Author: Claire & Steve Wilbur, 2003, 175pg. (English). Hardcover
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing, Atgle, Pennsylvania, USA
This volume offers a comprehensive exploration of the artistic and cultural significance of textiles drawn from the author’s personal collection. Structured across seven chapters, it provides an analytical overview of the diverse styles, motifs, and decorative techniques characteristic of Indonesian textile traditions. In addition to its scholarly examination, the book presents practical guidance for collectors, including methods for evaluating, preserving, and incorporating textiles within domestic settings. Individual chapters are devoted to batik (wax-resist dyed cloth), ikat (bind-resist dyed textiles), and woven fabrics, each examined in detail. Furthermore, Indonesian and technical terminology is elucidated in an extensive glossary, thereby enhancing accessibility for both specialists and general readers.
Author: Rens Heringa, 1994, 48pg. (Dutch language). Booklet
Publisher: Museon, Den Haag, Netherlands
This booklet presents nineteen examples of woven textiles and hand-drawn batiks, accompanied by detailed explanations of their motifs, chromatic symbolism, and cultural applications. The Tuban collection housed in the Museon comprises more than one hundred artifacts, systematically assembled between 1979 and 1990 by Rens Heringa, a Dutch anthropologist whose work has significantly contributed to the documentation and preservation of Indonesian textile traditions.
Author: Mattiebelle Gittinger, 1979. 240pg. (English). Softcover.
Publisher: The Textile Museum, Washington DC. USA
This volume seeks to examine the multifaceted role of textiles within the social customs and religious practices of Indonesia, while simultaneously serving as a comprehensive catalogue for an exhibition dedicated to Indonesian textile traditions. It addresses the function of cloth as both a gift and a marker of prestige, situating textiles within ceremonial and ritual contexts. Embedded within their intricate designs are symbolic messages, and textiles further assume significance as elements of costume. In addition, the book highlights the diverse geographic regions of Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands/East Nusa Tenggara, and the Moluccas, thereby underscoring the breadth of Indonesia’s textile heritage.
Author: Joseph Fisher, 2004. 144pgs. (English). Hardcover
Publisher: Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California
For millennia, Balinese textile artisans have transformed plain cloth into intricate visual narratives, embellishing fabric with elaborate depictions of canonical folktales. These vividly hand-embroidered textiles not only exemplify aesthetic mastery but also provide profound insight into the enduring tradition of oral storytelling. In Story Cloths of Bali, Indonesian arts scholar Joseph Fisher presents more than one hundred of these remarkable embroidered works, accompanied by an engaging and instructive commentary on methods of studying and appreciating traditional Balinese culture. Within Balinese and Hindu temples, household ancestral shrines, and village ceremonial structures, story cloths function as ritual adornments and sacred offerings. Fisher’s analysis extends beyond their ceremonial role, examining the diverse stitching techniques employed in their creation and elucidating the cultural symbolism embedded in each textile. Collectively, these works embody the intersection of artistry, spirituality, and cultural heritage, underscoring the centrality of textile traditions in Balinese identity.
Author: S. Ann Dunham, 2009. 379pgs. (English). Softcover
Publisher: NUS Press, Singapore & The Lontar Foundation, Jakarta
This volume represents the anthropological study authored by Ann Dunham, the mother of President Barack Obama, and stands as a testament to her profound knowledge of, and deep affection for, the Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia. The work simultaneously attests to Dunham’s integrity and intellectual rigor as a cultural anthropologist. Dunham was awarded her doctorate in 1992, based on fieldwork conducted intermittently over a fourteen-year period that examined rural industries in Indonesia, with particular emphasis on metalworking in Java. Tragically, she passed away in 1995 at the age of fifty-two, before completing revisions to her dissertation. At the request of her daughter, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Dunham’s advisor, Alice G. Dewey, together with fellow graduate student Nancy L. Cooper, edited the manuscript to produce Surviving Against the Odds. This publication serves as a tribute to Dunham’s unwavering dedication to sustaining small-scale industries, her pragmatic and non-ideological approach to research and problem-solving, and her remarkable command of historical context, economic data, and development policy.
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