.4 x 118.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1125

Ship images appear on the skirts worn in Lampung by women at ceremonies to celebrate a change of status for members of the community. The motifs contained in the warp ikat bands on most tapis are not often identifiable. However, the ikat patterns on these nineteenth-century examples are suggestive of the serpents, ships and mythical beasts also found on other textiles produced in this region. The figures on board the ships displayed in the bands of predominantly white embroidery are depicted in a variety of ways, and both sunburst and horn-shaped head-dresses are evident. The bright detailed embroidery work and its precise filling of stripes, chevrons and checks is in sharp contrast to the sombre brown ikat, although both sections of each textile are dyed in natural colours.

palepai ceremonial hanging Paminggir people, Kalianda district, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes, gold ribbon supplementary weft weave, appliqué 68.0 x 280.3 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.610 Purchased with the assistance of James Mollison, 1985

palepai ceremonial hanging Paminggir people, Kalianda district, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 64.0 x 286.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.611 Purchased with the assistance of James Mollison, 1985

The ship motif is most highly developed and spectacularly displayed on the palepai and tampan of Lampung, textiles which are used at many ceremonies of the life-cycle including initiation into adulthood, marriage and death. For the Paminggir nobility who controlled the large palepai ship cloths, the presence of these prestigious textiles was also essential at ceremonies pronouncing the rank of the local ruler. The transition symbolism of these textiles is further developed by the inclusion of riders on mythical creatures, which are usually depicted aboard the ships. The degree of realism with which the ships and their passengers are presented varies greatly according to the particular time and place at which these textiles were woven. Different regional styles developed in Lampung, although key and spiral ornamentation was wideiy deployed in the background and filling detail of all these textiles. Some of these variations can be observed on surviving nineteenth-century examples of supplementary weft tampan, tatibin and patepai cloths, and also on the embroidered bands of women's skirts from the same region. On the large patepai the main ship motif appears either in red or blue, with the red ships usually showing far more elaborate detail than the more solid blue variety. The ceremonial hanging in Plate 162 is a fine example of the rare single red ship patepai, with wonderfully curved bows and deck structures filled with fanciful passengers and crew and pairs of noble elephants. Turmeric dyes have been generously used to produce a rich orange effect. Where two red ship images are displayed, as in the ceremonial hanging Plate 163, there always appears to be subtle variations in their depiction, since different sets of shed-sticks were apparently used to weave each image. On this textile the indigo blue is also a dominant colour.

Clothing is thus important as a symbol of status for the dead as well as the living, and as a system of signals intended for supernatural beings. For example, the bodies of unmarried Karen girls are dressed in the costume of married women, so that their souls can proceed unhindered to the realm of the dead, for such clothing is a signal to any evil spirits who might prevent the journey that a husband is following behind (Lewis and Lewis, 1984: 96).⁶⁵ However, not all Southeast Asian peoples bury their dead in their finest fabrics. The Ifugao, for example, cover their corpses in used clothing, or if fine new cloths are used, these are torn slightly so that the waiting spirits, who also desire fine textiles, will not become jealous and steal the shrouds from those making their final journey (Lambrecht, 1958: 10). Textiles play a prominent role at many mortuary ceremonies at which the interplay between the realms of the spirits and ancestors, and the earthly domain of the living is clearly articulated.

79

57

Beads also play an important part in transition ceremonies, including those associated with death, and many beads have been found in a number of ancient burial sites. The Toraja drape the beaded kandaureover the body of prominent people at funerals, some Dayak groups place beads under the eyelids of the corpse for the use of the soul in its passage to the next world (Dunsmore, 1978: 3), and the beaded 'singing' shawls used by young Karen women who chant at funerals are intended to aid the journey of transition (Campbell et al, 1978: 158). We know little about the functions of the huge beaded mats and hangings of Lampung, but it seems probable that, like the woven tampan and palepai textiles, the presence of these spectacular beaded objects at important transition rituals evoked protection and aid in dealing with the ancestor and spirit world.

159

Many funeral arrangements emphasize the social order for the living, as well as the dead. Where alliances forged by marriage are the basis for social relationships, protocol at funerals must be carefully followed. In eastern Indonesia, for example, gifts are given to indicate the prestige and wealth of the deceased and the powerful connections of the extended family. In such cases, textiles are usually presented by one set of relatives and different types of 'male' grave goods, such as livestock, by the other. Fine textiles are given as shrouds to honour prominent relations. In some places this custom has escalated into a potlatch competition of conspicuous consumption, when dozens of richly decorated textiles are buried and large numbers of buffaloes, cattle and pigs are slaughtered.⁶⁶

160,161

162,163

164,165

Designs representing architectural structures and manned boats have been found on ancient Southeast Asian pottery and metal objects dating from the Neolithic and Metal Ages and in early Austronesian rock art. Archaeologists have argued that the appearance of such designs upon objects found in burial sites suggests that they were intended to represent 'the ship of the dead'. Although ship-like structures have been prominent in funeral rites throughout Southeast Asia, it is misleading to assume that such depictions in the region's art always symbolized 'the ship of the dead'. The notion of a symbolic soul ship gives a fuller meaning to the motifs that appear on many traditional textiles, since the same cloths may be used at various stages in the life-cycle when an individual moves from one social or spiritual state to another. The huge palepai supplementary weft hangings of south Lampung in Sumatra, which are the possessions of the Paminggir clan leaders, are the finest examples of ship symbolism to be displayed at ceremonies of the life-cycle. Smaller tampan textiles, also containing these powerful transition symbols, are more widely used throughout the southern region of Sumatra for marriage ceremonies and initiations into adulthood, such as tooth-filing and circumcision.

tampan ceremonial cloth Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 67.0 x 63.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1103

The rich red ship images on the smaller tampan are often more schematic, and huge animals on board simple canoe-like vessels dominate the designs. There is usually a boat structure at both top and bottom of the tampan, and in some instances the design has been planned to read both ways. The size and dress of the human figures under large umbrella structures in Plate 164 indicate their superior status.

The association of the ship motif with rituals of human transition suggests that motifs representing the human form may also be situationally defined. Mythical animals with human riders are familiar images in ancient Southeast Asian design, particularly on objects required at rites of passage. It has been suggested that because the place of textiles is paramount at the funerals of significant members of east Sumbanese nobility, the horses and riders found on certain wraps (hinggi kombu) may serve as psychopomp for the final journey to the next world (Adams, 1969: 167). As such, these anthropomorphic riders and their steeds may, like the ship motifs, represent the transition from one life state to another for those present at these ceremomes.

