feature of these geringsing cloths, highly esteemed throughout the island for their ritual and magical properties, is the large four-pointed star with crenelated internal pattern which divides up the surface of the fabric into large, semicircular segments (see Chapter 9), Outside Tenganan this pattern is known as kota mesir (from kota, etymologically meaning "battlements," in modern Indonesian and Balinese "town; and mesir, "Egyptian" often referring to swastikas and other meander-like patterns). At the beginning of our century, it came to be applied to silk endek fabrics from Bulèlèng; in the 1930s it was imitated in Nusa Penida (possibly also in Lombok) in coarse materials of handspun cotton with dark backgrounds. Recently this pattern has cropped up again in mercerized cotton cloth sold by the meter (from Sidemen and Sampalan, near Klungkung), and has now gained acceptance as the dernier cri for wraparounds worn by Balinese on festive occasions (Fig. 2.13).
At the beginning of the 20th century, endek cloths from Bulèlèng came to be produced without the addition of songkèt in small strips of fabric which women wore as breast or shoulder cloths, and in broad outer hip cloths composed of two widths of fabric sewn together. Here again some of the patterns, such as tiny, flowering trees, are reminiscent of the patola motifs (Fig. 2.2, left). Innumerable endek silks containing geometric cepuk patterns with their characteristic rows of gigi barong ("barong teeth"—see Chapter 8) also date from this period. Other designs create a more expansive effect, forming huge flowers and stars (Fig. 2.7). One of these stylized four-petal patterns (Fig. 2.2, right) has survived to the present day and is still woven in one of the purl or palaces of Singaraja in Bulèlèng under the name of tampak beta ("poinsettia blossom").
Figure 2.3: Ritual cloth. Endek on gauze-like cotton. South Bali, first half of 20th century. 71 x 43 cm. MEB IIc 14014.
During this period, the range of figural endek patterns was greatly extended. Depictions of the evil witch Rangda with flaming hair and lolling tongue, as well as of the demon Kalarau (who according to Balinese belief swallows the moon during eclipses) and many other gods and demons—even the much-beloved "go-between" or penasar figures from the Balinese wayang play (Fig. 2.4)—became popular motifs in endek cloths of exceptional artistic merit. The placement of these figures at right angles to the direction of the woven piece—technically a very difficult feat—is required by the way the cloths are worn as garments. Their production is said not to have been confined to Bulèlèng at this time, and the princely courts of Karangasem and Klungkung in eastern Bali are also believed to have been centers of endek weaving. In this period, the puri of Tabanan and Kerambitan also produced a unique geometrically patterned endek with multicolored stripes known as serapit Uncertainty still prevails as to the precise origin of certain coarse, gauze-like endek fabrics with similar geometric patterning that were used as ceremonial cloths in Gianyar and Tabanan (Fig. 2.3). Their patterns and their names, recorded by foreign observers already in the 1930s, suggest a certain affinity with cepuk cloths (see Chapter 8). Like the latter, they were used as ceremonial textiles in rites of passage and as decorations at the courts.
AN OLD TECHNIQUE WITH NEW POTENTIAL
During the 1930s, the tradition of endek production and use began to detach itself from the closed world of the courts and underwent a renewal. In many villages in Tabanan, and even on Nusa Penida, weavers began to make simple endek materials from handspun local cottons or from factory-produced and patterned yarns on traditional cagcag looms. At this time a dyehouse in Denpasar began marketing factory-patterned endek yarns in large quantities. New techniques and new designs appeared employing loud colors on cotton, silk and soon afterwards on rayon, and new segments of the population became potential customers and wearers of the fabrics as a result. What proved to be the decisive factor, besides the abundance of new geometric and floral motifs, was that the production was no longer completely limited to individual cloths in specific sizes with a surrounding border, but consisted to some extent of yard goods with a continuous pattern for sale by the meter.
Figure 2.4: Overskirt (kampuh) with depictions of Wisnu (on horseback), Garuda, Naga and Twalen. Endek and songkèt on silk. Karangasem or Klungkung, first half of 20th century, 154 x 114 cm. MEB IIc 7514.
Figure 2.5: Dyeing of endek bundles. Karangasem, sidemen.
After independence, this development proceeded at an explosive rate. During the 1950s, the first large workshops were set up in Gianyar and these have now grown into important manufactories. In the 1970s, workshops large and small mushroomed all over Bali—in Sidemen, in the Singaraja area, in Sampalan near Klungkung, and in the neighborhood of Negara (Jembrana, west Bali). By 1989-90 there were 160 commercial endek producers in Bali employing a total of 10,042 people, and the production of checked, striped, plain and endek materials from cotton as well as man-made fibers and silk had by this time burgeoned to an average of 188,000 meters per month.
The profusion of new patterns reflects the astonishing creativity and technical skills of the Balinese. The modern endek style has changed, and is now dominated by small repetitive geometric designs suitable for traditional and modern dress as well as for furnishings and decorative fabrics. Some workshops also look to the past and copy patterns from old Balinese and east Indonesian originals, while in Lombok one factory has even commissioned a famous American designer to create new patterns.
At the same time, the endek dyeing and weaving techniques have undergone thorough changes—indeed, far more thorough than those of any other Balinese textile tradition. This process of modernization has been marked by such decisive innovations as the application of new and more efficient winding and warping methods, the use of more convenient tying materials, the introduction of fast-acting synthetic dyestuffs, and a changeover from the traditional cagcag or backstrap loom to the new ATBM loom. A brief look at the individual production stages and a comparison of older methods with newer ones will clearly show how radical these changes have been.
Figure 2.6: Partial dyeing of endek yarn. Karangasem, Sidemen.
The first step in the endek process is the winding of threads and their separation into bundles corresponding to the pattern, so that tyings may be applied. The threads are drawn from bobbins suspended on a rack, and wound on a revolving frame that is the width of the cloth to be woven. The weft threads for four meters of cloth were formerly drawn from four bobbins; today the yarns are drawn from racks with 24 to 32 bobbins, yielding cloth lengths of up to 15 meters.
The tying technique has remained basically unchanged, although now rubber strips or flat plastic string are used instead of vegetable banana bast, as they are easier to apply and make a considerably better resist. Different colors of plastic make it easier to visualize the overall design. Familiar patterns can be reproduced from memory, while complicated and novel motifs are achieved using auxiliary lines drawn from sooted threads and/or a finished cloth or a drawing.
Improved
