Geringsing - Tenganan, Bali - Indonesia
Geringsing - Double Ikat Weaving
Only three places in the world produce double-ikat textiles. In this complex method, both warp and weft yarns are resist-dyed to a pre-determined pattern before the weaving process. It is known in Western India, in the Gujarat state and home of the Patola, in Japan on Okinawa Island and in north-east Bali, in the small village of Tenganan. Nestled into the hills just 3km north of Candi Dasa on the coast, Tenganan is surrounded by a solid wall with four gates and is inhabited by the Bali Agas (Indigenous Balinese). This unique ethnic group continues and practices its traditional rules and customs and never embraced the Javanese culture and Hindu practices that arrived in Bali with the Majapahit Kingdom invasion in the 14th century.
"Geringsing means no sickness. These textiles protect us from negative spirits and baleful influence. Color, weaving and motif are key components for a high quality geringsing" explains Wayan Mudiana, owner of the Morinda workshop sponsored by Threads of Life. His 96-year old father-in-law, Rembat, is the only man left in the village who still knows the double-ikat process from start to finish. His mother secretly taught him how to weave during the Japanese occupation as they had to make their own garments because "commodities were very expensive during the war" says Rembat. Made with organic cotton and natural dyes, geringsings take from 5 to 10 years to be completed. They are are Bali’s rarest textiles and have well-defined motifs whereas single-ikat patterns have soft, blurred edges. The cotton is grown locally, hand picked, carded and hand spun. Before dyeing, the threads are pre-treated in a bath made of kemiri (candle-nut) oil and a wood-ash and water lye. Then they are hung up to dry in the sun. The mordanting process is repeated several times to enhance the penetration of the red dye into the threads. The two sets of yarn (warp and weft) are wound round separate wooden frames and tied with raffia twine according to the desired pattern. This painstaking process may take a full year.
Red, black, and white/yellow/neutral are 3 basic colors for geringsings. They are the symbolic equivalent of the Hindu deities, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and are associated with Earth, Water, Air. Black (or dark brown) is obtained by applying red dye over indigo dyed threads. Traditionally, Tenganan villagers are forbidden to use indigo so the threads are sent out to the neighboring village of Bug-Bug. When they are back in Tenganan, the dyed yarns are plunged in a red dye bath obtained from the roots of the Morinda Citrifolia tree. The wrapped threads are then placed in a box where the fermentation process gradually darkens the colors. As the threads absorb the dye and become dryer and dryer, the dyeing process must be repeated every 3 months. When the traditional Morinda (deep red) is achieved, usually after 5 to 10 years of waiting, the threads are untied and the pattern is revealed on the un-dyed parts. The warp and weft threads are separated and the weaving process will take up to 9 months on a back strap loom.
Geringsing cloths are very important to all Balinese. They are used in wedding ceremonies, funerary rituals and rites of passage like the Metatah (tooth-filing ceremony). The latter symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood: “You’re considered to be very vulnerable at that moment of the transition so the textile either laid over the pillow or laid over the body is protective at that time. Because it is so expensive, a family would usually wait until there are a number of children who are all the right age to do it. So you can have young men in their 20s or 30s and the youngest child who is just 16 or 17, getting their tooth-filing ceremony together” says William Ingram. “Everything in Tenganan has a symbolic meaning. The patterns in the textiles, the way the household is set up, the way offerings are set up in a ceremony, or how the streets are organized, all encode esoteric information. Young people traditionally would spend a year of seclusion studying these pattern structures. This study was not an intellectual study but rather an immersion; it’s about learning the value system by heart rather than by mind to become more and more familiar with the ways of the village”. There are about 20 different traditional floral and geometric patterns for geringsings. The most sacred cloths are the Wayang Kebo or Wayang Putri, featuring puppets from Wayang Kulit, (Indonesian Puppet Theater).
Read MoreOnly three places in the world produce double-ikat textiles. In this complex method, both warp and weft yarns are resist-dyed to a pre-determined pattern before the weaving process. It is known in Western India, in the Gujarat state and home of the Patola, in Japan on Okinawa Island and in north-east Bali, in the small village of Tenganan. Nestled into the hills just 3km north of Candi Dasa on the coast, Tenganan is surrounded by a solid wall with four gates and is inhabited by the Bali Agas (Indigenous Balinese). This unique ethnic group continues and practices its traditional rules and customs and never embraced the Javanese culture and Hindu practices that arrived in Bali with the Majapahit Kingdom invasion in the 14th century.
"Geringsing means no sickness. These textiles protect us from negative spirits and baleful influence. Color, weaving and motif are key components for a high quality geringsing" explains Wayan Mudiana, owner of the Morinda workshop sponsored by Threads of Life. His 96-year old father-in-law, Rembat, is the only man left in the village who still knows the double-ikat process from start to finish. His mother secretly taught him how to weave during the Japanese occupation as they had to make their own garments because "commodities were very expensive during the war" says Rembat. Made with organic cotton and natural dyes, geringsings take from 5 to 10 years to be completed. They are are Bali’s rarest textiles and have well-defined motifs whereas single-ikat patterns have soft, blurred edges. The cotton is grown locally, hand picked, carded and hand spun. Before dyeing, the threads are pre-treated in a bath made of kemiri (candle-nut) oil and a wood-ash and water lye. Then they are hung up to dry in the sun. The mordanting process is repeated several times to enhance the penetration of the red dye into the threads. The two sets of yarn (warp and weft) are wound round separate wooden frames and tied with raffia twine according to the desired pattern. This painstaking process may take a full year.
Red, black, and white/yellow/neutral are 3 basic colors for geringsings. They are the symbolic equivalent of the Hindu deities, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and are associated with Earth, Water, Air. Black (or dark brown) is obtained by applying red dye over indigo dyed threads. Traditionally, Tenganan villagers are forbidden to use indigo so the threads are sent out to the neighboring village of Bug-Bug. When they are back in Tenganan, the dyed yarns are plunged in a red dye bath obtained from the roots of the Morinda Citrifolia tree. The wrapped threads are then placed in a box where the fermentation process gradually darkens the colors. As the threads absorb the dye and become dryer and dryer, the dyeing process must be repeated every 3 months. When the traditional Morinda (deep red) is achieved, usually after 5 to 10 years of waiting, the threads are untied and the pattern is revealed on the un-dyed parts. The warp and weft threads are separated and the weaving process will take up to 9 months on a back strap loom.
Geringsing cloths are very important to all Balinese. They are used in wedding ceremonies, funerary rituals and rites of passage like the Metatah (tooth-filing ceremony). The latter symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood: “You’re considered to be very vulnerable at that moment of the transition so the textile either laid over the pillow or laid over the body is protective at that time. Because it is so expensive, a family would usually wait until there are a number of children who are all the right age to do it. So you can have young men in their 20s or 30s and the youngest child who is just 16 or 17, getting their tooth-filing ceremony together” says William Ingram. “Everything in Tenganan has a symbolic meaning. The patterns in the textiles, the way the household is set up, the way offerings are set up in a ceremony, or how the streets are organized, all encode esoteric information. Young people traditionally would spend a year of seclusion studying these pattern structures. This study was not an intellectual study but rather an immersion; it’s about learning the value system by heart rather than by mind to become more and more familiar with the ways of the village”. There are about 20 different traditional floral and geometric patterns for geringsings. The most sacred cloths are the Wayang Kebo or Wayang Putri, featuring puppets from Wayang Kulit, (Indonesian Puppet Theater).
