Ikat

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Throughout Indonesia, the primary means of achieving patterns in textiles is by the tying and dyeing of warp or weft yarns or both before weaving begins. This process is known in English as ikat, from the stem of the Malay-Indonesian word mengikat, which means to tie or bind. Most of the ikat textiles from this area are cotton; when silk is used only the weft yarns are tied for the pattern. Prior to the weaving process, patterns and motifs are formed by binding the unwoven yarn. Unbound areas accept dyes, while bound areas do not. Yarn can be dyed many times to produce different or more intense colors. Depending on the complexity of the design, the process requires months of work.

Adapted from
  • Carol Robbins, "Variations on themes: Sumbawa and Bali," in Selections from the Steven G. Alpert Collection of Indonesian Textiles (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1984).
  • George Ellis, "Man's shoulder or hip cloth (hinggi)," in Eyes of the Ancestors: The Arts of Island Southeast Asia at the Dallas Museum of Art, Reimar Schefold, ed. in collaboration with Steven G. Alpert (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, 2016), 228. 
NOTES
1983.69 Woman's ceremonial skirt (tapis)
set operator as or
apply to content where content contains ikat
apply to objects where description contains ikat
apply to objects where public_notes contains ikat
apply to objects where medium contains ikat
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Materials & Techniques
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General Description
Throughout Indonesia, the primary means of achieving patterns in textiles is by the tying and dyeing of warp or weft yarns or both before weaving begins. This process is known in English as ikat, from the stem of the Malay-Indonesian word mengikat, which means to tie or bind. Most of the ikat textiles from this area are cotton; when silk is used only the weft yarns are tied for the pattern. Prior to the weaving process, patterns and motifs are formed by binding the unwoven yarn. Unbound areas accept dyes, while bound areas do not. Yarn can be dyed many times to produce different or more intense colors. Depending on the complexity of the design, the process requires months of work.

Adapted from
  • Carol Robbins, "Variations on themes: Sumbawa and Bali," in Selections from the Steven G. Alpert Collection of Indonesian Textiles (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1984).
  • George Ellis, "Man's shoulder or hip cloth (hinggi)," in Eyes of the Ancestors: The Arts of Island Southeast Asia at the Dallas Museum of Art, Reimar Schefold, ed. in collaboration with Steven G. Alpert (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, 2016), 228. 
Fun Facts
 
Archival Resources
(digitized/non-digitized)
Web Resources
 
Notes
1983.69 Woman's ceremonial skirt (tapis)
rules
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Content
content
Contains
ikat
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Objects
description
Contains
ikat
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Objects
public_notes
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ikat
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Objects
medium
Contains
ikat
tags
#draft
#completed
%copyedited_Gail
@Bilal-Gore
@Courtney
#routed
*Arts of Africa
textiles (visual works): AAT: 300014063
Indonesia (nation): TGN: 1000116
*Arts of the Pacific Islands
weaving: AAT: 300053642
ikat: AAT: 300249861
cotton (fiber): AAT: 300183670
dyeing: AAT: 300053049
dye (colorant): AAT: 300013029
silk (general_animal material): AAT: 300191700
Malaysia (nation): TGN: 1000128
source file
materials_and_techniques-0144.xml.nores