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Jakarta museum hosts Ende 'tenun ikat' exhibition, auctions
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Slated to run until Dec. 20, the Pesona Kain dan Budaya Ende (Ende’s textile and cultural charm) exhibition held by Komunitas Peduli Wastra Indonesia (Indonesian fabrics care community) also serves as a charity event to revitalize Ende's Tenun Ikat Museum and support local weavers. (JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)
A
n exhibition that highlights the cultural heritage of Indonesian woven fabric, tenun ikat from Ende, East Nusa Tenggara, is currently ongoing at the Jakarta Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum in West Jakarta.
Slated to run until Dec. 20, the Pesona Kain dan Budaya Ende (Ende’s textile and cultural charm) exhibition held by Komunitas Peduli Wastra Indonesia (Indonesian fabrics care community) also serves as a charity event to revitalize Ende's Tenun Ikat Museum and support local weavers.
(Read also: Exploring Flores heritage of weaving 'tenun ikat')
“Currently Ende’s tenun ikat is losing its momentum to develop,” said Bernadetha Maria Sere Ngura Aba, an observer of social economic aspect of tenun ikat. “It is often perceived as simply a commodity, despite actually having various meanings that should become assets of national culture.”
Sere shared that Ende’s tenun ikat has unique characteristics compared to Sumba’s. “In terms of colors and motifs, Sumba’s tenun ikat has brighter colors and often uses animals as patterns." Meanwhile, Ende’s tenun ikat has darker colors, but its patterns are more varied and denser. Women are said to wear tenun ikat with various motifs, while men tend to wear the striped ones.
Sere added that many of the weavers were still conservative and thus chose to stick with traditional patterns. Responding to this, the museum manager and founder of Kelompok Pengrajin Tenun (weavers group), Ali Abubekar, said that he had tried to come up with a solution by asking the weavers to apply more colors to their fabrics.
“I hope the government can support the museum,” said Ali. “So far [the government] has helped us, but [the efforts] are still minimal.”
As part of the charity, an auction of clothes created by renowned designer Musa Widyatmodjo, who applies Ende’s tenun ikat to his creations, was held. There were also auctions of 100 examples of Ende’s tenun ikat from the museum’s collection and the Kelimutu painting by Yeni F. Fahmi Idris. While exploring the exhibition, visitors can also participate in a tenun ikat workshop. (kes)
