Textiles of Indonesia

Textiles of Indonesia consists of 70 textiles drawn from Melbourne’s private collections, the Indonesian Arts Society and the Asian Art Department of the National Gallery of Victoria.

The collection of the pieces is a story in itself. Many were collected by Australians who were long-term residents in Indonesia; one was presented by a North Sumatran who was an early Colombo Plan Exchange student in Australia. Another piece, this time from Timor, was purchased ‘hot off the loom’ by a pair of Australian Volunteers abroad who stumbled across the weaver at work in a remote village.

The pieces demonstrate the weaving techniques and decorations used by the various ethnic groups within the Indonesian Archipelago. The cloths also demonstrate the distinctive techniques and motifs that characterise the textiles of each major island group. Included in the textiles are examples of batik (wax resistance dyeing), ikat (tie-dye), supplementary warp and songket, plangi (tie-dye), silk weaving, embroidery and applique, bark cloth and prada (gold leaf glueing).

This colourful exhibition not only displays the use of traditional dyes, motifs and hand spun cotton, but it also shows the adoption of modern motifs and recent innovations in the weaving of Indonesian textiles.