FOREWORD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A book of this scope could not have been written without incurring debts of gratitude to a great many people and a large number of institutions. While I cannot thank each one personally, I would like to acknowledge the great support which was generously given, and without which my research could not have been carried out.
I would particularly like to thank my good friend, Professor J. A. C. Mackie, formerly Research Director of the Centre of Southeast Asian Studies at Monash University and Professor of the Department of Political and Social Change at the Australian National University. Jamie was the first to encourage me to make a serious and extensive study of Indonesian textiles and he has continued to be supportive in many large and small ways during the course of my work.
My initial period of research in Indonesia from 1976 to 1978 was made possible by an award from the Myer Foundation of Australia under its Asia and Pacific Grant-in-Aid programme, efficiently administered at that time by Ms Meriel Wilmot. The research in Indonesia was carried out under the auspices of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and the sponsorship of the Institute of Textile Technology, Bandung. I am grateful to the Research Director of the Bandung institute, Mr Wibowo Moerdoko, for his interest in the project and his understanding, and to Sofian for his company and assistance during one of our visits to Sumatra.
Research throughout Indonesia was only made possible by the courteous assistance of a large number of government officials from the Departments of the Interior, Industry, Culture and Education. Invariably, at all levels of government our papers and permits were efficiently processed and useful practical information and advice was often forthcoming in discussions with interested and knowledgeable administrators. On many occasions, officials took time from their own busy routines to accompany us to specific places of interest.
The vital part of my two years' work in Indonesia was carried out in villages throughout the archipelago where weaving and traditional textiles are still a central part of life and culture. I wish to thank the many kind people who shared their homes and their food with us during my fieldwork in their region. Above all, I wish to acknowledge the women who patiently demonstrated the intricate processes, techniques and procedures of their textile art. I am also indebted to the men and women who spent many hours explaining the meaning of their cloth to me, and in particular, those who honoured me by displaying their own treasured possessions, family heirlooms and items of sacred ritual, and by allowing photographs to be taken. There are too many people to name and it would be unfair to single out individuals. My debt to these people is impossible to repay, but any merit in this work is in large part a reflection of the long, tiring but exhilarating days spent in the company of so many.
During my work in Indonesia, I received courteous assistance from the staff of the National Museum and the Textile Museum in Jakarta and provincial museums in Banda Aceh, Palembang, Bukit Tinggi, Den Pasar and Ujung Pandang, and I wish in particular to thank Dra Suwati Kartiwa and D. Sufwandi Mangkudilaga. I am also pleased to acknowledge the advice and assistance I received in Indonesia from a large number of knowledgeable but necessarily anonymous informants, private collectors and admirers of fine textiles.
I also owe a great deal to many friends for their personal support during the period of my research in Indonesia. I particularly wish to thank my Bandung friends Danny and Helen Lok and the Hardjono family for their numerous acts of kindness and a close friendship maintained over many years. Elsewhere in Indonesia I must acknowledge the assistance of Erawati and Verra Darwiko, Mr and Mrs Bonaparte Hutagalung, Abdurahim and his family, Chris and Bronwyn Rose, and Helen and Philip Jessup.
In 1978-79 I was pleased to receive a vacation scholarship from the Australian National University in the Department of Anthropology in the Research School of Pacific Studies which enabled me to pursue library research. In 1983 a Netherlands Government Scholarship provided me with the opportunity to examine in detail the historic European collections of Southeast Asian textiles established during the colonial period.
I received invaluable assistance from the staff of a number of institutions and museums during my research there throughout 1983 and during two subsequent research visits to Europe in 1985. In the Netherlands I wish to thank the following people in particular for the access they provided to the collections under their care: Jan Ave and Maria Lahmann at the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden; Rita Bolland, Koos van Brake! and the staff of the registration and photography sections of the Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen; Alit Veldhuisen-Djajasoebrata and the staff of the Museum voor Land-en Volkenkunde, Rotterdam; Rita Wassing-Visser and Suwandi at the Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara, Delft. I also wish to acknowledge the assistance of the staff at the Volkenkundig Museum and the Nederlands Textiel-museum in Tilburg; the Volkenkundig Museum Justinus van Nassau, Breda; the Museum voor het Onderwijs, The Hague; the Princessehof Museum, Leeuwarden; and the Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde, Leiden.
In other parts of Europe I received generous assistance from Carl-Wolfgang Schumann and Brigitta Schmedding at the Deutsches Textilmuseum, Krefeld; Brigitte Khan Majlis, Karin
