Balinese textiles

Balinese textiles are reflective of the historical traditions of Bali. Bali has been historically linked to the major courts of Java before the 10th century; and following the defeat of the Majapahit kingdom, many of the Javanese aristocracy fled to Bali and the traditions were continued. Bali therefore may be seen as a repository not only of its own arts but those of Java in the pre-Islamic 15th century. Any attempt to definitively describe Balinese textiles and their use is doomed to be incomplete. The use of textile is a living tradition and so is in constant change. It will also vary from one district to another. For the most part old cloth (excepting the especially sacred) are not venerated for their age. New is much better. In the tropics cloth rapidly deteriorates and so virtue is generated by replacing them.

In Bali, textiles are much more than just cloths from which garments are made. Beginning with the yarn and the woven cloth, they are a medium through which the divine nature of the universe and its material manifestations are recognized and expressed. Cloth is central to all Balinese spiritual activities. In every Balinese Hindu household, every day a family member will make offerings to the gods. To do this she (it usually is she) must at a minimum wear a sash around her waist. Trees and significant rocks are wrapped in the black and white poleng. When the men of the village banjar gather for a working bee in the temple they wear a sarong and sash. The more important the event (and the Balinese calendar is full of important days), the more formal and complex is the dress.

Polĺèng cloth are the black and white checkered pattern seen almost everywhere. Polèng refers to the black and white squares and not the material from which it is made or if it is woven or printed. Most of the printed cloth comes from Java, but there are still weavers in Bali who produce hand woven poleng for special applications.

A frequent use of Polèng is as a wrapper for sacred trees, rocks, and shrines.

The patterning technique of endek is ikat of the weft. Once solely the prerogative of high caste Balinese families, endek was woven as individual pieces on a back strap loom but now is produced in large quantities by the yard in workshops in Gianyar, Denpasar, Tabanan and other places on ATBM looms (alat tenun bukan mesin or unmechanized looms).

Traditional cloth The earliest extant endek date from the late 19th century and come from the North Balinese Kingdom of Buleleng and are predominantly of geometric design. The color of these early cloths are red.These usually had songket ends. Only later do yellows and green appear and the songket was omitted.

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