Jakarta, IO – Visitors look at a collection of songket fabrics showcased in the Indonesian Songket Exhibition at the Textile Museum, Jakarta (6/8).
Held to commemorate the 48th anniversary of the textile museum and Himpunan Wastraprema (Indonesian Traditional Textile Society) it features around 75 types of songket from various regions in Indonesia. It also aims to introduce and attract the interest of the younger generation to love the cultural heritage of their ancestors.
The rich collections belong to the Jakarta Textile Museum and songket collectors in Indonesia such as Rumah Wastra Jo Seda, Sri Sintasari (Neneng) Iskandar, and Aswin Wirjadi. They are selected songkets from all over the archipelago originating mostly from Sumatra, Kalimantan, Bali, Lombok, East Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Maluku Islands and Java.
Read: Dairi residents protest to reject mining operation in the name of justice and safety
The various motifs decorate the museum’s auditorium. Songket fabrics can take days, weeks or months to create. They are commonly woven using gold and silver threads using the sungkit technique. The exhibition is held regularly every year and this year will run until August 31.
(IO/Septo Kun Wijaya)