Experience Indonesian Ikat and Batik techniques on the island of Bali

Various ikat techniques in Indonesia, the history, techniques & materials used in ikat weaving and batik.

The Ikat weaving technique of Indonesia

Warp ikat is characterized by tie-dyeing the warp with the desired design, while in weft ikat, the designs are tie-dyed on the weft. Double ikat combines warp and weft ikat and is the most complex of the three methods, requiring a lot of precision in order to align the ornaments and shapes in the final cloth. Ikat can be found in various countries around the globe, such as India, Uzbekistan, South America, and Japan, where the method varies slightly from culture to culture.

Local Ikat Weavers in Sidemen village

When visiting the island of Bali in 2018, one of the villages I visited was Sidemen, a tiny, quiet village located in the Karangasem area (Eastern Bali) with beautiful rice fields and mountains filled with coconut trees. In Sidemen, I had the pleasure of experiencing a small weaving workshop called Swastika, focused on weft ikat. The workshop had one large room with approximately 20 old handlooms, with exclusively women weaving, while in another, much smaller room, there were only men.

Men are in charge of the first step in the ikat weaving process. Each man would have the weft hanging in front of him and use a special form of colored tape to tie all the parts on the threads that should not be colored. In this way, all parts not to be dyed are reserved until it becomes their turn to be dyed. When this process is completed and the design on the weft is finalized, it is then given to the women to weave.

The design compositions are usually floral and faunal, featuring geometrical shapes with a great variety of vivid colors. The materials used are typically silk or cotton, which is reflected in the price of the fabric.

Material history in Indonesia

Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 islands, with 90% of its population living on three main islands: Sumatra, Java, and Bali. Cotton goods came from India, while silk fabrics and threads came from China. India and China were the two main cultural influences until the 16th century, when the Portuguese arrived in the area. Double ikat silk patola (a silk cloth from India) was introduced to Indonesia (and Malaysia) by Muslim traders from Western India. Due to its location, Indonesia has been exposed to several cultures from China, India, Arabia, and Europe, which influenced the textiles through these waves of foreign merchants and traders. Chinese porcelain and embroideries, traded in the 2nd millennium AD, were a significant source of inspiration for textile designs.

Another very famous technique in Indonesia is batik, which is the most celebrated textile technique in the country. Wax resist is “drawn” to form patterns in negative using a method called canting—a small copper tool attached to a wooden handle, invented in Java. The purpose is to draw detailed designs onto woven cotton fabric. This technique is primarily used by women. The most traditional colors utilized in batik are soga brown and indigo dyes, while the most popular patterns are jelemprang (the eight-petalled lotus) and ceplokan (repeated geometric shapes).