Ikat weaving cooperative, Kaliuda, East Sumba

The motif arrives when the ties come off

Scroll and the warp above goes through the real order: 280 ties are bound, the indigo vat is crossed, the ties come off and 76 new ones go on, the morinda vat is crossed, and the picture is only visible once everything is unbound. Fifty two weeks for one cloth.

Ask what is on the frame See the collection

Root and leaf dyes only14 weavers52 weeks per cloth

52 weeks for one hinggi kombu, counted from spinning to the cloth leaving the loom14 weavers across three hamlets, Kaliuda, Watupuda and Mburukulu356 ties on the cloth on the front page, counted one by one62 percent of the sale price goes to the weaver, the rest to materials and the cooperative

Seven stages, fifty two weeks

Spinning and starching, 10 weeks
Garden cotton spun on a hand spindle, then starched with cassava and candlenut paste so the thread does not break in the vat. One cloth needs 1,320 warp threads.
Stringing the warp, 2 days
The thread is stretched on the binding frame, not the loom, because what gets tied is the warp before weaving. It has to be even, and a crooked one is taken down again.
First binding, 3 weeks
280 ties of split gewang palm leaf. These ties are what hold the colour out, so a loose knot lets indigo in and blurs the picture.
Indigo, 9 weeks
Fourteen dips in a vat of indigo leaf and slaked lime, with two drying days between each. The blue only forms once the thread meets the air, not inside the vat.
Unbind, bind again, 3 weeks
The first ties come off one at a time, then 76 new ones go on somewhere else. What is tied this time is what stays blue.
Morinda red, 16 weeks
Morinda root pounded with loba bark and candlenut oil. This is the longest stage because the red has to be built in layers, and each layer needs a full day of sun.
Weaving, 11 weeks
A backstrap loom, four hours a day, because a weaver's back does not take more. The cloth comes off, rests six weeks, then is washed in the river and dried in shade.

The gedog loom, with all 1,320 warp threads on it

What is here now

Hinggi Kombu Ana MburungReady to ship

52 weeks, woven by Rambu Kahi Hamba. Hand spun cotton, indigo and morinda. Horse and andung motif, 356 ties. 260 by 120 centimetres.

Rp28,500,000

Hinggi Kaworu Patola RatuFinished in February

94 weeks, woven by Rambu Dai Ndapawole. The patola ratu motif once reserved for noble families, 1,104 ties, and three extra dye rounds because the red was not deep enough.

Rp42,000,000

Hinggi Kombu Karihu

38 weeks, woven by Rambu Ana Bili. Prawn and rooster motifs in five bands, with no centre band, so it takes fewer ties and less time.

Rp16,800,000

Lau Pahikung shawl

17 weeks, woven by Rambu Tamu Rara. Supplementary warp rather than ikat, so the motif is built at the loom and not in the vat.

Rp6,400,000

Mill yarn hinggi

9 weeks, mill spun cotton with the same indigo and morinda. We sell it as what it is, a young weaver's practice cloth, not a ceremonial one.

Rp3,900,000

Why we turn down deadlines under nine months

What sets the length of a cloth is not the speed of a hand but the waiting time of colour. Indigo only turns blue once the thread is lifted out and meets the air, so fourteen dips means fourteen dryings. Morinda is more stubborn still: deep red only appears after many layers, and each layer wants a full day without rain.

So we turn down any order due in under nine months. We took one in 2019, for an exhibition in Jakarta, and the way through was cutting the morinda stage from sixteen weeks to seven. The cloth arrived on time, the colour faded within two years, and we refunded it.

The price is written out. Sixty two percent of the sale goes to the weaver, eighteen percent covers cotton, gewang, roots and firewood, and twenty percent goes to the cooperative that carries shipping, photography and tax. That split is pinned to the wall of the weaving house and revised every January.

I waited fourteen months and the cloth arrived with the date of every dip written by hand. Ratna, buyer from BandungWhat I bought was the Rp3,900,000 practice cloth, and they told me themselves it was mill yarn. Few people say that out loud. Made, DenpasarWe ordered for an exhibition and were asked to move our date back five months. They would not shorten the dyeing. Curator, Textile Museum, JakartaSince the cooperative started, my cloth is paid for while I work on it, not after it sells. Rambu Ana Bili, weaver in WatupudaI waited fourteen months and the cloth arrived with the date of every dip written by hand. Ratna, buyer from BandungWhat I bought was the Rp3,900,000 practice cloth, and they told me themselves it was mill yarn. Few people say that out loud. Made, DenpasarWe ordered for an exhibition and were asked to move our date back five months. They would not shorten the dyeing. Curator, Textile Museum, JakartaSince the cooperative started, my cloth is paid for while I work on it, not after it sells. Rambu Ana Bili, weaver in Watupuda

What buyers ask

Why does it cost tens of millions?

One hinggi kombu takes 52 weeks of work, and 62 percent of the price reaches the weaver. Divided by the hours, that is still below the East Sumba minimum wage.

Will the colour run?

Indigo and morinda do not run if washed in cold water without detergent. What changes is that the colour ages, and the red deepens over five to ten years.

Can I order my own motif?

You can, for motifs that are not ceremonial. Patola ratu and andung are not made to open order, because both still carry rules about who may wear them in this hamlet.

How long is the wait?

A finished cloth ships within ten days. A commissioned one takes nine months at the very least, and a full hinggi kombu usually twelve to twenty four.

Is there anything cheaper?

There is, the Rp3,900,000 mill yarn cloth, and the label says so. We do not sell synthetically dyed cloth, even though it is the most frequent request.

Can I visit the weaving house?

You can, Monday to Saturday, 07.00 to 16.00, about two and a half hours by road from Waingapu. Tell us two days ahead so somebody is binding while you are here.

Ask which cloth is on the frame right now

Kaliuda, Pahunga Lodu, East Sumba

Weaving house Monday to Saturday, 07.00 to 16.00

Message on WhatsApp