The Jakarta Textile Museum is hosting an exhibition titled “The Many Colors of Timor’s Textiles”, as part of its year-end series of events; putting on display around 100 pieces of Timorese tenun (traditional woven cloth) owned by private collectors and traditional cloth lovers in Jakarta. The exhibition has been on since December 10 and will go on till today.
“This event is being held to motivate the public to appreciate different kinds of Indonesian traditional cloth and those who are working to produce traditional woven cloth and fashion designers,” said Art Museum Unit Manager Esti Utami.
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Owing to the use of the traditional dyes, the colours used in Timor’s woven cloth are bright and bold and they differ depending on the region. The most colourful cloth in Timor is said to come from Oecussi, a Timor Leste enclave in the middle of western Timor’s north coast that was strongly influenced by Portuguese tastes, as well as from Wewiku-Wehale, an old harbour on Timor’s south-eastern coast frequented by Chinese and Bugis traders hundreds of years ago.
Like most of Indonesia’s traditional weaving, Tenun has struggled to compete with less expensive, readymade, machine-printed cloth over the past century. At present, Timor’s hand weaving industry is supported by an ongoing need for ceremonial attire, church wear and the tourist and art markets. As a result, some cloth is made exclusively for personal use, especially to show off one’s weaving skills at important events.
Efforts to ensure that traditional weaving is preserved have been made by the Government since the 1970s. Recently, with the assistance of a number of private organizations, local administrations and other groups of weavers, they are setting up cooperatives through which they can help one another to obtain raw materials at lower costs, create new designs and market their products.
Besides, the event will also feature a tenun bazaar, batik-making workshops and music and art performances.