(detail) tampan; titi jembatan agung ceremonial textile Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 284.0 x 74.0 cm Art Gallery of South Australia 747A150

A series of tampan, removed from the loom without being divided, was not only used for the same ritual functions as the single square tampan but it was also given a unique place in certain Lampung ceremonies. This long brown and white fabric served as a floor runner along which a bridal couple walked towards a ceremonial bedroom. As 'king and queen' of the day, their textile pathway was known as the royal bridge, the titi jembatan agung (Gittinger, 1972). Late nineteenth century

(detail) lelangit sacred canopy Sasak people, Lombok, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes slit-tapestry weave, tie-dyeing (?) 90.0 x 90.0 x 18.0 cm Australian Museum E.78856

This nineteenth-century canopy was woven with a rare and sacred type of brown cotton. The four sides of the box are worked in slit-tapestry weave in rich natural colours and it is possible that the plain centre has been lightly tie-dyed. A canopy in the collection of the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden (2407-259), recorded as having come from Sewela in east Lombok, has tie-dyed circles in pale pastel shades scattered over a warm brown ground. The textile is hung as a heaven cloth or canopy (lelangif) above the deceased at traditional Sasak funerals.

(detail) pidan (?) cerembnial hanging Khmer people; Chvear Dam, Kanda! province, Cambodia silk, natural dyes weft ikat Musee de L'Homme, Paris 70.61.33

A figurative design in weft ikat (hol) contains trees, temples, birds, dragons and other creatures from each of the realms - sea, land and air. Elaborate sailing vessels are a prominent motif on these cloths which were used to decorate the bride's home during the marriage ceremony. Early twentieth century

(detail) kré alang skirtcloth Semawa people, west Sumbawa, Indonesia cotton, dyes, metallic thread supplementary weft weave 181.0 x 124.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1983.3687

The head-panel of this ceremonial skirtcloth from the court of Sumbawa displays ships with masts and rigging. The structure at the feet of the oversize crew suggests an outrigger, a familiar and ancient feature of Southeast Asian sailing craft, although it may also be an attempt to depict the poop deck of a local prau, repeated in mirror image during the supplementary weft weaving process. Like other Southeast Asian textiles that display these motifs, the ship on Sumbawa cloth is often linked with the ancient symbols of trees and birds. The human figures are presented in a flat frontal style with arms akimbo, and the field displays a characteristic diagonal grid pattern. The division of this early twentieth-century cloth's design into separate grey-green field and red head-panel is typical of later developments in the cloth structures of coastal principalities.

pha biang (?) ceremonial cloth Phutai people, Laos silk, cotton, dyes supplementary weft weave 40.0 x 75.0 em Australian National Gallery 1987.1824

In the mountainous northern areas of mainland Southeast Asia, the ship is usually a minor textile motif combined with other cosmic symbols, and small boats can be found on many Tai shawls in the bands that flank the central design. However, on this early twentieth-century Phutai example, a human figure stands on a platform, possibly a schematic version of a mythical creature, and the clearly depicted dragon-scaled boat is bordered by tree motifs. The foundation weave is lac-red with numerous bright supplementary coloured silks.

168

167,169

The people of the island of Sumbawa, who have been closely connected with seafaring and trade for over a millenium, weave supplementary weft skirts containing figures in poses with arms akimbo and on boats which vary from simple canoes to fully-rigged barques. On the textiles of south Lembata, boat motifs allude to the important place of ships and voyages in the economic life and legendary history of this coastal community. Significantly, ship motifs are also a part of the textile iconography of the hill-dwellers in Cambodia, Laos and northern Thailand. On their garments, for instance, the small figures - sailors and riders of mythical beasts -are depicted in a symmetrical frontal perspective.

The upward curving bows of the more schematic versions of the ship motif can be linked with other transition symbols in Southeast Asian art. On certain textiles used in south Sumatran rites of passage, an ambiguous, bifurcated and hooked shape appears to be a compound symbol of ship, bird, tree and shrine, an important and highly appropriate image on such occasions (Gittinger, 197 4). On other Southeast Asian textiles, and on jewellery and sculpture, the curved ship form blurs with the buffalo horn and the crescent moon shapes or with the traditional house and its characteristic upward curving roof.

ayaboñ ña sinapowan woman shaman's headcloth Tinguian people, Luzon, Philippines handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 152.0 x 19.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3190

This white head cloth, with an ancient Southeast Asian interlocking oval design in floating indigo wefts, was worn by female shaman during the dawak ceremony. Early twentieth century

COMMUNICATING WITH SPIRITS AND ANCESTORS

Supernatural beings are believed to have the power to intrude upon the lives of humans and affect the course of an already uncertain natural world. In legend, they are often credited with the creation or the discovery of the most fundamental objects upon which a culture is founded - staple foodstuffs such as rice, domestic animals such as the buffalo, and the basic raw materials from which clothing is fashioned such as cotton. Legends often refer to the role of great ancestors or gods in the discovery of important skills such as the art of spinning and weaving and the invention of many sacred designs.⁶⁷ Great care is taken to appease the wrath of ancestors and spirits and to ensure their pleasure, and their protection is invoked at times of crisis. Textiles are often a central part of the many mediating rituals that are performed to achieve and maintain this cosmic harmony and personal health.

Related to these notions about the role of ancestors and spirits are beliefs in omens and magic. Throughout Southeast Asia certain textiles are incorporated into magical practices and are believed to have sacred qualities. These qualities are invoked at life and death ceremonies when the ancestors and spirits are attracted or appeased by prominent displays and offerings of sacred fabrics, while dangerous or malevolent beings are kept at bay and their evil work thwarted.

172,173

Among the Iban of Sarawak there is evidently a close relationship between textiles and a belief in omens and dreams (Vogelsanger, 1980). Dreams seem to provide inspiration, in particular, for the arrangement of Iban motifs, and for the special name and the meaning that a cloth assumes. Iban women, however, clearly re-create the fabrics of their dreams from the artistic symbols available within their culture, and certain powerful and visually appealing patterns have been repeated from generation to generation, with minor design changes resulting from aesthetic or personal reinterpretations. Consequently when dreams are translated on to cloth it is sometimes possible to recognize familiar elements or even complete designs, although one Iban design may have a specific contextual meaning and it may be interpreted differently in another longhouse or district.

