ORANG TEKSTIL, 2023

The series ORANG TEKSTIL is part of an ongoing work on the omnipresence of textiles in the human world. While describing the impressive natural presence of traditional textiles in modern daily life in Indonesia, there can be found a variety of different kinds of textiles in every frame.

Textiles are being used for communication, for religion and faith, for rituals, for protection, for shelter and housing, for presentation, for decoration, for packaging, for transportation, as symbol, as container, as instrument, as hiding place, as art.

The precious and laborious traditional textile coexists with the convenient industrial fabric. While a woman is collecting indigo leaves in the forest to dye the hand spun cotton thread for her Ikat, rice is drying on a tarpaulin and handwoven textiles are being sold in the protective shade of huge plastic weaves.

On the island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, women are addressed according to the patterns and colours of their Ikat, which are an indicator of the wearer’s provenance. A women wearing an Ikat from Ende will be addressed as „Ine“ whereas a women wearing an Ikat from Sikka will be addressed as „Duä“.

In local Indonesian tradition the representational power and meaning of textiles is still very strong. Women would not weave nor wear an Ikat depicting a neighbouring village’s pattern. Only ones own community’s patterns and colours can be reputably represented.