Tais from the Newest Nation on Earth

MidCoast Water have been honoured with a wonderful gift for their support of the Water Aid program to the worlds’s newest country – East Timor.

East Timor is smaller than Tasmania and has a rich diversity of people established by thousands of years of different people travelling through. East Timor comprises aspects of both the Malay and the Melanesian-Oceanic world. This gift is a significant one for an Australian corporation but needs some context for appreciation.

Generally textiles are not understood in Australia in the same way as our northern neighbours.As all our textiles are produced in factories we have little meaning attached or understanding of them apart from liking a colour or drape of the seasons fashion.

This woven tais , pronounced ‘tie-sh’, is a warp faced, striped cloth featuring a hand pick up on a horizontal (blue/white) background. The designs are six pointed stars with the lettering Timor Leste and two human face like symbols. You’ll also notice that the cloth is directional with the 2 human symbols facing towards one end of the cloth.

As in Indonesia and many other Asian countries, textiles and their production have an intimate connection with the rites of passage through life. They are infused with meaning. The closest approximation to this in Australia could be a wedding dress or a christening gown – but the focus would generally be style rather than the textiles themselves. Tais in Timor are like sacred family heirlooms, woven in particular ways, taken as dowry and offered in ritual exchange. In my view, countries that value textiles in this way view time differently. Handloomed and hand dyed textiles need time that is factored into life and its meaning – whereas the west view time as money, and we are always faced with decisions about how we use our time and if something is ‘worth’ doing based on its monetary value.

I’ve tried to research some background to the cloth myself and I think it is a Salendang. These textiles can be worn like scarves and shawls at traditional and modern meetings in Timor. These types of cloths can be woven to order by the local women and since 1970’s colours, designs and motifs were adjusted to suit the requests of customers. The use of text and writing began to appear in memento tais and under Indonesian occupation many soldiers bought them as souvenirs. Ref

Tais can be presented to foreigners on occasion such as this one and needs to be understood as an extension of the Timorese way of giving. In the western tradition we wrap the present up, but here the tais is used to ‘wrap up’ the receiver..as a functional textile for the person. That is the Timorese way of giving, and it should be seen as an honour by the receiver. Ref. For safety and display of the tais, Midcoast Waterhave framed it in glass, and although this detracts from the meaning of the textile, I think it is an Australian way of honouring the gift as we would frame a painting or certificate and it is suited to the corporate enviroment so all customers and staff can feel something of another world close to them – the newest nation on Earth.

The gift Tais from Timor

Close up of tais/ click for larger photo