slipstreaming: FROM INDRAMAYU TO KUPANG

That wool project plus a spot of clever promotion at a handicraft fair got us an invitation to Kupang, the capital of the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT). The provincial Agency for Industries wanted a survey done on the potential to diversify their cotton-based weaving home industries.

NTT is the eastern part of the islands that stretch from Bali to Flores and Timor and on to Yamdena. The whole string of islands is well known for their ikat weaving—a technique whereby the warp (the lengthwise yarn in a loom) is dyed in a process similar to tie-and-dye, and sometimes the pattern is applied to both the warp and the weft.

We, ie, Mochtar Apin, a well-known Indonesian painter and Dean of the Arts Department at ITB, Yazir Marzuki, photographer, film director and Borobudur expert, Hans Rolloos, a colleague consultant and appropriate technology specialist, and myself, set out from Bali flying to Kupang. I immediately fell asleep after takeoff and when I was awakened to prepare for landing I looked out of the window and thought, how remarkably similar to Bali… And it was Bali! We had returned there as the landing gear was stuck and we would have to make a belly landing, at Kupang there would not be sufficient medical and aircraft repair facilities. As it turned out the landing gear had come out and only the indicator light had malfunctioned. But still, landing with a convoy of fire engines racing along on both sides, is quite an experience.

In Kupang we were bundled into an old open Landrover, together with numerous crates of beer as good guests do not arrive empty-handed. After a long and winding and dusty trip we finally arrived at Oelolok Kefamenanu. And even while we were a full day plus several hours late, our welcome was incredible… gongs and drums were beaten, the whole process from spinning to dyeing and weaving was on display, the beer was flowing, and with the evening approaching we started to dance.

Even then, some 30 years ago, the hand-spun, natural-colour ikat was getting rare. Factory produced yarn bought at the market was becoming the norm, together with the use of chemical dyes. But for those willing to pay a fairly high price the old ones are still available at reputable outlets in Jakarta and Bali.