Symbols & ceremonies: Indonesian textile traditions

13 April - 28 May 2006
Asian gallery, Ground Level

The Indonesian archipelago has a rich and varied legacy of textiles and other media related to life cycle ceremonies, religious rituals, gift exchanges, and demonstrations of status and wealth. This exhibition will present examples of lavish court textiles from Java, boldly designed warrior cloths from Sumba, narrative paintings of the Ramayana epic from Bali, and ship cloths from Sumatra.  Included in the exhibition will be Indian trade cloths made specifically for the Indonesian market, including fine examples of the technically skilful silk double ikats known as patola. A highly prized patola design, and one whose use was restricted to princely houses, is that of the repeated elephant and tiger motif. The exhibition illustrates textiles related to the life cycle ceremonies (such as the tooth filing ceremony), temple rituals, and court occasions, thus providing insights into the cultures that produced and valued these magnificent textiles, many of which have been given to the Gallery by Australians who collected them in Indonesia.