Ikat: A World of Compelling Cloth at the Seattle Art Museum

 

MA11 Man's outer hip wrapper, saput endek. Bali, Indonesia, late 19th or early 20th century. Silk, weft ikat, metallic supplementary weft. 77 in x 42 in.

 
 

IKAT

A World of Compelling Cloth

March 9, 2023 — May 29, 2023

 

Of all the cloth in the world, ikat stands out. Creating this textile requires dedication, if not devotion, to the power of each and every thread that is tied to resist dye. A grandmother in Indonesia recently described the 56 steps it takes her each time she assembles the materials, calculates the colors and patterns, and then ties for months before weaving. Yet, even when following each step, the process defies exact linear design. Wikipedia calls ikat “blurry,” but others acclaim it as a hovering reminder of the value of the inexact. With ikat, we learn to appreciate illusion, not illustration.

Organized by the Seattle Art Museum, this wide-ranging exhibition highlights the ongoing global reach of the complex ikat textile. Over 100 ikats will be on view, combining textiles from SAM's global collection with many new promised gifts and loans from illustrious Seattle-area private collections.

Visitors to the exhibition will be welcomed by the unprecedented experience of walking into an ikat, as devised by Rowland and Chinami Ricketts. She is offering her vision as a trained ikat weaver, and he is collaborating with her on a commission involving months of work with their indigo dye vats and a small mountain of custom-spun yarn long enough to flow from floor to ceiling in the museum’s gallery.

A world tour of the regions where ikat has thrived will follow. Over 100 examples spanning the last three centuries will be drawn from a collection that is also an act of dedicated discovery over the last 40 years by Seattle-based patron David Paly. Selections will lead the way to Africa, across the Americas, through Asia, along the Silk Route, and a brief stop in Europe. Bringing ikat into the 21st century will be seen in the work of one American artist and a dozen Indonesian artists brought together by Threads of Life, an organization that encourages ikat to continue to thrive.

Ikat’s resistance to the obvious leads it to reveal intriguing images. Slow viewing is often required to realize that stripes are harboring protective figures or that a cloth is actually a diagram of the cosmos. A wall of futon covers offer designs to sleep under in Japan, a wall of African garments ignite pulsing accents, and a sequence of coats from Uzbekistan glow with kaleidoscopic mazes. Cloth’s comfort is also enlarged to create zones of sacred space. Some banners and shrouds carry dynamic warning signs of curling vines with twisting serpents and crocodiles or rely on bold graphics to keep harmful realities at bay.

Currently, ikats are not seen in museums as often as “faux” versions abound in printed abbreviations on factory-printed cloth that truly are blurry. Bolts of cloth for fashion and furnishing labels take away the precision, texture, and significance of original ikats and deliver what ads call the ideal “bohemian ethnic chic.” How to distinguish an original hand-dyed, handwoven cloth from such cliché adaptations will be explored in a hands-on portion of the exhibition.

Ikat is a radical departure from the reliance on the factory-made cloth that surrounds us. This spring at SAM, be reminded of the potential power of the woven world to carry the sacred into view.

 
 
 

Click the image below to watch Ikat: A World of Compelling Cloth.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Global Ikat: Roots and Routes of a Textile Technique
The David Paly Collection

 
 

Deceptively simple or fantastically intricate, ikat technique has been used for many centuries to create extravagant costumes and cloths of deep cultural meaning. The distinctively blurred, feathered or jagged patterns of ikat-dyed textiles are found across much of the world - from Japan in the east to Central and South America in the west, with vast areas of Southeast Asia, India, Central Asia and the Middle East in between. The traditional patterns still hold cultural relevance today in significant parts of the long-established ikat-weaving areas. Textile artists and fashion designers in many and varied countries have taken ikat in new directions, respecting traditional forms and palettes while creatively diverging from them.

Published by Hali Publications Ltd.
Release Date: March 12, 2023

 
 

Global Ikat Selections

Japan

 

JP19 Futon cover, Kurume, Kyushu Island, Japan, ca. 1890. Cotton; plain weave with warp, weft, and double ikat. 68 in x 51 in. The Textile Museum, 2022.13.7

 

JP139 Child's kimono. Omi, Honshu, Japan, 19th century. Ramie, double ikat. 36 in x 32 in. The Textile Museum, 2022.13.12

JP27 Summer robe, Miyako or Yaeyama, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, 19th century. Basho-fu (banana fiber), plain weave with warp, weft, and double ikat. 59 in x 50 in

JP07 Man's court robe, noshime, for samurai. Probably Kyoto, Japan, early 19th century. Silk, warp ikat, field dyed. 58 in x 50 in. The Textile Museum, 2022.13.4

JP08 Man's court robe, noshime, for samurai. Probably Kyoto, Japan, early 19th century. Silk, warp ikat, zone dyed. 56 in x 50 in.

