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      CONDITIONS OF PRODUCTION

      Endek textiles, usually in the form of finished clothing, are seen today all over the world—either as souvenirs brought home from Bali, or as commercial products on the international market—and it is natural to wonder about the conditions under which the fabrics are made. All endek cloths are still handwoven, and are therefore especially appreciated in industrialized countries where people must usually do with machine-made goods. "Handwoven" means that the cloths have either been made on a handloom at home or in a manufactory by a woman (less often by a man) weaver. Buyers who are not quality-minded often allow themselves to be dazzled by the low prices of cheap, imitation endek prints from Java and Lombok, not realizing the enormous amount of work that goes into the carefully tied bundles of yarn and the dyed patterning of genuine handwoven endek fabrics.

      Developments of the past several years have established a clear pattern: only the larger manufacturers are able to adjust rapidly to changing dictates of fashion and demands of the market, while selling their products at competitive prices. Competition is fierce, and only establishments with a keen, market-oriented management and first-class production methods have a chance of survival Individual weavers who try to market their own products can no longer keep up.

      Figure 2.11: Half of an outer hip cloth for men (kampuh) with a depiction of the demon Kalarau. Endek and perada on silk. Karangasem or Khmgkung, 1920-30. 143 x 68 cm. MEB IIc 18513a.

      Figure 2.12: Selendang. Endek on silk. Bulèlèng, early 20th century. 292 x 48 cm. MEB IIc 17573.

      Manufactories vary in size. In the village of Sidemen they have anywhere from 5 to 30 ATBM looms (Fig. 2.9); those in Gianyar have even more. The looms are set up in rows in a large hall and run from early morning—usually just before daybreak—until evening. Goods for sale by the meter are woven on ATBM looms, yielding bales measuring about 80 meters in length. A skillful weaver can produce up to two meters of endek per day.

      Some manufactories loan single looms out to women with several small children so they can work at home. Materials, colors and patterns are determined by the manufacturer—usually a family-run operation—and given to the women with appropriate instructions. Thus the homeworkers produce directly for the manufactories, the only difference being that their workplace is at home. The quantity produced by homeworkers, because of the double job they have to do, is noticeably less than that of women in the manufactories, most of whom work an 8-hour day (sometimes longer, as they are paid according to output).

      Figure 2.13: Women attending the cremation of a brahman priestess, dressed in formal apparel with a wraparound skirt of songkèt and endek in the geringsing style.

      DIFFERENT TYPES OF HOME-WORK

      There are significant differences between women who produce songkèt at home and those who produce endek. Women from all levels of society weave songkèt at home, not always out of direct economic needs but sometimes to earn a bit of extra money. Their economic position is thus strong—they become money-earners through their weaving and sometimes defray the greater part of the costs of maintaining a family. Songkèt weavers work on cagcag looms which are their personal property; they select their own yarns, colors and patterns themselves and buy what they need to weave cloths which appeal to them and of which they are proud. They sell to dealers or take the textiles to market themselves. They much prefer not to become dependent on contractors who are an encroachment on their autonomy. If money becomes short, they may always solicit orders for execution with borrowed material and predetermined patterns.

      Endek home weaving, on the other hand, is not encountered among households from every social class. Only families with no other means of income will try to borrow a bulky ATBM loom to enable the women to earn money by weaving at home. Since the homeworker receives the' loom and the material on loan, she is highly dependent on her employer. Precisely because she cannot concentrate on her work for any length of time without being disturbed, her quality is often below that of cloths produced in the manufactory. At the same time, depending on her domestic commitments, she is far less dependable when it comes to meeting delivery dates. Factors that can be clearly calculated and foreseen in the manufactory are often much vaguer in the home. These pressures often impose suffering on the home weaver.

      A SIDEMEN MANUFACTORY

      Let us consider two examples more closely, taking a manufactory first. The entrepreneur, a man of initiative who is receptive to new ideas, has set up a production unit in the precincts of his house compound. He bought the land and built on it with the aid of a bank loan in the 1970s. The layout (Fig. 2.14) has characteristic Balinese features: it is enclosed by a wall with an entrance gate affording access to the lower compound. The sanctuary is located in the northeast—a direction considered particularly pure and divine. Opposite it, to the southwest, are the kitchen and bathroom. This direction is regarded as ritually more "polluted" and is set aside for physical needs. The dwelling and sleeping quarters are also built on the preferred northern side.

      Figure 2.14: A weaving manufactory in a compound. 1) Sanctuary with abodes of the gods; 2) Open reception area for customers/employees; 3) Dwelling house; 4) Production hall (19.5 x 8 m.); 5) Storage sheds; 6) Kitchen bath; 7) Experimental corner for new patterns; 8) Veranda with workplace for entrepreneur's wife; 9) Sales shop; 10) Fountain with small garden; 11) Drying frame for dyed yarn.

      The manufactory sits in the northwest corner. There as many as 26 people, mainly women, weave, prepare warp and weft, and reel. The southeastern corner is for experiments; there men are busy tying and dyeing bundles of yarn to develop novel patterns. The sales shop is on the southern side, facing the street. In the inner courtyard is a fountain (the compound is, however, supplied with running water), a small flower and herb garden, and a drying frame for the dyed strands of yarn. The actual dyehouse is about 100 meters away from the compound and is annexed to the house of the entrepreneur's second wife. There, two people are engaged in dyeing the warp and the tied sets of weft threads (Fig. 2.5); as many as nine young men are busy dabbing on the additional dyes (Fig. 2.6). The workers, male and female, all come from the lower social classes and are between 14 and 26 years of age. Some have been there since the business began; they started at the age of 15 or 16 and still hold the same jobs today. The looms are operated almost exclusively by women (Fig. 2.10). Men work on the warping and reeling devices (Fig. 2.8) and all the dyers and tyers are also men.

      Of the 33 men and women on the payroll of the manufactory, three are from a neighboring village and three from Gianyar. In earlier years, when the owner was starting up, he brought over a number of women endek weavers from Gianyar who were already experienced in using ATBM looms. But now there are enough women from the village who, with a knowledge of songkèt weaving on the cagcag loom, have been retrained on ATBM looms in a free conversion course which takes only a few days. Meanwhile they have given proof of their skill. Fourteen women still work at home in Gianyar for the entrepreneur, likewise four men apply the tyings for pre-determined patterns at home. After the patterned weft yarn has been dyed, the tyings have to be removed before it can be woven. This removal work is contracted out as homework, usually to boys who work part-time

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