Striking Patterns: Global Traces in Local Ikat Fashion

On the trail of a living weaving tradition

Ikat refers to the originally Indonesian art and technique in which warp or weft threads, or both, are tie-dyed before weaving the fabric, creating complex patterns on handwoven textiles. Since time immemorial, master weavers in eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste have embraced ideas and motifs from elsewhere and integrated them in their own designs. Striking Patterns takes readers into the world of a handicraft that is beloved of both laypeople and experts.

Ikat is practiced primarily in Indonesia, India, and Central and South America, and its techniques have continuously developed over the course of centuries. Foreign influences were absorbed and creatively integrated into local patterns. The main objects of research in this volume are works by female master weavers from eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste, whose fabrics reflect not only fashion and modernity but also aspects of globalization.