170

Communication with spirits for the benefit of individuals or the social group is often performed by a shaman, a specialized religious practitioner who possesses the personal qualities and sense of calling essential for this dangerous task. Since natural disasters and personal misfortunes are widely believed to be the work of malevolent supernatural beings, a shaman is required to call back the wandering soul of a sick person, ensure the safe arrival of a new baby, or clean and cool the village after a visitation of pestilence. Throughout Southeast Asia a shaman may either be male or female. In fact, the restoration of the cosmic order is often best performed by religious practitioners who incorporate both male and female qualities. Bisexuality is displayed in transvestite apparel, and in certain societies a male shaman, after initiation, wears women's clothing and performs women's tasks, including weaving.⁶⁸ Some Southeast Asian textiles, like the shaman, harness these complementary yet opposing forces, and display symbolism containing male, female, or even bisexual elements.

171,174

175

178

176,177

Among the various Batak peoples of north Sumatra, there are a number of important ceremonial textiles that have male and female ends where each set of gender-related elements is concentrated. These include Toba Batak cloths (such as the ulos ragidup and the ulos pinunsaan), the Simalungun Batak headcloth, and some nineteenth-century Mandailing and Angkola Batak textiles. The most northerly weaving districts of the neighbouring Minangkabau people also appear to have integrated comparable pairs of schematic shapes into a striking band at each end of certain cloths. Further south in the Bengkulu and Pasemah region of Sumatra, the arrangement of different designs and the structure of the pattern at each end of the shouldercloth suggest an interesting comparison with the overt and intentional sexual imagery of Batak textiles.

While Batak elders readily identify the male and female ends and the sexual images on their textiles, such explicit identification of sexual symbolism is no longer apparent in neighbouring Sumatran areas. Minangkabau weavers understand the lozenge motifs on their supplementary silk textiles to be ceremonial cakes or heaps of sirih (an ingredient for betel-nut chewing), and triangular shapes are believed to represent bamboo shoots or 'the tree of life' (Sanday and Kartiwa, 1984: 18-25). While these motifs are now reduced to geometric patterning, and are identified with familiar everyday objects from the world around them, the weavers' ancestors may have intended motifs such as these to represent human figures.

Certain textiles are specifically designed to communicate with spirits. When physical danger threatens, such as an unexplained ill ness or pregnancy, a shaman or seer may prescribe the weaving of a special cloth to protect the owner and dispel the evil. A Batak village priest might suggest the weaving of an ulos ragidup as a cure for personal difficulties. This striking cloth, woven by a complex series of procedures, was also used in the past as an aid to divination. Textiles are also used by shamans among the peoples of northern Luzon, where they appear in a variety of ceremonies designed to placate the spirits. But instead of being read to predict the future, in this part of Southeast Asia they appear to hold the key to past events, such as the performance of great ceremonies (Ellis, 1981: 224-30).

179

At lban ceremonies performed to re-establish order after a tragic and unexpected occurrence, such as the death of a child, the shaman hangs an appropriately decorated pua at the entrance of the longhouse in his attempts to destroy the incubus believed to have caused the disaster. During the initiation of a manang bali (the transformed shaman with particular abilities to communicate with terrestrial shaman and draw upon their assistance to return a wandering or stolen soul and vanquish evil spirits⁶⁹), a pua completely covers the initiate, as he attempts to climb over a symbolic wall of fire (pagar apz) constructed of timber and decorative textiles.

In such rites the pua themselves are believed to be transformed into objects of supernatural power. This notion is implicit in an alternative Iban term for these textiles, bali, meaning 'to change in form'.⁷⁰ These textiles become avenues of communication and even the temporary dwelling place of supernatural beings. Particularly during the era when head-hunting activities held a central place in the life of the Iban, the longhouse communities constructed temporary shrines (ranyaz), in which the gods who were called to attend at ceremonies might dwell. These structures were walled with large and valuable pua depicting beings from lban mythology. Pua were also used as hangings to decorate the longhouse at every major celebration or ceremony invoking the gods' blessings. Amongst the Mien of mainland Southeast Asia, an initiate shaman is assisted by the head shaman, to climb a ladder of swords covered with a white cloth that is believed to represent a pathway to heaven (Campbell et al., 1978: 46). These rites make implicit demands on the qualities of sacred textiles, as protectors and as communication links with the benevolent beings of the Upper World.

Two Toba Batak elders discuss the meaning of the motifs on the man's ulos ni tondi (soul-cloth), a finely worked ulos ragidup ('design of life') from the Taratung district south of Lake Toba. The ulos ragidup and ulos pinunsaan can be read by experts as an oracle to predict the future and particular cloths or designs might be prescribed by a Batak shaman as a cure for misfortune (Gittinger, 1975: 13-15).

pua kumbu ceremonial cloth Kajut anak Ubu, Tiau River, Kapit district, Sarawak, Malaysia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 240.0 x 117.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1116

pua kumbu ceremonial cloth Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, embroidered braid 232.0 x 136.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1980.1658

These two textiles provide an excellent example of the role of dreams and the transmission of cultural symbols in Iban weaving. The pua in Plate 172 was collected and carefully documented in the late 1940s by Emeritus Professor Derek Freeman and Monica Freeman. It was woven by Kajut anak Ubu, who deliberately followed a pattern said to have been created in the 1930s in the remote Ngemah River of the Kapit district by another weaver, Jiram anak Balit, after a dream revelation. (Monica Freeman saw and recorded Jiram's original design.) The design with Kajut anak Ubu's own embellishments is described as the teladan pattern with the flying-tiger or sea-tiger (remaung tasik) design. The Iban in the Balai River system at this stage were still working in natural dyes, although with diminished use of the many hooks (gelong) that are a feature of the finest Iban pua kumbu.

Of this design, the Freemans note: 'The remaung tiger spirit is one of the most powerful entities in Iban mythology being especially associated with warfare and head-hunting. The remaung is invoked on the occasion of head-hunting rituals, when offerings are put out for it on the top of the roof of the longhouse. The tiger spirit, it is believed, is able to fly and it is said to streak through the air, making a strange roaring noise, to carry off these offerings. Looked on as immensely powerful, and therefore potentially dangerous, the remaung is not invited actually to enter the longhouse' (Freeman and Freeman, 1980).

