Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This paper explores the weaving process of Indonesian traditional woven cloth in translating the creative dynamics involved in making art, which can only be explored through active participation. Exploring themes of gender and embodiment, I explore how cultural knowledge evolves creatively.

Paper long abstract

This paper is an ethnographic account of my participation in a women's tenun (Indonesian woven cloth) group in West Manggarai, Flores, Indonesia. During my fieldwork, I applied ‘follow the thing’ (Marcus, 1995; Knowles, 2014) to the context of the creative journeys of traditional Indonesian textiles, particularly in the making. In an attempt to explore ‘creativity’ as it is experienced through the social processes of weaving as a practice, I strapped into a traditional backstrap loom (gedogan) and learn the basics of weaving woven cloth in West Manggarai. Throughout the fieldwork, actively learning the traditional craft became the best tool for understanding the creative making process (Ingold, 2010, 2011). As a traditional art, textile-making is culturally significant across the Indonesian archipelago; it is respected and passed down through generations as tangible knowledge. This paper applies ethnography and autoethnography to examine the weaving process, from dyeing the thread to sitting for hours inside a backstrap loom. This is a translation of the creative dynamics involved in making cultural art, which can only be explored through active participation. Exploring themes of gender and embodiment, I explore how cultural knowledge evolves creatively.