The art of kain songket ("brocaded cloth"), the manufacture of silk and cotton fabric brocaded with gold or silver thread, has been known throughout western Indonesia since at least the seventh century, the time of the early Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in Sumatra, Java, and Bali. Brocade weaving was most likely introduced to the archipelago by Indian craftsmen or merchants, along with many other crafts and art forms. The most luxurious silk brocades were worn by the nobility as part of their ceremonial attire; less valuable cotton brocades were used for classical dance costumes. Brocade weaving was the prerogative of noble women. With the introduction of cheaper raw materials, however, such as rayon and artificial silk in the 1930s, brocade manufacture gradually spread to the lower socioeconomic classes. In recent decades the Indonesian government has encouraged the manufacture of traditional local products. Home production has become an important economic activity, and brocade weaving has provided a decent, if not lucrative, income for many female household members, particularly in Bali and Lombok, where kain songket are still worn in numerous traditional rituals. The raw materials, mainly imported from abroad, are available even in small village markets.
Further Reading
Hauser-Schäublin, Brigitta, Marie-Louise Nabholz-Kartaschoff, and Urs Ramseyer. (1991) Textilien in Bali. Singapore: Periplus Editions.
Nakatani, Ayami. (1999) "Eating Threads: Brocades as Cash Crop for Weaving Mothers and Daughters in Bali." In Staying Local in the Global Village: Bali in the Twentieth Century, edited by Raechelle Rubinstein and Linda H. Connor. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 203–229.
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