The same basic design, however, can also be found on much older Iban textiles. The remaung tasik pattern is also clearly recognizable in Plate 173 combining elements of stripes and wings with carefully articulated feet and hands. As well as the rich red and black over-dyed tones, this cloth displays brilliant highlights of bright indigo blue in both the central field and the side stripes. This textile appears to date from at least the early twentieth century, although it may well be even older. This suggests that patterns such as this were clearly part of the known repertoire of Iban weavers, and it is evident that many Iban women dream about and create new patterns that integrate many old established designs. In fact, in this way talented Iban woman are able to express their own creativity with some modesty since the dream pattern is considered to be a revelation received from an ancestor-deity.

ulos pinunsaan ritual cloth for clothing, wrapping and shroud Toba Batak people, Porsea district, north Sumatra, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes supplementary warp weave, supplementary weft weave, warp ikat, twining 125.0 x 225.0 em Australian National Gallery 1984.256

bulang woman's headcloth Simalungun Batak people, north Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave, supplementary warp weave 187.0 x 35.0 em Australian National Gallery 1984.1247

On certain Toba Batak ritual textiles (ulos), such as the ulos ragidup and the seemingly identical ulos pinunsaan, (also known as pinussaan and nipussaan after the term sometimes used for the white inset panels, pussa), the widest band of supplementary weft patterns (pina halak) at each end are distinctly though schematically male and female. The male pina halak band is composed of elongated triangular shapes (baoa) while the dominant female motif in the other pina halak band is the rhomb (boru-boru). (The terms tulang baoa and boru are also used to refer to key elements in the Toba Batak kinship system.) When using the cloths to cover the dead or to envelop the living, Toba Bataks are careful to extend the end appropriate to the gender of the recipient.

A complicated and ordered sequence of weaving the intricate, supplementary weft ends containing these male and female motifs, in the sacred tricolour of black, white and red, is strictly observed - even by younger weavers who are uncertain or ignorant of the sexual references of these ancient motifs. In the Porsea district on the eastern shores of Lake Toba, the three central sections of the ulos pinunsaan are woven separately, cut and then sewn together with the side panels to form a completed cloth. The ulos ragidup that are woven by the Toba Batak peoples south of the lake and the brick-red woman's headcloth (bulang) from the Simalungun Batak (sometimes also referred to as the Eastern Batak or Batak Timur) have an elaborately woven central section. The two end-panels are not woven separately but are worked on a second, white warp which is inserted during the weaving process (Gittinger, 1975: 13-15). This difficult and lengthy procedure can only be understood through an awareness of the supernatural powers that these traditional cloths are thought to possess and the notion of an unbroken, circulating warp as a metaphor linking male and female realms. Both cloths probably date from the early twentieth century.

kain bidak (?) shouldercloth; skirtcloth Pasemah region, Sumatra, Indonesia silk, natural dyes, gold thread supplementary weft weave, weft ikat 250.0 x 112.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1980.728

The ornate, metallic thread foliated elements on Pasemah ceremonial gold and silk textiles contrast strangely with the simple, narrow, weft ikat stripes and the rows of riders on animals at each end. The foundation weave is predominantly red-brown. These archaic symbols of transition proliferate on the textiles of the Lampung region to the south. The sex of the riders is clearly represented and the cloth is a rare example of a Pasemah textile of this type with explicit male and female ends. Nineteenth century

tengkuluk; pelung shouldercloths, waist -sashes Pasemah-Bengkulu region, Sumatra, Indonesia cotton, metallic thread, natural dyes, silk supplementary weft weave 38.0 x 220.1 cm; 34.4 x 230.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1133; 1984.572

While little remains of identifiably male and female character in the end sections of these cloths, the subtle but deliberate differences suggest a comparison with the explicit sexual symbolism found on many textiles woven by Sumatran peoples further to the north. On these cloths the schematic patterns appear in elaborate, continuous supplementary weft brocade on either red or indigo grounds. Fringes formed from silk floss have been added after weaving. Early twentieth century

(detail) tengkuluak; kain sandang woman's headcloth; shouldercloth Minangkabau people, Batu Sangkar district, west Sumatra, Indonesia cotton, silk, gold thread, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 271.0 x 74.0 em Australian National Gallery 1984.574

The characteristic bright red and orange silk bands which are woven into the sumptuous gold brocade cloths from the Batu Sangkar district of the Minangkabau highlands also appear to include both male and female elements. The end-panels stand out against the deep purple centre. Cotton textiles with similar bright multicoloured bands are also woven by the Angkola Batak people to the north. Nineteenth century

pua kumbu ceremonial cloth Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 203.0 x 136.8 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1096

This huge pua was made to be hung at various longhouse ceremonies. T he exact meaning of its formal design is not known although the large, stippled, spiral motifs depict highly stylized river serpents (nabau). Food, in the form of small creatures, is depicted upside-down swimming towards the serpent. Early twentieth century

This image of the Raja of the Lio domain of central Flores was taken from an early twentieth-century photograph. The wide ikat shawl, maroon headcloth, huge ivory bracelets and heavy gold earrings are still used as ceremonial dress for traditional leaders in that domain.

semba mosalaki man's ceremonial shawl Lio people, Flores, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 113.5 x 209.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1980. 1656

A wide, two-panel, rich red-brown shawl worn by the Lords of the Earth (mosalaki) of central Flores. The sections of the warp intended to be the fringe have been carefully protected from contact with the dyes, and remain white. While the designs of many of these shawls were inspired by Indian trade textiles, this particular pattern seems to represent the linked genealogical figures found on many Southeast Asian warp ikat fabrics. Early twentieth century

tapis inu woman's ceremonial skirt Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, silk, natural dyes warp ikat, embroidery 121.8 x 126.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1989. 1490

This type of Paminggir woman's skirt is highly unusual because the design in the central embroidery band can only be read clearly when the textile is turned on its side (that is, not as it is intended to be worn). A row of finely worked and highly stylized human figures appear, each crowned with an elaborate curling head-dress. While these are ancient motifs, the rich red warp ikat field that flanks the silk embroidery has been strongly influenced by imported Indian trade textiles. Nineteenth century

tau pahudu woman's skirt Sumbanese people, east Sumba, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary warp weave, staining, embroidery 155.0 x 58.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.617

