Indonesian Textiles

Thousands of islands, each with its own cloth. Indonesian textiles map the archipelago island by island. Sumba hinggi, men’s mantles dyed in indigo and rust-red kombu, carry horses, lions and crayfish whose color and motifs signaled the wearer’s rank; pahikung cloths use supplementary warp. Toba Batak ragidup ritual cloths from Sumatra are given at weddings and births. Toraja sekomandi hangings from Sulawesi, Dayak ikat from Borneo, Ngada, Manggarai and Amarasi cloths from Flores and Timor, songket shoulder cloths in gold thread and Javanese batik kain panjang belong to a tradition in which cloth is gift, wealth and ancestral record. Kalinga weavings come from the Philippine Cordillera.

Warp ikat has a soft, feathered edge, like a brushstroke. A hinggi across a wide wall, a Batak cloth on a bench, a batik pillowcase on a daybed: scale and calm, handspun.