ISLAND INFO
Fifteen active and ten dormant volcanoes form the spine of Flores. Some 1.8 million people live in the dramatic ravines between the peaks that rise from the mountain’s shoulders and fall away to the coastline. Isolated from one another by the steep terrain, the people of Flores have developed numerous unique cultures with traditions, art forms and even languages that may extend no more than a few kilometres.
There are five main language groups on Flores which correspond roughly to the island’s cultural divisions. From east to west the five groups are Lamaholot from the curling eastern cape of the island, the Sikka based around the coastal city of Maumere, the Ende-Lio whose heritage includes local tribes and Muslim seafarers, the Ngada who are centred in the mountains around Bajawa, and the Manggarai – the most populous group at the island’s western end.
These groups contain subdivisions, distinguished by language, religion, social structure, music and architecture, and by the reach of modern influence. Some communities are reconciling traditional and modern culture in innovative ways. But the island’s remoteness also conceals societies that are almost untouched by the outside forces shaping the rest of the country, and continue to develop along trajectories set hundreds of years ago.
Traditional textiles have as many uses, meanings, and interpretations as there are families and villages. A textile can be used for everyday wear, or be so sacred that it is almost never seen. It can contain subtle coded information about the class, clan, village or kingdom of the person who wears it. Its motifs can combine modern innovations with Dutch flowers, geometric patterns from 16th century Indian trade cloths and designs attributed to the ancestors.
TEXTILE ARTS
Lawo
Leonardus Wou Kurry was a cultural enthusiast, committed to reviving stories and myths related to Bajawan textiles. Leo commissioned this textile after making the arduous trek to another area of Ngada called Lopijo where he spent time talking to weavers and cultural leaders. When he returned to his own village he was inspired to integrate a pattern he had seen in Lopijo, the buku tewu into this lawo woman’s sarong.
Leonardus prepared eighty synthetic dyed textiles with this motif for dancers to wear during the planting ceremony (reba). Shortly after this Leonardus became very ill and, despite consulting several doctors, was not recovering. Eventually he saw a paranormal who told him his sickness was caused by using a motif from Lopijo without permission. Keeping this in mind, Leo completed the lawo textile seen here, after which a purification ceremony (kelanino) was performed to purify him and obtain blessings from the ancestor – which restored his health.
Lawo Butu
The traditional lawo butu beaded sarongs are sacred to the people of Bajawa. Rarely seen, they are only worn by female clan elders during dances to bless a new clan house or ngadhu ancestral shrine. Sewn into a tube, a lawo butu is worn high, under the arm-pits with the top of the tube fastened front-to-back over the shoulders by a series of ties. Gathered at the back, the body of the sarong is cinched in at the waist with a sash. If an old Lawo butu is too timeworn to wear it will be draped over the shoulder instead. Should the textile become unusable the clan leader will commission a new piece from an appropriately gifted weaver.
The central beaded motif in most lawo butu is either a boat or a series of ancestral figures. The boat, called a kowa in Bajawan, relates to a myth concerning the migration of the Bajawan people to Flores from the far west.
Lawo Kapa
Lawo kapa is a three-part textile sewn into a tube and worn by a woman in the village of Nggela. This textile is considered to be a new creation. Kapa refers to a ship and may be called a lawo kapa ria as a large ship or kapa lo’o as a small ship. This type of textile with the small or large ship motif was first created by Nenek (grandmother) Toja seven to eight generations ago.
Lawo Singi One
Lawo Singi One is a three-part textile sewn into a tube and worn by a woman of the Lio-Ende ethnic group. The name refers to the structure of the cloth; in that the central motif has bands around the central motif.
Lipa
Lipa is the name for a man’s dress sarong. There are two types of man’s sarongs; lipa merak matan pitu which is a simple striped textile. The lipa merak loen peten is predominantly red and contains a weft ikat motif. The word lipa likely comes from the Indonesian word lipat which means “to fold” and is a reference to the checkered, folded commercially made textiles made in Sulawesi and sold throughout Indonesia.
Lu’e
The traditional shoulder cloth for a man is called Lu’e. It usually has very subtle bands of white ikat dashes and often horse motifs in bands on the cloth. The textile was dyed all dark blue which is typical of Ngadha textiles.