This finely worked skirt was made by a member of a royal family in east Sumba. The foundation weave has a subtle black-on-black supplementary warp pattern in the top section and is joined to the lower panel with red-orange embroidery. The same colours appear in an added fringe. Though made in the twentieth century, the cloth contains motifs that have been used for many generations, including skull trees and human figures carrying lizards on shoulder poles. On most eastern-Indonesian cloths human figures are depicted in a two-dimensional form, although on rare Sumba examples like this one, a three-dimensional effect is achieved by the addition of ribs and shading through staining sections of the thick white supplementary warps after weaving.

subahnalé sacred cloth Sasak people, Lombok, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 111.0 x 42.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.2113

Until recently figurative Sasak textiles did not exist in museum collections. In present-day central Lombok, Sasak weavers make supplementary weft textiles containing figures in the style of Balinese shadow-puppets, sometimes using metallic thread. However, the Sasak still distinguish between the routine weaving of these modern cloths and the careful rituals that were required in the past to create a textile they refer to by the term subahnalé. For those cloths, a small ceremony was performed and the weaving occurred in a special place where a woman remained undisturbed. On this example, simple figures with arms outstretched are separated by triangular structures. Like all sacred Sasak cloths, the cotton thread and dyes are entirely locally produced. The dominant colours are black and brown against a cream ground, with narrow green stripes as highlights between each band of figures. Early twentieth century

It is often a shaman who uses the sacred quality of beads to full advantage. A curious beaded jacket (thap suang) is worn by the performers during the manor a dance drama in southern Thailand.⁷¹ This drama, while loosely based on Jataka Buddhist tales from India, also appears to re-enact an ancient ritual where the manora master is the pre-eminent shaman whose magical powers were called upon for exorcisms, ordinations of priests, topknot-cutting ceremonies, funerals, weddings and temple fairs. It seems that the function of this dance is to make an offering (kae bon) to placate a particular spirit who has granted a request (Ginsburg, 1975: 69-73). The tua nora can also use his powers to curse others, particularly rival nora, and to this end every tua nora wears protective charms arid amulets, including these mysterious beaded vests with ancient, diamond grid patterns.

180,181

Where relationships are defined by family membership, the ritual leaders who intercede with the spirits and deities are often prominent clan elders and the donning of particular garments, such as the large shawls of the Lio of central Flores, transforms the situation into one of portent. The Lords of the Earth are responsible for important decisions affecting the life of the community, such as pronouncements about the opening of the agricultural season. In these cases, leaders make magical use of heirloom textiles and other paraphernalia such as special betel-nut pouches.

110

Offerings to spirits and deities are an important facet of ritual and textiles are often included in these rites. Balinese offerings, which are set out as clothing for the gods (rantasan), contain textiles chosen for their sacred qualities and their suitability of colour. In Java the tie-dyed kain kembangan are offered to the gods as ritual gifts. Iban offerings are covered with the finest pua kumbu textiles and the Toraja make offerings of sacred ma 'a to the spirits that are responsible for securing fertility and safety for their villages and fields (Crystal, 1979: 58). In the Ngada region of Flores, it is customary at the completion of a successful harvest to cover a portion of it with fine cloths during the subsequent celebrations.

52,53

54

Given the antiquity and centrality of beliefs in ancestors and spirits and their apparent depiction in prehistoric art, it is not surprising that supernatural beings have secured an important place in textile iconography. Throughout Southeast Asia, gods, spirits and ancestors are widely depicted in anthropomorphic form. Sometimes, however, the style of these motifs is so schematic that their real meaning is not immediately apparent, and may not even be understood by present-day weavers. This problem is evident on many Iban textiles, particularly on older style pua where the anthropomorphic forms are concealed within the rhomb and hook patterns. Exact identification is only possible by experienced older weavers, and only by those women who still use these designs on their own textiles.

182

183,184

185,186

187

While some Iban weavers are still able to identify particular gods and spirits among the twists and curves of the patterns produced by ikat and weft-wrapping techniques, the meaning of both realistic and stylized representations of the anthropomorphic form are more problematic in other Southeast Asian cultures. It is possible that both the human figures and other more schematic shapes found on many textiles represent supernatural beings. The oldest realistic representation of the human body on textiles presents a full frontal view, standing or squatting. Strength is conveyed in the stance, usually with feet apart and arms raised, although the bold 'hands-on-hips' pose is also an ancient representation. Compelling anthropomorphs, either in isolation or as figures within larger figures, appear on various types of Timorese textiles. On the méo ritual warrior's head-dress, such figures may have been intended to invoke the protection of particular spirits. In south Sumatra, extremely stylized linked figures appear as a dominant motif on one specific banded type of palepai, while other palepai and tampan are filled with more realistic, solid, frontal images.

ilaf vilu bokof (?) ceremonial regalia of a ritual warrior Tetum people (?), south Belu region, Timor, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes tapestry weave, twining, supplementary weft wrapping 29.2 x 69.4 cm Australian National Gallery 1982.2294

Figurative motifs are sometimes found on the small headbands, belts and decorative regalia of the méo warriors. Details such as five-fingered hands and body decoration suggest that these are stylized depictions of human figures. The mirror image of the design may be merely decorative or it may have been intended to symbolize copulation. Since traditional warfare was associated with fertility and potency, this would be an appropriate motif on the costume of ritual war leaders. Red and orange weft threads appear against a dark blue ground. Late nineteenth or early twentieth century

188,189,190

29,81,82

191

While linked or enmeshed patterns of realistically depicted human figures decorate many woven textiles, it has been suggested that certain schematic designs such as the sekong rhomb and key motif of the Toraja, may also be viewed as genealogical figures (Schuster, 1965: 341-6). In many cultures where these decorative designs appear, revered and deified ancestors and clan founders are believed to play an active part in the everyday affairs of their descendants. Elsewhere in the region, anthropomorphic designs may have a quite different and specific meaning. On the beaded skirts and jackets of the Maloh of west Kalimantan, the kakalétau motif depicts both guardian spirits and also slaves whose fate was controlled by the class of nobles with the right to make and wear the finest beaded textiles (King, 1985;J.R. Maxwell, 1980). In some examples of Maloh art, this motif is truncated to form a mask or face (udo). Similar images are found on funerary structures in Kalimantan where they serve to frighten away marauding spirits.

