Jiowanna Dau Miles teaching us the essentials of tapa cloth making. I was fortunate to buy the cloth below which was made by Jiowanna. I like to buy from the maker … it means more to me. The Talking Tapa workshop on Bark cloth from the Pacific was fantastic. Held at the Manning Art Gallery, this free demonstration and hands on workshop allowed us to explore a little known art and textile technique in Australia.

The inner bark from a type of mulberry tree is beaten, sometimes for long periods, producing a finer and finer cloth. You can see the tutor Jiowanna Dau Miles with a beater specifically designed by the wood craftsmen in Fiji.

The stencilled decorative elements on the cloth were cut with xray film and were ‘mix and match’ design styles which could be build in different ways to create quite complex looking patterns.

The stenciling was so engaging as we used our fingers without gloves, and it washed out immediately. The carrier liquid for the dyes was made from mangrove root. We firstly dipped the sponge into this then into an ochre powder or one from the soot of the burnt candle nut (agathis vitensis) to paint on the stencil.

Old stencils from natural materials.

New type stencils with xray film. ]]> http://curiousweaver.id.au/archives/375/feed 3 http://curiousweaver.id.au/archives/35 http://curiousweaver.id.au/archives/35#comments Thu, 24 Aug 2006 23:24:09 +0000 curiousweaver http://curiousweaver.id.au/?p=35

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 Water have 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.

I’ve always been puzzled and dazzled by how the sari is draped on the body. As most scarfy textiles repeatedly fall off mine, I imagined some supremely genetically advanced body system in those who wear them so gracefully. Perhaps they have ’squarer’ shoulders or more adhesive skin or something. Luckily after all these misplaced thoughts, Aysha has enlightened me. You can use safety pins! and some fabrics are easier than others.

But having said this it seems that draping a sari is still a very skillful achievement, and it helps if you learn from those around you. I’ve no chance.