TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A group of young people in the village of Lunto Timur, Sawahlunto, West Sumatra, has enhanced the traditional Silungkang songket fabric using natural dyes and new motifs. Their products have been exhibited abroad.
Fitria Yuria Agustin, 21, describes her daily afternoon ritual at her neighbor Anita Dona Asri’s house in Lunto Timur as ‘productive window shopping’. At Anita’s house, Ria-short for Fitria-is exposed to various color threads.
Every day Ria weaves these colorful threads into Silungkang songket, Sawahlunto’s traditional hand woven textile, using a hand loom. It takes Ria between one and seven days to weave a two meter long songket. "It depends on the motif and dyeing technique," she said.
Ria can produce simple motifs for day to day wear, if requested, within hours. But complicated motifs require extra hours. "My whole body aches from working the loom. But it’s no big deal."
Ria enjoys weaving because the work allows her to chat and banter with nine other women around the same age in the group, also songket artisans. Dona, their mentor, does not object to their chit chat. "Kak Dona is like an older sister to us," said Sri Putri Siska Mulyanti, 24, who also practices weaving at Dolas Songket, Dona’s Silungkang fabric brand.
In August, Dona’s residence is particularly busy. The Sawahlunto International Songket Carnival (SISCA), themed ‘Heritage for Sustainability’, will soon be held on August 25 27, and orders are piling up. The event, initiated by Ali Yusuf, Sawahlunto’s mayor, was first held in 2015. SISCA organizes parades demonstrating creative fashion designs using the Silungkang songket as the primary material. There will also be a songket exhibition, a children’s fashion show, and a songket conference.
According to Ali, SISCA events in the previous two years successfully drew in both local and international visitors. SISCA’s first event in 2015 received an award from MURI (Indonesian Museum of Records), because it was attended by 17,290 people wearing the Silungkang songket. "We want people to fall in love with the Silungkang songket. This is why we’re promoting (the fabric) through various means and events," Ali told Tempo English at the Forum and Expo of Indonesian Innovations 2017 in Jakarta last month.
The Silungkang songket is not only promoted through carnivals. The Sawahlunto government also organizes free songket weaving training for youths under the age of 30. Apart from preserving the region’s traditional textile, the training program is aimed at decreasing the unemployment rate.
The training is held every day in a number of places, including in subdistrict and municipal offices, so that more people can participate. In these courses, participants learn about the hand loom, motifs, songket techniques, and dyeing.
Since 2015, 300 individuals have taken part in the training program. Dona, who is a trainer in four municipalities, including Lunto Timur, said an increasing number of young girls have joined in. "The industry’s economic potential is motivating them to weave the songket," said Dona.
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