(detail) beti jut atoni; mau jut atoni man's cloth Atoni or Dawan people, Timor, Indonesia cotton, dyes warp ikat 175.0 x 104.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1980.1655

Patterns built up of interlocking figures are found in many parts of Southeast Asia. On this Dawan cloth, the largest blue and white warp ikat motifs are clearly depicted with five fingers and toes suggesting their anthropomorphic form. Whether these jut atoni (human ikat motifs) were once intended to depict specific ancestral figures is now unclear. However, the cycle of generations is wonderfully portrayed by the interlocking and repeating arrangement of these motifs of abundance. The background of the central panel is filled with tiny birds and other small creatures. Mid-twentieth century

(details) paiepai ceremonial hangings Paminggir people, north Semangka Bay region, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 304.0 x 63.8 em; 277.0 x 62.5 em; 302.0 x 65.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.504 (Gift of Mrs Bamberger, 1985); 1982.140 (Gift of Russell Zeeng, 1982); 1984.1192

A type of palepai, in which the motifs are worked in horizontal bands, shows seated (or male?) figures with curling limbs wearing head-dresses or horns. In the past, palepai (the largest of the supplementary cotton weavings of the Paminggir people) passed to the eldest son of the local clan or district leader as a symbol of hereditary leadership. In certain cases, the palepai textiles have been found cut into two, perhaps as a result of disputes over inheritance. These cloths are predominantly red, blue and orange and date from the nineteenth century.

192

193

Not all spirits and ancestors are depicted in the form of anthropomorphs. On the warp ikat abaca textiles of mountain Mindanao, the popularity among the Mandaya of creatures with features resembling both humans and crocodiles has been explained in terms of the crocodile's sacred character (Cole, 1913: 194-7). Similar ambiguous figures appear on many eastern Indonesian textiles, and in this region reptiles such as crocodiles and founding ancestors are intertwined in local legends. The crocodile spirit (antu baya) is also a prominent figure in lban mythology although it is depicted with great caution when it is used as a motif on their textiles. When displaying such dangerous creatures, lban weavers often include motifs representing food offerings. The presence of small animals or humans placed near or within the bodies of other large ferocious creatures of terrifying ppearance, such as those sometimes found on Lampung tampan may be explained in the same way.⁷²

pori situtu' ceremonial hanging; shroud Toraja people, Rongkong district, central Sulawesi, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 265.0 x 157.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1126

sekomandi ceremonial hanging; shroud Toraja people, Kalumpang district, central Sulawesi, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 261.0 x 152.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1129

(detail) pori lonjong ceremonial hanging; shroud Toraja people, Rongkong district (?), central Sulawesi, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 955.0 x 175.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.600

Human forms are evident in many schematic and interlocking spiral patterns throughout Southeast Asia. Such designs appear on each of these three late nineteenth- or early twentieth-century Toraja warp ikat textiles. The seko or sekong pattern is still a popular Toraja design, though the term itself now has no known meaning other than the name of this pattern and some of the textiles on which it appears. Anthropomorphic forms are also discernible in the patterns on the enormous pori lonjong (long ikat cloth), which is nearly ten metres in length. Side bands appear on all Toraja ikat textiles, as they do on most lban pua, and are evidently an archaic design feature. Slightly different red and blue-black dyes were a feature of the Rongkong and Kalumpang-Makki valleys, and the cloth in Plate 190 features the blue found on many Rongkong cloths rather than the characteristic over-dyed black of the Kalumpang area.

kain manik; sapé manik woman's ceremonial skirt; ceremonial jacket Maloh people, west Kalimantan, Indonesia cotton, dyes, beads, brass bells beading, appliqué 42.0 x 50.0 em; 51.0 x 45.0 em Australian National Gallery 1982.1297; 1982.1302

Throughout Southeast Asia initiation into adulthood often involves tooth-filing, which emphasizes clearly the distinction between humans and animals. Monsters with pointed fangs are carved into the ends of wooden funerary structures in certain parts of Kalimantan as an appropriate image to frighten spirits who might disturb the dead. The mask-like face may also serve to frighten marauding spirits when it appears on textiles. On this Maloh skirt, the face or mask image (udo) is depicted interlocked with the water serpent (naga). An old Malay handspun cotton plaid, worked in natural dyes, has been used as the skirt's lining. The beaded jacket with the human (kakalétau) design is lined with striped cotton and is fringed with brass bells. On both garments bright yellow, orange and white motifs stand out from the black, blue and green beads. Early twentieth century

pua kumbu ceremonial cloth Iban people, Sut River, Kapit district, Sarawak, Malaysia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 234.0 x 124.2 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1117

Collected by the anthropologist Derek Freeman and Monica Freeman in 1950 at Rumah Nyala on the Sut River, this red, black and white pua depicts the crocodile spirit (antu baya). Of this design, the Freemans (1980) comment: 'The crocodile is believed to stand in a kind of totemic relationship to the Iban, and to keep a special surveillance over their lives. It is thus customary for an Iban who does not want the food that he or she has been offered, to touch this food while uttering the words: Udah, aki. These words which mean: "It is done, grandfather," are addressed to the crocodile.'

To satisfy the powerful spirit that she has daringly recreated and which might, upon the completion of the textile, come to life and attack her, the weaver has placed small human figures as food between the jaws of the confronting crocodiles. These figures may also represent 'an individual who has committed the "sin" of refusing food, and is about to be taken by a crocodile' (Freeman and Freeman, 1980).

tampan ceremonial cloth Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 67.0 x 81.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.579

While boat structures are evident at both top and bottom of this tampan, the scene is dominated by two huge terrifying creatures with bared fangs intent on devouring other animals. One has already been consumed. Although the horns suggest a water buffalo and the scaled body of one creature suggests a crocodile or dragon, these brown monsters seem to have arisen entirely from the vivid imagination of the weaver. Tampan depicting large ferocious animals were one of a number of style categories produced during the nineteenth century. Overwhelmed by the larger figures, the human forms depicted here are simple standing figures with pronounced genitalia. The background is filled with small hooks which repeat the bold strokes in the creatures' tails and the prows of the ships. Nineteenth century

dodot bangun tulak alas-alasan pinarada mas royal ceremonial skirtcloth Javanese people, Surakarta, Java, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes, gold leaf stitch-resist dyeing, gluework 357.5 x 207.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3167

