Dayak Cultural Arts Revitalization in Sintang
As the ancestral Dayak Ikat weaving art of Borneo becomes increasingly rare, and the weaving traditions begin to disappear, the PRCF in collaboration with the KOBUS Foundation and the Jasa Menenun Mandiri are revitalizing the weaving tradition in all its significance and splendor.
The goal is to help local Dayak weavers revive valuable elements of their weaving culture by enhancing artistic, managerial, and institutional skills needed to attain self-sufficiency and, thus, sustainability.
In particular, we aim to restore these arts through:
- research into the artistic design and symbolism behind Ikat motifs
- provision of training to younger weavers in the art of weaving
- promoting the establishment of a cooperative to promote the art
- providing incentives to weavers through technical, marketing, and financial support.
Tembawang enrichment planting with traditional dyestuff-producing plants
As labor-intensive Ikat weavings holding natural dyes fetch greater prices and are more culturally significant, we work with women from four rural villages to help their families enrich their Tembawangs, or household forest gardens, with dye-producing plants no longer available. The initiative facilitates access to scarce natural dyes and provides an extra incentive to help protect and enrich local remnant forests and village Tembawangs. To complement the re-establishment of this traditional source of raw material, we provide weavers with training on handling seeds, seedlings, and wildlings of dyestuff plants.
Research into Dayak weaving arts tradition and symbolism
Dayak weaving is rich in tradition and symbolism, with processes, representations, and cultural values passed down from one generation to the next through grandmothers, and mothers to daughters. But the intrinsic value of the Ikat weave fades out as the Ikat process gives away to commercial textiles, and the meaning of weave design and motifs are forgotten.
To prevent the loss of traditional Ikat weaving knowledge, we have conducted research in the Sintang and Kapuas Hulu regions of West Kalimantan, to collect “Ikat dreams,” which are the traditional precursor of all weavings; “Ikat-symbols,” which are depicted in each of the designs within the weaves; and “Ikat representations,” which depict the weaver’s dream through a careful arrangement of interlaced and sequenced motifs.
Research findings have been collected and collated into reference documents for the weavers.
Village-level Institutional Development
Traditional village institutions, although quite strong in the past, are beginning to fade in light of modernization and the increasing of government influence in village politics and socioeconomics. To revitalize traditional arts in a sustainable manner, we have strengthened existing village institutions by helping villagers form self-help groups and by helping women weavers from sixteen villages form a weavers’ cooperative called Jasa Menenun Mandiri—or Weavers Go Independent in English.
At present the cooperative’s members include more than 900 Dayak women weavers, from a modest initial membership of about 30 women. Given its success, and that in effect the cooperative is now running essentially independently, we are now limiting our support to marketing and remaining needed technical assistance.
Dayak Cultural Arts Revitalization in Kapuas Hulu
Following the success of cultural arts revitalization activities in the Sintang region, we are now working to expand this program into a more isolated region of West Kalimantan.
We previously conducted research on Ikat weavings and symbolism at the target location, where we believe we can achieve a successful outcome with the Dayak Iban community of the Kapuas Hulu region.
Our objective is to work with three pilot villages by establishing self-help groups, and then to continue with activities that would link the revitalization of the Dayak Ikat weaving culture, with the attainment of sustainable livelihoods and the management and conservation of forest resources.
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