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'Endek' takes center stage
Endek proud: Ayu Pastika, the wife of Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, proudly shows off the endek cloth exclusively designed for US President Barack Obama
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Endek proud: Ayu Pastika, the wife of Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, proudly shows off the endek cloth exclusively designed for US President Barack Obama. (JP/I Wayan Juniarta) (JP/I Wayan Juniarta)
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span class="inline inline-none">Endek proud: Ayu Pastika, the wife of Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, proudly shows off the endek cloth exclusively designed for US President Barack Obama. (JP/I Wayan Juniarta)
Ayu Pastika's face was glowing with pride when she took the purple cloth out of the screen-printed cardboard package.
'I am very satisfied, very satisfied,' she said as her fingers lightly stroked the smooth silky surface of the cloth.
During the next 50 minutes, she repeatedly expressed the same satisfaction at least six times. 'It's because we eventually managed to convince everybody that endek is the perfect material for the attire of the leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit,' she said Friday morning.
Batik was reportedly the first choice favored by the central government's senior ranking officials tasked with finding a worthy material for the world's most powerful leaders.
Ayu, who is the spouse of Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika and the present chairwoman of the Bali Handicrafts Council, lobbied hard to convince Jakarta that endek would be a better choice.
Endek is a traditional woven cloth created using the unique ikat resist dye technique. The desired pattern is crafted by binding the threads at designated points before dying them.
Unlike the famous geringsing cloth of Tenganan, in which the resist dye is applied to both the warp and weft fibers, thus the name double ikat, endek is a single ikat cloth.
She requested the best weavers from across the island to send samples of their best works so she would have something to convince Jakarta with.
'I specifically asked them to send new and exclusive designs. It simply would not be appropriate to dress our important guests in attire of a widely available design,' she said.
A collector of ethnic fabric, Ayu has expert taste when it comes to beautiful cloths. She has even produced endek designs of her own.
Several exhausting meetings later, Ayu was jubilant to learn that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono gave endek their blessing.
The difficult yet prestigious task fell to Putri Ayu, an award-winning medium sized weaving plant in Blahbatuh, Gianyar.
It started in 1991 with fewer than 10 non-mechanical looms and currently operates around 30 of them.
Its owner and principal designer, Ida Bagus Adnyana is a soft-spoken man with a restless thirst for innovation.
In the past, he introduced air brush techniques to endek and made the process of creating songket faster, another traditional cloth with complex patterns, from weeks to a single day.
'It is an honor for me, truly an honor,' he said.
Adnyana created an exclusive and patented set of patterns for the endek for the APEC Summit.
It is called Dewa 'Ta' Nawasanga, which clearly refers to Hinduism's nine principal directions and their corresponding deities.
Each deity has a specific power, element of nature, color, weapon, vehicle and sacred letter.
'The colors and patterns of this special endek were inspired and influenced by those specific properties associated with the nine deities,'
Just one section of this special endek took three months to produce. It was made with natural silk from Bandung, West Java, and mostly natural dyes. The cost was more than three times the amount spent on producing regular endek.
'The colors are fabulous and the patterns are truly original. I am very satisfied with the results,' Ayu Pastika said.
The local esoteric teaching reveals that the deities also reside in specific human body parts and it is said that people will reach perfect enlightenment and peace once they manage to realize the presence of the deities in their body.
'I want to create a fabric that is not only comfortable to wear and reflects the Balinese cultural heritage, but also provides the wearers, these world leaders, with a calm mind and peaceful heart throughout the summit,' Adnyana said.
Hopefully, this beautiful, richly colored and intricately patterned fabric will help those leaders to be the benevolent 'deities' of this troubled world.
