Weaving Meanings & Makers from East Timor

September 8th, 2008 jen Posted in Events, Friends of Suai Pt Phillip, News, Tais Traditional Weaving, Traditional Culture East Timor 1 Comment »

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Few people have had the privilege of seeing what are still pretty much “hidden textiles” woven by the women of East Timor at all, not to mention being slipped out of their bright orange protective acrylic bags and rolled off a huge bolster, on to the polished cedar table in the bowels of the old St Kilda Town Hall, as I did last week.

Sara Niner was unrolling the Alola Foundation’s collection of Tais for an exhibition in the new St Kilda Town Hall Gallery. Not many have had the privilege of witnessing the skill and dexterity of these amazing artisans working on the ground in the backstrap looms in East Timor. But, many of those Australians who have, were at the opening of the Exhibition and Forum this weekend. We have seen the beauty and admired the skill but now we were gathering to see a collection from across the country and hear some of the best and most experienced minds apply themselves to questions about the meaning of the tais in Timorese life and what happens when you commercialise a craft grounded in culture and the sacred.


Exploring Meanings, Makers and Markets of Tais - The Speakers
Robyn Maxwell, Curator in the Department of Asian Art at the Australian National Gallery who is the author of ‘Textiles of Southeast Asia - Tradition, Trade and Transformation’ set the scene with an animated and interesting talk that situated the Timorese tradition within the Southeast Asian Region.
Joanna Barrkman who is the Curator, Southeast Asian Art and Material Culture at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, brought us her observations in response to the ancient objects and textiles she is preparing for an exhibition at that Museum in November. Ofelia Neves Napoleao gave us some insights to her experience growing up in East Timor with her Grandmother and Mother who were both weavers. Linda Chalmers - from Oxfam provided a revealing expose on the Oxfam retailing chain’s philosophy and approach to designing and marketing products for the purpose of producing the maximum income for the weavers while respecting their need to preserve their culture. Sara Niner wrapped the morning panel up by updating us about her research into the impact of commercialising tais on the makers lives by telling us about the different models of production and marketing she had unearthed.

The Exhibition
Most of us had seen the difference between tais woven with Timorese cotton and dyes and those woven with imported Indonesian cottons, and the difference is marked. The traditional colours speak of the soil, identity and place and the beautiful photographs by Sally Gray in the exhibition gave us some more insight into the process of tie resistance dying used in the making of futus designs. In contrast the Indonesian commercial cottons range from deep brown and red colours to the very bright watermelon pinks and sunflower yellows, greens and oranges.

When you see futus in today’s world, it’s difficult to imagine how complex the process of making is without seeing it. Difficult because it’s complex, but also because the time taken to produce it from growing the cotton to finished product is pretty unimaginable in the West too. But so is it difficult for us to imagine building a home in barefoot with a machete as our only tool. Timorese culture is alive and well and it has survived as a cutting, carving, tying, knotting, dying, and weaving culture using timber, bamboo, leaves, reeds, coconut fibre, palm fronds and grasses. Not only do they not need power drills they don’t even use a hammer and nails in traditional architecture. These people are actually able to live self sustaining lives eating clean food and drinking clean water in a world where it has become more a fantasy than a possibility.

For those who haven’t seen the tais on a loom, the Alola Foundation provided a beautiful hand carved loom with a lovely work in progress attached. On this, one could see the motif on the warp after dying but prior to weaving. There was just 12 centimetres of warp and weft woven together so we could view the completed pattern. Also hanging in the loom were all the variously shaped timbers and sticks used to weave the colours in and out and ram the warp and weft home.

For those of you who are familiar with tye resist dying and futus from your knowledge of Indonesian textiles and others in the Southeast Asian region much of this is not news. What is revealing to all, in an exhibition such as this though, is the variety of weaving patterns and embroidery styles across just the East Timorese side of the island of Timor which is home to 37 language groups. The diversity in styles and patterns comes not only from the traditions of the language groups but also the influences over centuries of travellers, migrants, colonialism and occupation. Of enormous interest to me was the discovery that the futus woven in Covalima, that are so familiar to me, were found by Linda Chalmers (Oxfam) and a collector, to be very unusual in context of all the other language groups of Eastern and Western Timor as well as the Southeast Asian Region.

Makers & Markets

The work of the makers was well represented in half a dozen stalls in a market run by volunteers selling the tais in their traditional form, as well as others cut and sewn into functional products. Products such as bags, purses and footy club scarves we for sale. St Kilda was a hot seller but there were some grim faces when Hawthorn was found to be unavailable until Christmas!

