Kiriman oleh Ara.

Kain Tenun Tradisional di Pulau Rote

Nusa Tenggara Timur Indonesia

Menurut cerita, setiap perempuan Ndao harus bisa menenun. Kemampuan ini penting dalam kebudayaan mereka. Barangkali sama pentingnya dengan kewajiban bagi kaum lelaki untuk bekerja atau pergi mencari nafkah. Bagaimanapun, sehari-hari, para perempuan Ndao baru menenun di waktu luang, setelah selesai memasak dan mengurus keluarga. Kemampuan menenun diajarkan turun-temurun dari nenek ke ibu, dari ibu ke anak, dari anak ke cucunya si nenek, begitu terus. Tidak begitu mengherankan apabila banyak perempuan Ndao yang sudah bisa menenun sejak usia belia (7-9tahun sudah mulai menenun)

Kain Tenun tradisional memiliki arti penting dalam kehidupan masyarakat Nusa Tenggara Timur, termasuk Orang Rote-Ndao. Pada masa lampau mereka mengenal adanya pengakuan terhadap kemampuan menenun bagi seorang penenun. Pengakuan tersebut berkaitan dengan layak tidaknya seorang wanita untuk dipinang oleh seorang pemuda.

Bagi orang Rote-Ndao,kedewasaan seorang wanita tidak saja ditentukan oleh usia semata. Kedewasaan tersebut diukur dari apakah sang gadis sudah dapat mengikat motif, mencelup, dan menenun. Apabila hal tersebut sudah bisa dipenuhi, maka sang gadis sudah pantas mempersiapkan diri menuju kehidupan berumah tangga. Kain tenun dibuat tidak saja untuk memenuhi kebutuhan akan pakaiah, tetapi lebih dari itu, kain tenun memiliki peranan penting dalam setiap aspek kehidupan masyarakat tradisional.

Belum lama datang klien kepada saya untuk dibuatkan design untuk kain tenun hadiah ulang tahun dari anaknya yang sedang bertugas dipulau Rote. Betapa takjubnya saya ketika kain tersebut saya bentangkan, ternyata masih utuh melingkar tanpa potongan dari sehelai benangpun. Klien meminta untuk dibuatkan rok & blouse jika cukup, saya tidak langsung mengiyakan. Saya lihat lagi, saya renungkan lagi sambil mencari inspirasi, akan saya buat apa kain yg luar biasa ini. Sangat sayang sekali jika kain tenun yg masih utuh ini saya potong. Akhirnya saya menyarankan untuk kita bersama-sama memahami filosofi tenun Rote ini. Klien setuju dan akhirnya saya buatkan design sederhana untuknya, saya sampaikan bahwa saya tidak akan memotong/menggunting sedikitpun kain ini. Karena secara filosofi sangat luar biasa. Ketika dicoba, klien senang & puas dengan design yg saya buatkan.. Terima kasih telah berbagi bersama kami..

Tuhan memberkati…

National Kebaya Indonesia

If you claim to be a true socialite then ask yourself, how many times you use the National kebaya in daily activities or while attending a grand party ? Behind loveliness and elegance National fashion, it should not be used only in moderation or only perfunctory. Because basically wear the national dress actually has a certain grip typical structure. Originally kebaya only a home-based outfit the gentry-aristocracy of Java also several wives magnifying China and the Netherlands. Absolute grip national dress is a snippet of three parts, or better known by the world as the three pieces that kebaya, jarik and selendang containing certain philosophy in it. (quote from AnneAhira.com)

This is what inspires me as an actor couturier designed to inform the client to participate in the preservation of the national culture . For example one of my clients who started with the usual chatter about the uniform that eventually reached the kebaya and batik . After I describe and convey that kebaya , kain jarik , kain batik and complement each has a philosophy . She was immediately enthusiastic , based on her experience and her colleagues in the selection of both fashion boutiques up with hunting various famous shopping centers easily we encountered still feel empty with clothes she bought there because without the historical and philosophical . Just follow the trends that are popular and branded wrote , especially those with young people. Finally I agreed to her request made fashion design at once . I offer it to her to wear the national dress grip , which is very well known in foreign countries such as the three pieces that I've mentioned above and directly approved by her .

The first is the kebaya:

Kebaya is a priceless legacy in the history of Indonesian fashion, kebaya fashion considering the psychological character that symbolizes hospitality, gentleness, patience, and all aura which is a manifestation of feminine dignity of Indonesian women.

The second is the kain jarik :

It is said that jarik word meaning "ojo gampang serik, which means do not easily jealous or envious". Gentle jarik cloth wearer's step was also not free of meaning, which is the expected behavior of the all arranged, within walking carefully and do not rush. Like the Javanese proverb "mlakune koyo macan luwe, which means running like hungry tigers, gentle self behind an extraordinary figure strong and resilient". The figure of the firm itself in the sense of maintaining purity is not easy to surrender to anyone. Stagen that make up the body's shape means that the woman is someone who can adapt. Of contained values it can be concluded that if the combined fabric and kebaya is a symbol of the Javanese proverb "Dowo ususe" which means long intestines means patience or a woman.

• If we assume that this time is simply an art of batik painting on cloth , without having any meaning , then these assumptions need to be straightened out again . Basically streaks of each coil or cloth canting above , has its own philosophical meaning , depending on who and what the purpose of the batik . I prefer to call batik printing cloth . I disagree if considered batik together with batik printing. Because the make batik itself is a process of " painting " on fabric . A manual work that must have selling power higher than modern . Because of the uniqueness of ' hand ' itself , there must be the same . Although the process has reached a very high level of precision . Everything that has exclusivity have higher selling power . If I then bought a piece of batik cloth , I always ask the craftsman , how historinya , how long to make, from which area , and so forth . That way , I can appreciate the work of craftsmen themselves as world cultural heritage of our ancestors . As we can appreciate the added value of each dress so we can understand why designers design clothes or batik clothes worth quite high " .

The third shawl:
Shawl complements the elegance of the dress for the nobility also has a practical function, aesthetic, religious, social and symbolic.

And my clients are very happy and proud with the clothes I make, not because of its design because it is a design that I make very simple. But philosophy is attached and always accompany step and make him proud and grand. So in the midst of events attended, he was a time to send a message to me how proud and there is nothing to match the dress. Thank you for the confidence he has in us. May the majesty of our cultural heritage will never be lost and is owned by others, but by us and our next generation.

God bless you all...