Australian Textile Hunters Show Massive 40-Year Collection in Jakarta
Jakarta. Jakarta Textile Museum in collaboration with Mosman Art Gallery in Australia presented "Encounters With Bali: a Collector’s Journey," an exhibition of selected works from one of the richest private collections of Indonesian textiles in Australia, at the Jakarta Textile Museum in West Jakarta for three weeks from July to August.
Australians John Yu and the late George Soutter have been collecting traditional textiles like ikat and batik along with unique objects from the 19th to the 21st century from Bali and other regions in Indonesia for almost 40 years.
During the opening of the exhibition on Tuesday (10/07), Yu said he now wants to share his passion and enthusiasm for Indonesian textiles and to educate people on the finer points of traditional textiles.
"Textiles have historically been the most important medium of artistic and cultural expression. It also reflects a deeply rich and diverse history and social practices," Yu said.
He also explained why he’s been particularly interested in Balinese textiles. "Bali opened the gate [for me] to a much broader experience of textiles and the arts across Indonesia. This collection is the result of my annual trips there."
"More than a million Australians visit Indonesia each year and for many of them, Bali is their intro to Indonesian culture and art forms," Yu said.
Textile Hunters
The story of Yu and Soutter's collection dates back to the late 1970s when they came across a swath of handmade textiles from Sawu Island in East Nusa Tenggara.
This first encounter with traditional Indonesian cloths encouraged the couple to travel to Bali to find and collect more examples.
According to curator Siobhan Campbell, the collectors came to Bali at the right time, just as the island was establishing itself as the center of an Indonesia-wide trade in textiles, gold, silver, terracottas, ceramics and wooden handicrafts.
Over the next 30 years, the couple's annual trip to Bali was filled with visits to antique and craft shops in Ubud, Kuta, Sanur, Denpasar and Klungkung.
Their appreciation for Indonesian culture grew deeper as Yu and Soutter learned more about the complex histories of traditional textiles and established closer relationships with local artisans.
"For Yu and Soutter, these textiles became a bridge to understand the diverse cultures of Indonesia," Campbell said.
Exhibition Highlights
One of the most striking highlights from the exhibition is a shrine hanging (lamak) from Bali made from cotton, silk, metallic and cotton threads, sequins and glass beads appliqué.
Lamak is a long narrow cloth used by Balinese Hindus to adorn altars or shrines or as underlays of offerings. This particular red lamak was made sometime in the middle of last century.
Almost every home in Bali has shrines dedicated to the ancestors and deities called sanggah or mrajan.
Making cloths like lamak is part of most Balinese women's ritual, an homage to the gods who visit their shrines.
Another highlight is the Yirrkala Aboriginal Batik, the product of a partnership between the Yirrkala Arts Center in Australia's North East Arnhem Land and traditional batik artisans in Pekalongan, Central Java.
Made from a tree bark, the design of the Yirrkala batik was created by Aboriginal artist Ronald Nawurapu Wunungmurra working together with the Pekalongan batik artisans.
The Yirrkala batik explores the ancient connection between Australia and Indonesia, as Bugis fishermen from Makassar hunting for teripang (sea cucumbers) were said to have sailed all the way to the Arnhem Land in the 18th century.
Encounters With Bali is open for free to to the public from July 11 to Aug. 5.
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