Ikat Textiles of the Indonesian Archipelago

Ikat Textiles of the Indonesian Archipelago offers a comprehensive overview of the profusion of ikat styles found across the region, and is the first detailed reference book on the subject. Unlike most collectors who typically present a selection of stellar pieces from a limited number of areas, Peter ten Hoopen shows not just individual masterpieces, but also the culture of the ‘ikat archipelago’. This is done through the close-reading of over two hundred early and representative examples from his Pusaka Collection, and by introducing the living conditions, beliefs and customs of the various peoples who have created and used them.

The author’s ethnographic approach to collecting allows readers to see where the styles from neighbouring island regions are interwoven—reflecting migration, bridal exchanges, trade and raiding patterns—and where they stand out through marked individuality. It also allows for the study, not just of people’s finery, but also their everyday clothing.

Created with scholarly input from a dozen region-specific experts, Ikat Textiles of the Indonesian Archipelago spans the entire arc of the Indonesian archipelago, from Sumatra in the west to the Moluccas in the east. In fact it reaches beyond Indonesia’s borders to include the Malaysian state of Sarawak and the Democratic Republic of East Timor.

While building on the literature of the ‘golden years’ of ikat research, Peter ten Hoopen offers numerous additions to the knowledge base, including information on the ikat of a dozen islands and regions never before described. The project is further enriched through photography provided by museums, field photographers and fellow collectors.

Peter ten Hoopen began collecting ikat textiles from the Indonesian archipelago in the late-1970s. His interest fortuitously coincided with the ‘golden age’ of ikat research, which generated several of the field’s classic publications. Becoming aware through his travels of the astounding diversity of regional styles, and of the precipitous decline of ikat as a vital aspect of the islands’ cultures, in 1980 ten Hoopen began work on a collection that eventually would encompass the entire Indonesian archipelago: fifty different ikat weaving regions, each with their own particular style and cultural role. His partnership with Lisbon’s Museu do Oriente in 2014 led to the first exhibition of Indonesian ikat to display materials from across the archipelago, which would then become the model for the more comprehensive 2017 exhibition Fibres of Life at the University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong. Peter ten Hoopen is currently a PhD candidate at Leiden University. His dissertation is entitled Ikat from Timor and Its Outer Islands, Insular or Interwoven.