Detail View: Museum and the Online Archive of California: Textile; pua. Malaysia

Museum and the Online Archive of California

Borneo

Iban

Malaysia

Sarawak

Textile; pua. Malaysia

handwoven

warp ikat

cotton

fabric

88.9 cm by 213.5 cm

Fowler Museum of Cultural History. University of California, Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, California 90095-1549

UCLA FMCH X75.51

- handwoven warp ikat cotton fabric

Content/Description

REMARKS BY ROY HAMILTON (1988): Headcloth known as "lesu lobo mbopo" ("green border headcloth") or "lesu Eropa" ("European style headcloth"). Commissioned in Wolotopo. An example of a rare type of headcloth. In the villages of Wolotopo and Pu''u Tuga this style of headcloth is reserved for use by village or clan elders. Average citizens have long worn headcloths made of imported batik fabric. Headcloths of any sort are no longer items of daily wear and are seen only on special occasions. This cloth is one of two made as a joint effort with a man in Wolotopo who had recently been appointed the representative of his clan to the village council. A headcloth of this type is part of the ceremonial garb for the members of this council. On previous occasions, this man was forced to borrow a cloth from kin. The decision was made to make two cloths, one to remain in the man''s possession for his ceremonial use, the other to be added to the museum''s collection. The cloth which this man had borrowed in the past was used as a model. Made about 1960, this model cloth was considered the most traditional cloth of its type in the village. The collector arranged the dyeing of the yarn, including the green color "mbopo" which is no longer routinely made using natural dyes (see X88.1288D for color sample). The dying of this color and the yellow was supervised by an elderly Lio woman living in Ende who still remembered the procedure. The red yarn was dyed with morinda dye in Onelako, a neighboring village to Wolotopo. The cloth was woven by the wife of the man who required the cloth for use. In Wolotopo "lesu lobo mbopo" are worn by members of a village council known as "ata laki", which is made up of representatives from the most politically powerful clans in the village. Council members are delegated by the head (senior male) of their clan to represent the clan on the council. Only certain clans are represented on the council. Representation on the council is associated with the history of the village and its clans, which is perpetuated in legends and reinforced through the enactment of periodic rituals. Most important of these rituals it the replacement of the roof covering the coffin of the founding ancestor of the leading clan, who is credited with unifying the village and overcoming revolts seven generations ago. Members of the council wear "lesu lobo mbopo" on such occasions Informants say this cloth serves as a mark of the bravery of the clan ancestors and the leadership role of the "ata laki". The use of this type of cloth has been somewhat freed from its ceremonial context, but only in a certain limited context. In the 1960s a dance troop was formed in Wolotopo to present the village''s traditional dances to audiences outside the village. These dancers wore the "lesu lobo mbopo" although they were not members of the "ata laki". This usage was considered appropriate because the dance is a traditional one portraying the bravery of the ancestors of the village. This dance group currently performs at occasional public events in Ende town, most recently at the dedication of a new pier. New head cloths have been made for the group, modeled after "lesu lobo mbopo" but incorporating new elements such as metallic thread which are considered appropriate as theatrical costume. In Pu''u Tuga village the collector witnessed the use of "lesu lobo mbopo" in a calendrical agricultural fertility rite known as "nggua keu" ("betelnut festival"). In this case, the clan leaders responsible for conducting the ceremony wore the headcloths. The cloths worn for this ceremony were similar to the Wolotopo cloth which served as a model. Pu''u Tuga is a non-weaving village so the cloths there must have come from other neighboring villages, very possibly Wolotopo itself. The alternative name for these cloths, "lesu Eropa", betrays the original source of design inspiration.

The pattern is not indigenous to Indonesia at all, but is copied from cloths presumably brought to Indonesia during the colonial era. It seems likely that such cloths were presented to local leaders by the colonial authorities and thus became associated with positions of authority and leadership. Like other imported cloth styles, locally made copies followed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Vogelsanger, Cornelia. 1979. "A sight for the gods: notes on the social and religious meaning of Iban ritual fabrics" In INDONESIAN TEXTILES, Mattiebelle Gittinger (ed.), IRENE EMERY ROUNDTABLE ON MUSEUM TEXTILES, 1979 PROCEEDINGS, The Textile Museum, Washington D.C.

http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft3779n8h8

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