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The Weaving Cultures of Bali and Flores, Indonesia     
A Textile tour with Threads of Life and Jalan Jalan Asia
September 16-28, 2012

If you are interested, please contact us as soon as you can:  
Jean at jean@threadsoflife.com or Choy at karipedas@yahoo.com

Travel through the Indonesian archipelago grants us access to one of the most diverse regions of textile art on earth. Spice trade influences juxtapose with indigenous motifs: echoes of Indian trade cloths abound; imagery relates to defining aspects of the local environment; history and genealogy entwine. Uses range from traditional dress, to offerings, to the paraphernalia of marriages and funerals.  

Our gateway to this world is through the island of Bali, where we steep ourselves in the island's rich traditions during six days in the cultural center of Ubud and three days on the coast of east Bali. Here we will receive insightful introductions to the local culture, see world-class dance troupes, and gain our introduction to the textile arts through the Threads of Life gallery (www.threadsoflife.com) and the YPBB Foundation (www.ypbb.org). Visits with master weavers across the island will offer unique insights into the forces at play in the contemporary tradition, enable insight into what Threads of Life and the YPBB Foundation are doing to sustain these traditions, and expose the visitor to some fabulous textiles.
 
The majority of Indonesia's weavers live beyond Bali, in isolated communities on remote islands, where the forces of modernity have not yet rendered weaving a worthless pursuit. Travelling to the island of Flores, this tour visits the Bliran Sina Cultural Arts Cooperative with which Threads of Life and the YPBB Foundation have been working since 1998 to help weavers re-establish local natural dye traditions and create high-quality textiles that balance their desires for sustainable incomes and cultural integrity. During two days with co-op members, tour participants accompanied by the tour's bilingual guides, will engage with weavers during their daily activities-dye plant harvesting, natural-dye preparation, ikat work, or weaving-as an opportunity for personal interaction and meaningful exchange that will be the highlight of the tour.

For Brochure, Registration Form and Terms and Conditions click here.




Threads of Life textiles included in major Art Gallery of South Australia exhibition
Beneath the winds: Masterpieces of Southeast Asian Art
18 NOVEMBER TO 29 JANUARY
Free Admission

Beneath the winds: Masterpieces of Southeast Asian Art presents a spectacular selection of works of art from the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia, including many new acquisitions seen for the very first time. The exhibition features 120 works of art, which range in diversity from prehistoric stone sculpture to present day ritual painting, and provides an exciting introduction into the astonishing aesthetic heritage of Southeast Asia.

Art Gallery's of South Australia exhibition Beneath the winds that opens November 18th, 2011 includes four contemporary textiles woven by women working with Threads of Life in Bali, Sumba and Sulawesi. The exhibition coincides with the release of the lavishly illustrated publication Beneath the winds: Masterpieces of Southeast Asian Art from the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia, which will be available from the Gallery Shop. 

Warp cloth [kamben], with peacock motif, 2011, Sideman, Karangasem, Bali

James Bennett, exhibition curator, says, “These works of art challenge the commonly promoted notion declaring that the great tradition of Indonesian textile arts is now extinct and the masterpieces preserved in public collections all originate from a by-gone era. These textiles are also especially significant in an Australian context because they articulate the essence of Indonesia's ancient indigenous traditions of reverence for the ancestors, which profoundly parallel Australian indigenous spiritual heritage.”

The contemporary textiles included in the exhibition are:

MONIKA, active c.2000, Indonesia, West Sulawesi, Ritual cloth hanging or shroud [sekomandi], with ‘eight heads’[ulu karua] motif, 1999, Kalumpang, Mamuju, West Sulawesi, commercial thread, natural dyes, warp ikat and plain weave, two panels stitched together, 239.0 x 260.0 cm.

JUITA, born 1970, Indonesia, West Sulawesi, Ritual cloth hanging or shroud [sekomandi], with ‘pori dappu’ motif, 2010, Saluleke, Kalumpang, Mamuju, West Sulawesi, handspun cotton, natural dyes, warp ikat weave, two panels stitched together, 200.0 x 198.0 cm.

TAMU RAMBU HAMU ETI, designer and dyer, RANA RUDUNG, ikat-tier, INA NGANA, dyer, MAI NGGIRI, weaver, active c.2000, Indonesia, East Nusa Tenggara, Man’s wrap cloth [hinggi], 2000, Rindi, East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, handspun cotton, natural dyes, warp ikat, plain weave, two panels stitched together, 241.0 x 102.0 cm.

TAMU RAMBU HAMU ETI, designer and dyer, RANA RUDUNG, ikat-tier, INA NGANA, dyer, MAI NGGIRI, weaver, active c.2000, Indonesia, East Nusa Tenggara, Woman’s tube skirt [lau pahudu], 2002, Rindi, East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, handspun cotton, natural dyes, warp ikat and supplementary weft weave, natural dyes and glass beads, 151.0 x 63.0 cm.

IDA AYU NGURAH PUNIARI, dyer, IDA AYU ANOM, pattern-programmer, NI NENGAH RIBEK, weaver, active 2011, Indonesia, Bali, Warp cloth [kamben], with peacock motif, 2011, Sideman, Karangasem, Bali, silk, natural dyes, supplementary weft songket weave, two panels stitched together, 100.0 x 185.0 cm.

http://www.artgallery.sa.gov.au/agsa/home/Exhibitions/Beneath_the_winds.html