FINE CRAFTS
• Betel Nut Basket
• 2007
• Bajawa village, Flores
• Lontar palm leaf
• Height 7 cm. (3 in)
• Code # C.FL.BA.006
Oko Mama
This oko mama basket was made in Bajawa, a small market town nestled among the volcanoes of central Flores. It was woven from the fragrant young leaves of the lontar palm (Borassus flabellifer). Bajawans fill their oko mama with the ingredients of a quid known in the West as betel nut: nuts from the pinang palm (Areca catechu),leaves and peppery flower spikes from the male sireh plant (Piper betle), and powdered lime.
The mixture produces a mild intoxication–and a mass of red saliva. Chewing betel quid also suppresses the appetite, a useful side-effect in areas where food and water are not plentiful. The Ngada people of Bajawa live in a matrilineal society–to this day, all Bajawans claim descent from one of seven women. Upon marriage, a man moves into his wife`s home and becomes a part of her family. All property descends through the female line, and nothing of value can be bought or sold without the consent of a household`s women.
A matriarch with a bag of powdered lime, Bajawa, Flores.
• Betel Nut Basket
• 2007
• Woven by Feliksia Kiren
• Maumere town, Flores
• Lontar palm leaf
• Height 8 cm. (3 in)
• Code # C.FL.MR.005
Seneng
Seneng hold the ingredients of the betel nut quid, which has specific ceremonial uses related to hospitality. Travelers always carry betel nut to offer to their hosts, assuring them of a kind reception wherever they go. This type of basket would belong specifically to a female traveler. Feliksia Kiren wove a rare and difficult floral geometric pattern into this seneng basket. Pinang or betel nuts, from the Areca catechu palm tree, are chewed from Africa to Oceania; it is said that the betel nut opens the way to honest and friendly conversation. Users chew a quid of pinang nut, leaves and peppery flower spikes from the malesireh plant (Piper betle), and powdered lime to produce a mild intoxication-and a mass of red saliva. Chewing betel also suppresses the appetite, a useful side-effect in areas where food and water are not plentiful.
COMMUNITY
LIO-ENDE AND LIO
Flores, Lio-Ende: Master weaver tying threads (Ikat) on a tying frame before dyeing. The ties will resist the dye.
Flores, Lio-Ende: Laying threads that have been dyed indigo to dry.
Flores, Lio-Ende: Hanging threads that have been dyed first with Indigo and then with red dye.
Flores, Lio-Ende: Pounding the bark of roots from Morinda citrifolia tree to make the red dye.
Flores, Lio-Ende: A master weaver at her backstrap loom weaving a textile. The entire process takes months to complete a textile.
Flores, Lio: Women in the village of Nggela with their traditional textiles.
Flores, Lio: Community group of women harvesters working with Threads of Life collecting the leaves used as the aluminum source for red dye.
Flores, Lio-Ende: Squeezing the pulp of Morinda to extract the red dye colour.
Flores, Lio-Ende: Spinning cotton that has been cleaned into thread for weaving.
Flores, Lio-Ende: A weaver group wearing their traditional sarongs called Lau that they have dyed and woven together.
NGADA
Flores, Ngada: Master weaver with a traditional textile standing against a backdrop of indigo.
Flores, Ngada: Master weaver Mama Katarina wearing a traditional Lau Butu or beaded sarong which is necessary for ceremonies.
Flores, Ngada: Male traditional leaders also wear dark blue black textiles for ceremonies.
Flores, Ngada: Master dyer and her indigo pots. Bajawa textiles are famous for being deep blue black.
SIKKA
Flores, Sikka: Master basket maker using palm fiber from the lontar palms. These baskets are very sturdy and can be washed out and reused after placing in the sun to dry.
Flores, Sikka: A traditional basket used for carrying the components used for chewing betelnut.
Flores, Sikka: Master indigo dyer.
Flores, Sikka: Weaving on a backstrap loom.
Flores, Sikka: On a traditional backstrap loom, women can weave as wide as their arm reach, about 80-90 centimeters.
Flores, Sikka: Preparing to sit down to weave at a backstrap loom. It takes great skill to create the same tension each time a woman returns to her loom. If she shifts to one side, the weaving will be crooked.