In this little market run by volunteers with for compassion for the producers, the products for the emerging tourism market for East Timor were on display; serving to remind us of the serious business at hand in the forum, of considering questions of trade, tradition and security for the women, who were laboriously producing them to earn livelihoods for themselves and their families.

Saturday afternoon the issues for these women emerged as we heard of a woman with deep bruises on her hips, etched there by overuse of the loom, as she struggled to produce fast enough to keep up with school fees and other needs of a growing family. We heard of young girls who didn’t want to follow the tradition for a range of reasons, one of which was to prevent injury to their backs.

The Panel
The Panel discussion on Saturday afternoon raised dozens of interesting questions about trade, tradition and security. Among them: cotton growing, health and safety, fair trade practices, producer groups, micro-financing, economic and reading literacy, and the need for dialogue between weavers and those trying to assist them as well as many others.

Some interesting models of weaving groups working successfully in Bali and West Timor were put on the table by guest speakers. Joanna Barrkman outlined the success of the Yaneta Yameta (??) group in Boboke in West Timor which makes traditional high quality work and commercial products. In this case weavers gather together in collectives who weave together. The group maintain the quality by providing the collectives with good quality strong cotton grown locally using sustainable practices. This group has been operating successfully for sixteen years bringing a good income to the people involved because it was linked to a gallery and a market. The other model mentioned is the ‘Threads of Life’ a group based in Ubud in Bali who are successful. Threads of Life was founded by Jean and William Ingram, Pung and Lolet in 1998 in response to the Southeast Asian economic crisis. They run tours, curate exhibitions for their own gallery, conserve and run a shop for the weavers’ products. Both of these groups are said to be successful because of the way the links between the primary producers the market and the preservation and of culture had been set up.

Ego Lemos, is the co-author of a resource book for Permaculture Solutions for Sustainable Lifestyles written for the Timorese context and a community development student at Victoria University. Ego outlined his fears about the destructive power of commercialising what is essentially a cultural practice and said that his organisation would encourage farmers and weavers to grow their cotton in a fence line with other vines. In this way they could still grow large scale quantities without creating a monoculture that required pesticides. Balthasar Kehi emphasised the fact that in the past everybody grew cotton and nobody monopolised it and that the knowledge held among the weavers, who are generally illiterate, should be respected because of the wisdom and knowledge they have in their own culture. Ego pointed out the danger of using chemicals in the growing of the cotton is that it was not only dangerous for growers and weavers but could irritate the skin of weavers, handlers and buyers.

The Panel and workshops that followed on Saturday afternoon made suggestions and recommendations and Sara said she was planning to bring together these with the papers given in the morning session as a resource for friends of East Timor and other interested people.

Together the Exhibition and Forum left me with a the profound understanding that textiles are the art form of Southeast Asia and Timor. The work of making the art and conserving the tradition is important but the role of the work as an artform is by no means the highest role it plays, in fact that is a discursive practice of colonialist cultures that probably has both negative and positive effects.

Yesterday’s forum reiterated for me the necessity of protecting the weavers and their work. I came to appreciate the need to encourage weavers and nurture especially skilled and committed weavers, but more importantly I came to appreciate that weaving as a cultural practice is integral to the Timorese meaning of life. In considering the future of the Tais we need to be looking at the history and traditions in the context of the whole island, working to understand the Tais motif and symbolism as well as the Artisan’s histories.

The exhibition will be open until September 30. Monday to Friday 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. (Trams3,67 or Train to Balaclava Station turn left and walk down Carlisle street to the Town Hall).

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New Release a book by resistance fighter Naldo Rei

May 22nd, 2008 jen Posted in Events, News No Comments »

Naldo Rei was born in the jungle and born into the struggle for independence of East Timor.

Naldo Rei has suffered more adversity in his life than the Kennedy Family - (so much in the news at the moment with Ted Kennedy’s brain tumour) will ever know. Naldo Rei speaks for the “voiceless people” of his country, and one gets the feeling he is speaking for the voiceless rocks and trees, and the very land of the Timor he loves so much; because that sustained him through months and years of loneliness, torture and despair.  This memoir of courage and tragedy is written with poetic grace and humour. Very gently reminding us what was happening to him and his family while we were filling up at the bowser for another day at the beach in sunny Australia and sunny America. It may seem crass to compare the sad news in this way, but sometimes we need reminding why the Timorese are poor and why they continue to suffer. Naldo’s daily life from birth was spent in the daily grind of surviving in his own country abused by a brutal regime. He was born into the fall-out from the politically expedient policies of our Government and our ally the United States. Unless we understand this we cannot understand how Australian identity is viewed by some of our friends and neighbours. Read it, share it with a friend and buy it for a Timorese friend.

