Stunning ikat from Sumba

We have always loved the brilliant and bold warp ikat textiles made on the island of Sumba - one of the Nusa Tenggara islands of eastern  Indonesia.

The motifs are full of meaning and the textiles themselves are traditionally made and used for ceremonies and exchanges vital to Sumbanese community life. Nowadays,  they are also made to sell.

Well, we finally made it to  Sumba in late 2017 and we tracked down a few villages where fine, naturally dyed, hand woven cloths are still being made. The whole process of preparing the yarns, dyeing, tying the warp threads, setting up the looms and finally weaving and finishing the cloth is still being followed in the time honoured way, ably assisted by copious amounts of betel nut.

If you're interested in more about Sumba and its textiles, have a look at my blog "Buffalo, betel nut and bold, beautiful textiles from Sumba".

More Indonesian ikat textiles are on the Flores Ikat section