 

Monsoon Asia

MA70 Kantuk or Kantu’ skirt panel, kain kebat, West Borneo, Indonesia, late 19th or early 20th century. Cotton, warp ikat. 46 in x 21 in

MA44 Tetun woman's sarong, tais feto. Malaka, West Timor, Indonesia, 19th century. Cotton, silk, warp ikat, embroidery. 55 in x 21 in

MA88 Cham ceremonial textile, Cambodia, 19th century. Silk, resist dye, continuous supplementary weft. 69 in x 29.5 in

MA53 Toraja ceremonial textile or women’s skirt material, Palu or Kalumpang, Sulawesi, Indonesia, 19th century. Cotton, warp ikat. 60 in x 70 in

 

MA95 Tai (Tai Daeng or Tai Neua) woman’s or shaman’s ceremonial skirt, sin mii taa or sin mor phi/sin phi, Hua Phan Province, Northeast Laos, late 19th or early 20th century. Silk, cotton, weft ikat, continuous and discontinuous supplementary weft. 28 in x 51 in

 

India

IN05 Telia rumal. Andhra Pradesh, India, 19th century. Cotton, double ikat. 102 in x 43 in

IN27 Export patola with large elephant design, Gujarat, India, probably 19th century. Silk, double ikat. 166 in x 36 in

IN09 Patola sari (tran phul bhat). Gujarat, India, 19th century. Silk, double ikat. 180 in x 40 in

 

West & Central Asia

WCA05 Hanging, pardeh. Uzbekistan, third quarter 19th century. Silk warp ikat, cotton weft. 33 in x 88 in. Seattle Art Museum, 2022.38.7

WCA24 Coat, chapan. Uzbekistan, late 19th century. Silk warp ikat, cotton weft. 50 in x 60 in. Seattle Art Museum, 2022.38.1

 

WCA39 Cushion cover, Yazd, Iran, late 19th to early 20th century. Silk velvet warp ikat, cotton weft. 33 in x 14 in

 
 

Africa

 

AF25 Sakalava room divider. Madagascar, 19th century. Raffia, warp ikat. 71 in x 24 in

AF27 Tent panel (?), Sakalava people, Madagascar, ca. 1900. Natural-dyed raffia, warp-ikat patterning, primarily lozenge and triangle shapes, set within warp stripes. 71 in x 24 in

 
 

Europe

EU06 Velours d’Utrecht. Lille (?), France, second half 17th century. Linen warp and wool weft with wool pile, embossed. 28 in x 20 in

 

EU07 Chiné à la branche silk. Genoa (?), probably Italy, ca. 1755–70. Warp-faced satin weave with silk warp and weft. 32 in x 44 in

 

EU01 Kanavat bridal veil, the Levin mills, Kolomna, Moscow, Russia, late 18th–early 19th century. Silk warp and cotton weft with metallic-wrapped supplementary weft brocade. 84 in x 48 in

 

Americas

 

AM11 Shoulder cloth, rebozo, Mexico, 18th or 19th century. Silk, warp ikat. 89 in x 28 in

 
 

AM45 Poncho, northern Bolivia, early 19th century. Warp watay on merino wool, alpaca fringe. 79 in x 54 in

 
 

Ikat Today

 
 

IT02 Homage to Japan, Ed Rossbach, 1970s. Linen tie-dye, cotton inserted weft ikat. 90 in x 86.5 in. The Textile Museum, 2019.8.3

 

IT05 Tamago Basada, Polly Barton, 1996
Silk warp and weft compound ikat, weft tapestry weave. 17 in x 17 in

 
 
 

David Paly

David Paly with WCA10, an ikat fragment from Uzbekistan

 
 

The origin story of the Global Ikat collection commenced on a backpacking trip by David Paly through South America in 1976. He acquired a cotton, indigo ikat poncho in Riobamba, Ecuador, and an ikat rebozo in Cuenca. His next ikat was a Dayak pua purchased in New York City. Later, while doing medical research in Peru and Bolivia, ikats were acquired in Cuzco and La Paz.

The writing by Garret Solyom in Jack Lenor Larson's seminal book ' The Dyer's Art-Ikat, Batik, Plangi' opened his eyes to the ubiquity of ikat technique. Deciding to create a comprehensive ikat collection, he pursued representative pieces in the markets of Istanbul, Peshawar, New Delhi, Rangoon, Bangkok, Jakarta, Denpasar, Hong Kong, and Kyoto on a worldwide trip in 1981-82. 

Returning to the US and pursuing a medical career, the approach to collecting became limited to the global coterie of textile dealers. These specialists supplied the majority of the over 500 pieces in the Global Ikat Collection, representing nearly every historical region, subculture, and technical application of ikat.

After nearly half a century, having nearly reached the elusive goal of assembling a comprehensive ikat collection, the time arrived to realize the dream of showing, publishing, and dispersing the group. With curators Pam McCluskey at the Seattle Art Museum and Lee Talbot of the GWU Textile Museum, there will be large shows of Global Ikat in 2023 and 2024. Many of the pieces on view will be donated to these institutions. The entire assemblage is published by Hali in 2023 as Global Ikat: Roots and Routes of a Textile Tradition under the auspices of The Historical Textile Research Foundation.

 
 
 

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. Art of the Ancestors does not receive a commission should any of our readers purchase the aforementioned book. Art of the Ancestors is a strictly non-commercial educational platform and has no vested interest in the professional activities of the author listed above.

 
 
News 11, Exhibitions 2Editorial TeamArt of the Ancestors, Steven G. Alpert, Asian Art, Island Southeast Asian Art, Oceanic Art, Asiatica, Ethnographica, Ethnographic Art, Art Collection, Fine Art, Primitive Art, Indonesian Art, Tribal Art, Eyes of the Ancestors, Dr. Reimar Schefold