This late nineteenth-century cloth belongs to a category of Javanese cloths known as kain kembangan (flowered cloth). These stitch-resist dyed cloths have an ancient history of sacred and ceremonial use in Java, and combine a number of auspicious elements. The black and white colours are considered especially propitious. It is decorated with scenes of animals and foliage known as alas-alasan (forest-like pattern), which are whimsically worked in fine gold leaf gluework (pinarada mas). While many of the small animals and insects depicted on the cloth are dangerous to humans and threatening to life-giving crops, their presence may serve as a form of symbolic protection since the particular name of the cloth (bangun tulak) suggests the notion of repelling evil (Solyom and Solyom, 1980a: 260; Veldhuisen-Djajasoebrata, 1985). These huge skirtcloths (dodot) are worn in the courts of central Java, and this indigo and white example also has gold leaf gluework on those reverse sections of the cloth that are revealed when it is draped around the loins. Royal bridal couples appear in these textiles during the manten lemon part of the marriage ceremonies.

COOLING CLOTHS: TEXTILES AS PROTECTION

Throughout Southeast Asia cloths are used in many sacred activities that are intended to ensure the safety of the individual, the prosperity of the group and the equilibrium of the universe. Textiles appear both in times of unpredictable disaster and during the regular cyclical rituals associated with agriculture, fertility and prosperity. Different cloths or sets of cloths are appropriate to each level of ritual. While those used in bride-wealth exchanges or in cases of individual illness or misfortune are the property of families, the cloths used at agricultural fertility rites often belong collectively to the clan or village and are stored in a central shrine or ritual house. There they are secured away with other sacred objects in the high peaked roofs of traditional buildings - the dwelling places of benevolent ancestors and spirits, and where offerings are placed to ensure their guardianship.⁷³

13

Textiles are believed to have the power to ward off evil spirits who attempt to steal an individual's soul, and thus inflict illness and ultimately death. Geringsing are renowned as a type of double ikat cloth in Bali and also as the name of a particular batik pattern in Java, and both have special protective qualities. The chronicles tell of the use of geringsingby Javanese warriors in battle, while in Bali and even in the Sasak districts of Lombok, the double ikat geringsing cloths appear in cyclical ceremonies and rites of passage, and at times of unusual and unexpected crisis.

194

The concept of using a textile as a protective barrier against malevolent forces is implicit in the name of the ban gun tulak cloths of central Java, a term meaning 'to turn back evil'. These blue-black and white tie-dyed cloths are an important part of the paraphernalia of the garebag, an ancient annual feast of renewal when the links between the heavenly and earthly realms are stressed and which, since the arrival of Islam in Java, is celebrated on Muhammad's birthday (Veldhuisen-Djajasoebrata, 1985: 132). These cloths are also worn as huge ceremonial wraps (dodot) by court dancers and by royal bridal couples at the marriage rituals that ensure the prosperity and fertility of the court of Surakarta in central Java. Combinations of blue-black and white on textiles are considered propitious in Java and Bali, and are appropriate colours for protective textiles (Solyom and Solyom, 1980b: 278). Banners in these colours were hung at times of community crisis, and in certain villages in one part of Java today, black and white cloths referred to by the term for banner (panjz) are used in exorcism rituals (Heringa, 1985: 120). In Javanese and Balinese legend, black and white checked cloth (kain poleng) is worn by particular gods and heroes, and the stone temple guards of Bali are swathed in poleng checks during temple festivals.

195,196

The depiction on textiles of motifs associated with danger and aggression, including grotesque and mysterious creatures, seems to be a deliberate attempt to harness these qualities to repel life-threatening forces.⁷⁴ We find, for example, rows of teeth (ipon-ipon) and centipedes (ansisibang) placed on the intricate white supplementary weft panels of certain Toba Batak textiles,⁷⁵ and these same creatures are also displayed on the bangun tulak alas-alasan of central Java. Bands of poisonous scorpions (maeng ngord and maeng ngao) and pythons (ngu hluam) on Esarn fabrics in northern Thailand are believed auspicious (Peetathawatchai, 1973: 49-51), while saw teeth, tiger claws, thorns, and forks appear on Mien embroideries that are used during important life-cycle ceremonies associated with the notion of repelling danger. The tiger, once a constant threat to villagers in northern Thailand, must be placated with annual rituals. However, it is also believed that its powers can be assumed through the wearing of a textile displaying its symbols. For the Mien, only their priests have sufficient power to control such forces, and the use of the strong tiger design is restricted to the robes of these religious leaders.⁷⁶

usap sacred textile Sasak people, Lombok, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 45.5 x 58.2 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.2454

(detail) owes(?) ceremonial shawl; hanging Tinguian people, Luzon, Philippines handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 108887

In many parts of Southeast Asia, strange and enigmatic monsters appear on supplementary weave textiles. Today, the meaning of such images is often unclear to the weavers who merely follow patterns established in ancestral times. In the case of the rare figurative Lombok usap, the blue bearded creatures and the diamond-shaped remnants of rider or howdah are no longer a part of twentieth-century Sasak textile iconography. On the indigo and natural Tinguian cloth, the main figure is also bearded. Nineteenth-century textiles.

(detail) kain panjang skirtcloth Javanese people, Yogyakarta, java, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes batik Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden 8110.19

The broken sword pattern (parang rusak) is considered to be one of the most powerful batik designs in central java. It was originally one of the restricted patterns permitted to be used only by the Javanese nobility of the Mataram court (Veldhuisen-Djajasoebrata, 1988: 60). The higher a noble's rank, the larger the parang rusak pattern that could be worn. This example was collected in the early twentieth century by the famous Dutch Javanologist, R.A. Kern, who recorded it as the barong (giant parang) pattern.

197

98

96

The deployment of dangerous sharp symbols - swords, knives and teeth - for protection is also widespread throughout Southeast Asia. One of the most famous symbols of this kind is the parang rusak (broken sword) pattern used on wax-resist batiks in central Java. There are several interpretations of this pattern, all of them variations on the ancient interlocking double spiral. Significantly, terms remarkably similar to parang rusak are also used to describe certain warp ikat textiles found throughout the Malay world bearing the equally ancient arrowhead pattern. This arrowhead pattern is known as plang rutha in Aceh and plang rosa in Malaysia. It also appears on Toba Batak ceremonial baby-carriers (ulos mangiring), where it is known as the padang rusa design. On another Toba Batak cloth, the ulos rujat, it has contributed to the textile's name. Many of these cloths are used in situations where notions of protection are implicit. In Java, however, the parang rusak was a batik pattern traditionally restricted to the palace circles, which meant that the protective qualities of the symbol were exclusive to the rulers of central Java.

