CONTENTS 2 Editorial Sarawak Craft Council 3 ... - CraftHub

CRAFTHUB PRESENTS...
THE BEST OF SARAWAK CRAFTS
IKAT WEAVING
Sarawak’s Iban women weave their native rainforest into textiles of matchless beauty. The wild cotton bush yields thread. Sizes and
colours are concocted from the roots, leaves and bark of forest trees. The designs trace the history of a people’s livelihood, wrested
from the jungle darkness teeming with seen and unseen creatures.
Photo: Heidi Munan
backstrap loom, and weaving can commence.
Ikat means ‘to tie’. The ikat textiles of Southeast Asia are literally tie-dyed before
weaving: the design is tied off on the warp threads. The whole warp is immersed in
dye baths after each tying, rather like the related technique of batik. When it is finally
stretched on the loom the ikat pattern can be seen, though the cloth is not yet woven.
Tying warp ikat requires great concentration. The craftswoman cannot see the whole
pattern while she works, yet weavers execute intricate traditional designs, and
occasionally conceive new ones, entirely from memory.
Iban weavers, particularly the ‘dye mistress’, have a thorough knowledge of applied
chemistry, combined with practical botany. Tree roots and skins yield a number of
reddish-brown shades. A native variety of indigo, if properly processed, produces a
brilliant purplish blue. Indigo is generally the last dye bath applied to the warp threads,
after a brownish-red. After rinsing and drying, the warp is untied, stretched on the
Unlike the cottage loom used by Malay weavers, the backstrap loom has no frame; the weaver’s own posture and body weight maintains
warp tension. The threads are stretched between the warp beam – attached to an upright pillar of a longhouse – and the breast beam,
which is secured around the craftswoman’s body with a wide belt. She leans back to stretch the warp, or relaxes slightly to slacken the
threads. The whole apparatus can be detached, covered with cloth and rolled up to a size no bigger than a bundle of sticks. Iban
weavers travel light!
Once upon a time, every Iban woman was a weaver. Girls learnt from
watching and assisting their elders. At the onset of puberty they were ready
to try a first solo effort, usually a short skirt with very simple patterns. A
young woman had to make one full-length piece, a pua kumbu, to be eligible
for marriage.
Today’s Iban weavers are following in their mothers’ footsteps, preserving
the old tradition. New images are joined to the time-honoured patterns of
snakes and crocodiles, ferns and creepers, protective spirits and legendary
heroes. Today’s heroes fight with guns and fly in airplanes – these images
have found their way into Iban weaving. Jesus, Mary and St. John figure on a piece of ikat woven by a Christian. Even a peacock struts
proudly across one length of textile, despite the fact that this bird does not exist in Borneo. “I saw it in my children’s school book,” the
weaver explains.
Something old and something new … the modern weaver picks and chooses with care. She buys raw cotton thread to eliminate the
time-consuming chore of spinning. Aniline dyes are occasionally used, especially for less important work. Silk thread is used by
exceptionally talented weavers. But the solid standards of craftsmanship have not changed. New and old designs are skilfully melded
into the artistic unity that characterizes the best of Iban weaving. There are no shortcuts in the preparation, execution and finish of a fine
length of ikat. There’s no way of doing ikat by machine.
Each length of ikat textile is unique, each is a work of art.
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Photo: Heidi Munan