Main content
Course: Asian Art Museum > Unit 3
Lesson 3: Bali- An Introduction to Bali
- Hinduism in Bali
- Storytelling in ritual and performance in Bali
- Balinese shadow theater
- Balinese dance, costumes, music
- Symbolism in Balinese dance costumes
- Balinese boar Barong dance performance
- Repairing sacred Balinese masks
- Balinese mask carver
- The Making of Balinese Double Ikat Textiles
© 2024 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
The Making of Balinese Double Ikat Textiles
Travel to the Balinese village of Tenganan to discover how double ikat textiles, known as "geringsing," are made. "Gering" means "sick" and "sing" means "no." Geringsing are prized for their ability to ward off evil and sickness.
Video transcript
There are many communities in Bali and its
neighboring islands that weave textiles. However, in the Balinese village of Tenganan,
we find a cloth considered by many to be the most precious due to the skill
and time required to make it. This sacred cloth is known as geringsing. Gering means “sick” and sing means “no.” It is prized for its ability to
ward off evil and sickness and to bring good fortune to the wearer. Geringsing is a fabric produced by double ikat. Ikat is a resist technique in which bundles of yarns are wrapped to create patterning
prior to dyeing and weaving. Double ikat is a process in which
both directional weave elements, the warp and weft yarns,
are prepared with this technique. Tenganan is one of three places in the world
producing double ikat today. It is not a cloth that is worn daily; geringsing is carefully stored and used
for important rituals and occasions, such as weddings and other life celebrations. Let’s look at the process of
making a geringsing textile. At one time, cotton was grown
in the hills around Tenganan and yarns were made by hand. Today, commercially produced cotton yarns
are imported and often boiled with a mixture of water and ash, which removes softeners or other chemicals and adds the alkalinity necessary for dyeing. A mordant, or dye fixative, is prepared
using natural ingredients such as crushed candlenut,
papaya leaf, and turmeric. Turmeric is largely a colorant, imparting a deep cream, slight
yellow color to the cotton. The ingredients, when mixed
with water and wood ash, fix the red dye to the yarns. In the past, these ingredients
would be pounded by hand; however today a blender is often used, as it is
faster and produces a more consistent yield. Yarns are then added to the
prepared mordant mixture and allowed to soak for three nights,
for a deep penetration. The yarns are hung outdoors for six weeks, ensuring that the dye is well fixed. The long drying process in the sun,
together with the turmeric colorant, stains the yarns a golden yellow,
the base color of geringsing cloth. Both the warp and weft yarns are wrapped onto
wooden frames and grouped in sets. Each set will have the same number of yarns The number of sets will vary,
depending on the width of the final product. Yarns are then tied off in grouped bundles The bundles are marked with dark and
light hash marks, in a non-permanent ink to aid in the patterning and alignment
of the yarns in the final design. Using the hash marks as a guide, the artisan begins tying off areas
of the yellow yarns. The artisan knows from experience where to place the ties and
how wide to make them. These bound areas will resist the dye and remain yellow during
the first dyeing process. The first color to be applied will be natural indigo. It is not dyed in Tenganan
but in nearby Bugbug. Legends say that it is bad luck to
dye both colors in the same village, but there is a practical explanation: Bugbug gets more sun than Tenganan and the soil is better for growing and
harvesting the Indigofera tinctoria, which grows wild in and around Bugbug. Resist-tied yarn bundles are placed
in vats of locally grown indigo. The process takes about two weeks— dyeing and drying several times, repeating until the color is a deep
consistent blue across all yarns. The yarns are then returned to Tenganan for further resist tying
before they will be dyed again, this time with a red dye made from the bark
of the Indonesian Morinda or Mulberry tree. At this time, some of the
blue dyed areas will be bound and some of the ties binding
the yellow yarns will be removed, exposing different areas to the red dye. To achieve the deep brick red desired, the process can take upwards of
twelve dippings over three months. Once the dyeing is completed, the last of the resist ties are removed, showing the complex coloration which has
been achieved by this lengthy process. Deep blue-black indigo and
reddish-brown Morinda-colored areas contrast boldly with the honey yellow yarns. The yarns are always the same colors and saturation; a tradition that has been maintained
for centuries by the villagers. Warp yarns are then placed into a backstrap loom where the pattern can be seen taking form. The weft dyed yarns are woven
continuously into the warp yarns. There are only a few sizes of cloth width made, and no more than twenty-four patterns are produced under strict agreement by the Bali Aga,
or “old families” in Tenganan. Some of the motifs found on geringsing
can be seen on Indian trade textiles; other patterns are similar to scenes
found on relief carvings in East Java or Balinese
shadow puppet figures. The most expensive textiles contained
prada, or gilded yarns, which were woven at the end
of the ritual geringsing cloth. The patterns reflect both the times and the
wearer of this unique and cherished cloth.