Textiles of Southeast Asia - Robyn Maxwell

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      malong landap woman's skirt Maranao people, Mindanao, Philippines silk, dyes tapestry weave 94.0 x 165.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1250

      While similar textiles can be found in cultures from geographically distant parts of Southeast Asia, the fabrics of neighbouring cultures may have evolved along very different paths. On Mindanao, for example, two ethnic groups produce fabrics and garments which use different materials, decorative techniques and iconography. The Maranao weave in imported silk in bands of clear bright colours. On an early twentieth-century example purple and green bands are joined into a cylinder with intricate multicoloured tapestry-woven bands (langkit). The T'boli still create ancient warp ikat (t'nolak) resist patterns of spirals, rhombs and keys in red and black vegetable dyes against the natural shades of the locally grown wild banana fibre. This panel of t'nolak dates from the nineteenth century.

      phabiang ceremonial shawl Tai Nuea people, Sam Nuea region, Laos handspun cotton, silk, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 119.0 x 43.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1986.1927

      tampan ceremonial cloth Paminggir people, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes supplementary weft weave 74.0 x 80.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1193

      Similar techniques and patterns can be found on textiles in particular parts of Southeast Asia that are remote from each other. The supplementary weft weavings of the Tai Nuea of northern Laos bear a striking similarity to the ship-cloth weavings of southern Sumatra. Weavers in both regions have developed intricate asymmetrical designs filled with mythical creatures carrying anthropomorphic riders. The central figure is represented on this brown and natural Sumatran tampan with a lozenge-shaped body while on the Tai cloth a similar motif sometimes appears as a separate diamond mandala. Birds, smaller dragon shapes, and shrine structures appear in varying degrees of realism on each of these nineteenth-century textiles, and both contain fine detail worked in key and spiral configurations. On other examples woven by these peoples, the prominent banded borders are surprisingly similar.

      pua kumbu ceremonial cloth Iban people, Sarawak, Malaysia handspun cotton, natural dyes warp ikat 185.0 x 247.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1983.27

      Anthropomorphic figures are among the oldest symbols found on textiles. On this nineteenth-century pua, male figures appear in one half and female figures in the other. Such human forms often represent significant ancestors or deities. Two central panels and additional borders composed of stripes and smaller creatures on each side, are worked in red and dark brown vegetable dyes against natural cream handspun cotton.

      kamben geringsing patelikurisi cloth for ritual wear and use Balinese people, Tenganan, Bali, Indonesia handspun cotton, natural dyes double ikat 214.0 x 39.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1980.726

      The three stark mandala that separate sets of smaller shrine and stupa shapes, still recognized by the Hindu weavers of Tenganan as small house temples (sanggar) and sources of holy water (cupu), are strong reminders of the Indian influence on Southeast Asian art. One of the stylized forms flanking the shrines is said to be the dog (asu) motif. The floral star shapes are the scented ivory offering flower (sigading). This is an early twentieth-century example of the intricate double ikat technique, in which the brown and black resist -dyed warp and weft threads have been loosely woven on a simple backstrap loom into a fabric on which both warp and weft patterns are visible. Like many geringsing textiles, this cloth's name (patelikur) indicates the width or number of bundles of warp thread that are required for its making.

      lengkung léhér ceremonial collar Malay and Abung people, south Sumatra, Indonesia commercial wool and cotton cloths, gold alloy ornaments appliqué 48.0 x 54.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1985.615

      This gold-studded necklet worn by Malay brides is modelled on the cloud collar of Chinese ceremonial costume. Many of the propitious symbols it displays were worked in low grade gold alloy by Straits Chinese smiths during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The green base-cloth and red trim are of imported factory-manufactured cloth. The selection of images appears to be random. Animals from the Chinese zodiac appear in realistic shapes -the horse, the goat or buffalo, the rooster and the dog-lion. Within decorative roundels are other animals and floral images - bats, butterflies, phoenix, fish and lotus - while the Chinese lotus image (ho hua) is also depicted in vases (ping). The thistle, and in particular, the solid central crown are European decorative devices.

      hinggi kombu man's cloth Sumbanese people, east Sumba, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes warp ikat, band weaving, staining 69.0 x 311.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.580

      The sacrificial chicken or cock is often represented on ceremonial textiles. Although many flying creatures, both real and mythical, can be found in Southeast Asian fabric design, the cock has been a feature of village life and art since prehistoric times. Between each pair of confronting cocks are fish and squid motifs. Other bands include smaller chickens and snakes. In the central section the dyer has created a schematic design from bird and squid forms, in keeping with the custom of filling this part of the cloth with motifs adapted from imported textiles. Rich saturated natural dyes are usect on this cloth which reflects a style popular at the turn of this century. At each end of a fine Sumba hinggi the weaver incorporates the unwoven sections of the warp fringe as wefts into a new warp that lies across the end of the woven fabric. The effect is a strong bright striped band (kabakil).

      dodot royal ceremonial skirtcloth Indramayu district, Java, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes batik 207.0 x 357.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.3163

      Dodot, voluminous ceremonial batik wraps, are more than twice as large as kain panjang skirtcloths. They are decorated in patterns appropriate to their use by the Javanese nobility as ceremonial and dance costume. This is a version of the scenes of cosmic mountain and forest landscape known as semen in which the chevron peaks of mountain ranges and vague representations of buildings, possibly shrines, can be discerned. The huge, stylized, double-wing motif, the mirong, appears in each corner of the dodot. It is often identified as the garuda bird of Hindu mythology, which, over time, has become a symbol of many Southeast Asian courts. Other smaller mirong and far (the single-wing motif) are scattered throughout the freely drawn design. This early twentieth-century batik is dyed in the unusual olive tones of the Indramayu district, west of Cirebon on Java's north coast, where Javanese and Sundanese cultures blend.

      tali banang man's ceremonial sword-belt Buginese people, Sulawesi, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes tablet weaving 12.0 x 380.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.1989

      The Islamic inscription in Kufic calligraphy reads 'There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet'. While this is written in Arabic, inscriptions on other textiles from the Southeast Asian region also appear in local Malay languages. Tablet-woven bands were used as belts, straps, bindings and even stitched into special betel-nut bags by the women of central and south-west Sulawesi. This nineteenth-century sword-belt is formed from one long strip using a rare tablet weaving method which includes even the tubular loop. The colours, indigo-blue and white with red borders, may have evoked the same talismanic protection for the warrior as strands of twined threads in these tricolours often do elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

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