5 Things to Know About Indonesian Textiles

The Indonesian archipelago is striving with diversity of tribes, culture and languages. This translates to multiple traditions of textile making. Let's begin with five key things to know... 

Each with distinct styles, motifs or techniques. Popular traditional textiles widely used are Batik, Songket and Ikat. 

Batik is one of the textiles that is world renowned and listed on UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Batik is also the most widely used, from farmers in rice paddy fields to ceremonies to royals, businessman, student and nation leaders. 

Traditional textiles are seen as medium for strengthening family bonds, community identity, cultural exchanges and token of appreciation. 

While industrial manufacture of textiles are thriving, hand-crafted and naturally dyed traditional textiles are living tradition and on-going practice in many communities throughout Indonesia. 

This cloth here are made of wild banana fiber and dyed with Indigo and Morinda.  

Often in ceremonial cloths, Indonesian traditional textiles are adorned with golden paper or threads. Here, the technique is called 'perada' or pronounced as 'prada', which is application of golden leaf or dust onto a batik cloth.