Color from the Sea, Fiber from the Land: Textiles of the Adang and Alurung People of Alor Indonesia by Linda S. McIntosh
About this Event

Color from the Sea, Fiber from the Land: Textiles of the Adang and Alurung People of Alor Indonesia by Linda S. McIntosh

The presentation will be broadcast via Zoom only

This presentation introduces the textile traditions of an area of East Indonesia that waspreviously rarely studied. This is the Alor Archipelago, which comprises Alor Regency of East Indonesia.

Alurung is the sole indigenous Austronesian language spoken by a cultural group known as Alurung or Alorese in Alor Regency, East Indonesia. Alurung is related to Lamaholot, but the 55-60% difference indicates these languages are not dialects but distinct languages similar to German and English. The Adang people speak Adang, a non-Austronesian language belonging to the Trans-New Guinea ethnolinguistic family.

The Alurung and Adang are the groups that utilize the warp ikat technique in the regency. It is vital to note that the Adang weave since it was previously undocumented. Generally, Alurung and Adang sarongs, or tubular garments, resemble similar garments produced by the Lamaholot, but Alurung weavers have developed distinctive formats to represent their patrilineages. Adang sarongs resemble those made by the Alurung.

Alurung weavers also utilize a wide range of ingredients to produce natural dyes. Indigo and morinda are dyestuffs used throughout Indonesia and in Alor Regency by the Alurung and Adang. but they also rely on parts of various trees, including mango bark, and marine life, such as inks of sea hares and sea urchins, to create dyes.

Changes in the textile production of the Alurung and Adang have occurred in the last 40-50 years, negatively affecting the quality of the warp ikat designs being produced. A decline in the number of women weaving and production of garments signifying patrilineal membership has also occurred. Additional research should be carried out to further document the textiles of the Adang and similar warp ikat-decorated textile production in Pantar Island. Other non-Austronesian language-speaking groups of Pantar weave similar textiles, but producing ikat is rapidly declining. Weaving is abandoned altogether or the weavers utilize complementary warp technique since it is easier and less time-consuming to apply.

This research was funded by a grant from the Endangered Material Knowledge Program, UK.

Linda S. McIntosh received a Master of Arts degree in Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and a doctorate from Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada, focusing on the roles of handwoven textiles in Laos and Thailand. Born in the USA, Linda first became interested in the textiles of this region since her mother, who is from the Tai Neua ethnic group from Laos, continued to weave in the US.

Linda was a consulting curator at the Tilleke & Gibbins Textile Collection from 2005 until 2013. During this period, she curated two exhibitions, writing the accompanying catalogs: Status, Myth, and the Supernatural: Ritual Tai Textiles and Weaving Paradise: Southeast Asian Textiles and Their Creators at the Jim Thompson Art Centre where she was senior curator at the James HW Thompson Foundation. She authored Art of Southeast Asian Textiles: The Tilleke & Gibbins Collection (2012). She expanded her research to Insular Southeast Asia to write Thread and Fire: Textiles and Jewellery from the Isles of Indonesia and Timor.

Her publications include numerous articles and book chapters. Linda recently contributed a chapter on Southeast Asian Ikat in Global Ikat: Roots and Routes of a Textile Technique and was awarded a grant from the Endangered Material Knowledge project housed at the British Museum, London, in 2022 to document Alurung textiles in East Indonesia. Based in Luang Prabang for over 10 years, Linda continues to research textiles and serves as a cultural heritage expert, hired to curate exhibitions and museums throughout Laos.

A recording will be available for 14 days following the talk.

An array of naturally dyed cotton threads drying in the sun. This is not the complete range of dyes that the Pante Laut Ikat Weaving Cooperative can produce.

2023. Uma Pura, Ternate Island, Alurung or Alorese ethnic group, Northwest Alor Subdistrict, Alor Regency, East Indonesia.

Image courtesy of Linda S. McIntosh

Tenapi Fadang of the Mangololong patrilineage of Alor Kecil, Alurung or Alorese ethnic group, Northwest Alor Subdistrict, Alor Regency, East Indonesia.

Handspun cotton, trade cotton, natural dyes (morinda, indigo, mango bark), warp ikat.

Image courtesy of Alain Menoni