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Heru Ini Lafu - Weaving Life Exhibition Dec. 2007

April 4th, 2008 jen Posted in Events, News No Comments »

Tais - How Women Were Made Annette Sax

This post is a bit late but worth the wait. The East Timor Womens Association (ETWA), always comes up with creative and enjoyable events to raise funds and awareness to the role of women in East Timorese life beyond the apparently passive victims you see on current affairs television.

Women are primarily responsible for weaving tais, the traditional cloth of East Timor ( as many of you well know!). This event - ‘Heru ini Lafu’ means Weaving Life in Makalero, the language of the Iliomar region in the south-eastern highlands of East Timor. The event organised by ETWA was held in the Fitzroy Gallery in early December. I have chosen to feature the work of Annette Sax, Deborah Salvagnos, Alan Browne and Katheryn Philip .

Detail Creation Story Annette SaxDetail Creation Story 2 Annette Sax

I was especially thrilled to see the work of Annette Sax a Taungurung woman from the Franklin Mob. Her language group is part of the Kulin Nation. Pt Phillip is also situated on the land of the Kulin Nation.

In her artist’s statement Annette expresses the similarities between her own people and the Timorese: “The women in the Mate Restu Weaving collective do not have written records to follow. Our traditions are oral as well. It is the spiritual connection that inspires our craft. I have painted one of my Creation Stories. I have interpreted the story ‘ How women were first made’. I have used the symbols that represent land and water.” Annette explains the designs incorporate traditional and contemporary aspects of culture experienced in her daily family life. A culture that is “always changing and adapting”.

Batik Wax & Tais on Cotton Alan BrowneTais on Cotton Cross Alan Browne

Alan Browne has taken the raw materials of the traditional Indonesian Batik and incorporated a small piece of cut tais on to it. Deborah Salvagnos explains her pieces ‘Light Works’. “The stories behind both the pictures and their accompanying cloth sheds ‘light’ on cloth sheds light on the intricate and beautiful lives held within them”.

‘Breaking Free from Poverty’ was conceived by Deborah Salvagnos and Katheryn Philip “with a view of hope and strength … a look towards the future and the ultimage goal of women regaining control over their lives …”

Light Works Deborah SalvagnosBreaking Free of Poverty Katheryn Philips & Deborah Salvagnos

Neville Kitchen presented Ego Lemnos with a new Macon guitar. Ego lost his when he accidently left it in Flinders Street Railway station. The guitar was Ego’s ‘best friend’ and he was lost without it. He is in high demand as an entertainer and probably earns his living with it. So Deb appealed to who came up with the goods with great charity and grace.

Ego with Neville Kitchen Ego Lemnos & Deborah Salvagnos

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AETA Dinner - 28th November 2007

November 30th, 2007 jen Posted in Events, News No Comments »

David Scott’s TableEgo Lemos & Savador Castro

The Australia-East Timor Association has a dinner every year that commemorates East Timor’s proclamation of the Independent Republic of East Timor on 28th November 1975.

This year some Timorese students celebrating the end of their degrees or participating in a leadership program at Victorian University attended and sang. Among them were Vidal, Ego Dulci, Ismenio, (not in photo) and Alex. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Boite Cafe Melbourne 10th November, 2007

November 22nd, 2007 jen Posted in 2007 - The Boite Cafe Melbourne 10th Nov., Events No Comments »

Foin Sae Timor (Timor Youth) is the title of a song written to keep up the Morale of Timorese youth who faced terrible political challenges during the struggle for independence and again after the vote for independence in August 1999. Foin Sae Timor was sung at an event at the Boite Cafe in Melbourne by Timorese students, to commemorate the anniversary of the Santa Cruz Massacre of 12th November 1991. Video Foin Sae Timor
Long Journey to Independence
Poem read by Alberto Sequeira. Boite Cafe, Melbourne, November 2007 on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the Santa Cruz Massacre. Written Oct.1999 by Filomena dos Reis Video Poem

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Performers at The Boite Cafe

November 21st, 2007 jen Posted in 2007 - The Boite Cafe Melbourne 10th Nov., Events No Comments »

First on left hand side Filomena … we will have to wait for the others to email us to get their names …

Performers 1

Performers 1
Performers 2
Performers 2

From Left: Guitarist: Ego Lemos, Drummer Salvador Castro, Guitarist …?.

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People at The Boite Cafe

November 20th, 2007 jen Posted in 2007 - The Boite Cafe Melbourne 10th Nov., Events No Comments »

Crowd 4
Crowd 4
Crowd 3
Crowd 3
Kids
Kids
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