Textiles of Southeast Asia. Robyn Maxwell
Asian textile traditions still survive among the fine heirlooms of a neighbouring culture and some types of Indian cloths, no longer found in India, are still valued as sacred treasures in many parts of Southeast Asia.
Throughout the book I have often used the convention of the ethnographic present, although in many recent cases, and in some instances for the last century, circumstances have so changed South-east Asian cultures that textiles are no longer made or used as they once were. In certain parts of Southeast Asia, while cloths are still woven, they are a poor substitute for the beautiful objects of previous centuries, and their role in ritual is often severely diminished. The post-war period of nationalism which brought about the end of European colonial domination has had a vital impact upon artistic traditions. The conclusion of the book explores the problems facing traditional arts in the twentieth century where rapid social and cultural change and the impact of cheap, imported or manufactured substitutes threaten remaining textile traditions. The cultural milieu and social systems that once required beautiful traditional fabrics, but absorbed exciting foreign ideas and decorative influences, may soon disappear.
bowl Vietnam stoneware body, cobalt blue under glaze Art Gallery of South Australia 834C6
kain panjang woman's skirtcloth Peranakan Chinese people, Lasem, Java, Indonesia cotton, natural dyes, gold leaf batik, gold leaf gluework 272.5 x 104.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1983.3683
Foreign textiles were not the only sources of inspiration for local weavers; other exotic and expensive items of trade contained motifs that influenced their work. Ceramics similar to this fifteenth-century bowl from Vietnam with the popular fish motif, have been traded throughout the region from China and mainland Southeast Asia since the Han dynasty of 206 BC to AD 220. These objects are often used together with textiles in important ceremonies such as mortuary rites. Many motifs of apparent Chinese origin on Southeast Asian textiles, especially animals, fish and birds, appear to have been adapted from designs on porcelain. Such Chinese influences on motif and style are apparent on this late nineteenth-or early twentieth-century hand-drawn batik from Lasem on the north coast of Java. The main design consists of red and blue-black carp, lotus flowers and crustaceans, with obscure phoenix shapes inside the rectangular panel (papan). This skirtcloth would have been wrapped around the torso so that the decorated end-panel of triangular tumpal designs remained outermost. The addition of fine gold leaf indicates that the cloth was intended for festive occasions, such as weddings.
A NOTE ON DATING AND TERMINOLOGY
It is exceptionally difficult to date precisely Southeast Asian traditional textiles. Changes in technique, materials or designs were often sporadic and subtle and passed largely unrecorded. Innovations in one area sometimes took decades to reach another. For example, while inhabitants of some islands in eastern Indonesia enthusiastically accepted the introduction of commercial cotton thread in the late nineteenth century, women on neighbouring islands continued to spin cotton with a drop-weight spindle into the 1980s. Nevertheless, there are factors we can use to provide tentative dates for many textiles. Sometimes accurate information about origins is available when textiles enter public collections and occasionally the cloths themselves contain evidence. The later batik cloth from java, for example, sometimes features the date or the name of the artisan or workshop, and in some cases textiles can be identified with a popular artistic phase. In some parts of Southeast Asia, as a result of cultural stagnation or social change, the craft of making traditional textiles had deteriorated or even totally disappeared by a certain date.
tirai ceremonial hanging Malay people, east Sumatra, Indonesia cotton, wool, batik cloth, gold thread, lead-backed mirrors, beads couching, embroidery, appliqué 60.5 x 88.5 cm Australian National Gallery 1984.2001
This nineteenth-century Malay hanging is used to decorate the bridal or circumcision chamber and throne (pelaminan). Used for ceremonies which combine Islamic and Hindu rituals with ancient Southeast Asian customs, its lining consists of pieces of cer.tury-old, hand-drawn batik and handspun cotton plaid fabric from other parts of Indonesia which have been joined with pieces of European chintz and flannel. The form of the sparkling black, red and yellow textile may be compared with certain Chinese hangings while the pendant 'tongues' suggest Central Asian influence. The design incorporates Chinese-Persian motifs of trees and birds that have cosmic appeal in many Southeast Asian cultures. The three-branched trees, also a popular motif in Mughal art, are framed by border patterns formed from Islamic arabesques and Chinese cloud designs. The factory-manufactured lace surround suggests the influence of European textiles.
kain lekok women's ceremonial skirts Maloh people, west Kalimantan, Indonesia cotton, flannel, beads, shells, sequins beading, appliqué, lace 52.0 x 45.0 cm; 51.0 x 42.0 cm Australian National Gallery 1982.1300; 1982.1301
Bead and shell appliqué are one of the most ancient means of ornamenting the human body in Southeast Asia and are fixed to matting, bark-cloth and woven fibres. On these twentieth-century examples, a myriad of tiny, gaily coloured seed-beads has been threaded into bands of serpents (naga) and human figures (kakalétau) which have then been stitched to a black cotton base fabric and decorated further with an appliqué of split shells, lace and brightly coloured imported cloth. The linings are made from old fragments of Malay plaid and Javanese batik fabric.
It is also possible to use the comparative material in a number of large ethnographic collections in Europe, the United States and in Southeast Asia itself. The collecting of ethnographic objects began during the nineteenth century as part of the attempt to document the evolutionary ideas of social theorists such as Spencer. However, although many museums contain large and valuable collections of Southeast Asian textiles, including some of the earliest cloths from the region, their usefulness as a point of reference is often limited by the extent and accuracy of the institutions' records. The same applies to the extensive and important photographic archives in a number of museums.
Many textiles illustrated in this book date from the nineteenth century, a period of rococo elaboration in the decorative arts of many Southeast Asian cultures, as it was during the same period in Europe. Many of the grand symbols of sovereignty associated with Southeast Asian royalty were consolidated during this period and have remained caught as the 'traditional' form of dress in the modern era. Coinciding with the colonial domination of nearly the entire region, cultural distinctions between groups became more rigid. Probably more than ever before, clothing became the visible sign of the relationship between an individual and his or her social milieu and a focus for differentiation between individuals and between groups.
Wherever possible, accurate local language names are provided for the textiles illustrated. These terms often provide important information about the history of the textiles and the people who have made and used them and have been gleaned from a variety of sources including published literature and data collected during fieldwork in Southeast Asia. Where there is some doubt about the accuracy of the local language terms provided, this has been indicated by a question mark in parenthesis. In a few cases, the local language names of certain textiles have not yet been recorded. This has been indicated in the captions by a series of period marks. An English language descriptive term for each item has also been attempted. However, the use of anglicized expressions derived from Southeast Asian languages, such as the term 'sarong', are misleading and imprecise. For the same reasons certain national language terms and their English translations now in common usage have also been avoided. For example, the term 'selimut', the Indonesian word for blanket often applied to large rectangular cloths, is quite inaccurate since most of these textiles are in fact men's wraps or ceremonial hangings.
For those readers who are not textile specialists, there are many technical terms that refer specifically to weaving and textile techniques and which may need further elaboration. A