Browse our Savu textile catalog (2)

Ei Pudi Nga Ketaddu
Woman`s Tubular Skirt (2004)

• Tied, dyed, and woven by Napsiana Ale Hade
• Ledeunu village, Rai Jua
• Warp ikat
• Cotton, natural dyes
• 53 x 163 cm. (21 x 64 in)
• Code # T.RJ.LD.001

This piece is a study in indigo, and an archetype of Asian style. The tiny island of Rai Jua and its larger neighbor Savu lie slung between Timor and Sumba. The textiles woven by Rai Jua’s neighbors crackle with bright colors, dense geometric patterns, or large zoomorphic pictures. The elegant, understated Rai Juan style breaks sharply from those traditions, and produces pieces with unusual balance and reserve. Ei pudi like this one are almost never sold off the island. Threads of Life receives only one or two each year.

The motif on this piece is called ketaddu, or the flower of the lontar palm. Rai Juans tap the lontar flower for its sweet milky sap, a vital source of nourishment on an island with rocky soils and an extended dry season, when other crops--such as mung beans, sorghum, and pigeon peas--often fail. Artist Napsiana Ale Hade tied mung beans onto the cloth to produce the white circles.