94

While ritual cloths are often rich in decorative symbolism, the importance of simple and unpretentious cloths in certain cultures may easily be overlooked. Typically, these cloths are either monochrome⁷⁷ or woven with a plain, striped warp or weft. Despite their apparent simplicity, these cloths may still be ritually important and many are also regarded as talismans when woven by knowledgeable women or according to particular magical formulae. Some of the simple Sasak textiles woven in Lombok (in particular, the kekombongor umbaq) are an excellent illustration of these themes. Specific combinations of coloured warp stripes are used to create the soul cloth in which a new-born baby is wrapped. The same cloth is present at the child's first hair-cutting, and at rites associated with the attainment of adulthood, such as circumcision. It is then stored away carefully by the individual to whom it belongs so that it can be produced as a protective talisman at any time in the future when danger or disaster threatens. The Sasaks also use simple striped cloths as waist-ties, often loosely and hurriedly woven, to prevent all manner of illness or anti-social behaviour, especially in the case of children. The names given to these simple cloths vary according to the particular ailment for which they are prescribed.⁷⁸

In other parts of Southeast Asia the most elaborate and prestigious cloths must be used on occasions associated with changes of status - birth, marriage, initiation into adulthood, pregnancy, and death. The ritual function of many magnificent cloths explains why so much energy and enormous care is expended. This contrast between the most simple textiles and the most elaborate is strikingly evident in the case of Bali. In addition to the complex double ikat textiles of Tenganan Pegeringsingan that display extraordinarily elaborate patterns, the Balinese also weave many quite simple cotton textiles composed of narrow warp stripes known as wangsul. Both of these types of cloth are believed to have magical endowments. Furthermore, when the need for protection arises, such as in cases of illness, both may be required.

It is interesting to note that many textiles featuring elaborate designs and complex weaving techniques also retain the stripes and bands found on the most simple cloths. As well as the technical and aesthetic advantages of including these elements as part of the design, stripes are often considered to contain protective qualities, both for the central motifs of the cloth itself and also for those who use it.

The addition of headwork not only contributes to the value of a textile but it also enhances its ritual significance, in particular, its protective qualities, for the toughness and durability of beads are considered to be a source of strength to those who wear them. Beads and shells, like other rare and foreign objects traded into inland regions, assume special supernatural qualities and the use of beads as magical talismans and charms is particularly evident throughout Borneo.⁷⁹ The history of particular beads and the heroic feats of the ancestors who set out in quests to obtain them have been recorded in the legends of the Maloh people of west Kalimantan J.R. Maxwell, 1980: 136). Strands of beads play a role similar to that of sacred textiles, being used in Maloh marriage rites and placed in the holes prepared for the main poles of a Maloh longhouse (King, 1975: 114-15).

pua kumbu ceremonial cloth Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 252.0 x 120.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1981.1098

(detail) pua kumbu ceremonial cloth lban people, Sarawak, Malaysia. handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, twining 239.0 x 130.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1980.1657

Paired male and female figures present powerful images on cloths intended for fertility rites such as the collecting of heads. The cloth in Plate 198 is especially powerful as it depicts ancestral figures or spirits (antu) who prey on animals and human beings represented by the small figures lodged between the larger spirits. It presents a frightening pattern to an Iban weaver, and would only be undertaken at some risk. The pua in Plate 199 displays small paired figures wearing earrings and head-dresses. An Iban informant interpreted the large abstracted figures below them as water spirits (antu at) spurting from whirlpools, and she identified the lower border pattern as cats sleeping in the recess of the hearth. A creeper pattern binds the various elements into a coherent and satisfying design. The colour of the natural dyes on both these early twentieth-century textiles has been excellently preserved.

FERTILITY AND INCREASE

The motifs and designs on textiles required particularly in marriage and agricultural rites frequently contain messages that relate to the notion of fertility. Male and female figures, or symbols representing male and female qualities, are one prominent design category found on many Southeast Asian textiles.

198,199

Like the carved ancestor figures and guardian spirits that are strategically located to protect houses, rice-barns, clan and spirit houses or family shrines and to ensure fertility and agricultural success, male and female figures are often depicted on textiles in pairs, seated or standing, realistic or highly stylized. On certain examples, the sex of the human figures is clearly distinguished by obvious and explicit genitalia. Occasionally, specific items of clothing or jewellery, such as earrings and head-dress, may identify a figure's sex or status. Like carved sculptures, the association of paired figures with notions of fertility is most evident on some textiles where figures are presented in the act of copulation. Paired male and female figures are prominent on Iban textiles, and frequently a band of each appears at opposite ends of a pua kumbu used at rites which promote fertility and agricultural increase.

With simplification and stylization, the male and female elements of the design are sometimes reduced to phallic and vulval symbols. This has occurred in the case of certain Batak textiles, where these motifs appear as ancient rhomb and triangular schematic shapes in the decorative panels at each end of the cloth. Similar motifs are found on many other textiles throughout the region. Although the hooked rhomb design has few conscious associations with fertility and female symbolism among present-day weavers, many textiles containing this design are used in rites by peasant farmers and villagers seeking to secure a successful harvest. In these cases this motif appears to be symbolic of the fruitful mother. Its appearance on many Toraja and Iban ikat cloths used at funerary and head-hunting ceremonies is also appropriate, for although these rites are connected with death they are also intended to promote the abundance of life.

44

As well as the rhomb and triangle, the human form is represented by a number of other geometric symbols, in particular a simple cross. Sometimes, however, the association of these motifs with the human form is not readily apparent. In the case of the Bagobo of Mindanao, the development of anthropomorphic motifs has passed through several stages and different types of abstracted human figures sometimes appear together on the same garment. On the ends of traditional Iban loincloths (sirat) clearly defined human motifs are only immediately evident on certain old examples. However, when these realistic designs are compared with other more abstract examples, the weavers' intentions can be discovered and human figures emerge from the simple cross form. It is reasonable to assume that many other symbols, now merely seen as geometric decoration, were also intended to represent humans, animals and other important creatures and objects.⁸⁰

204