This is the first exhibition in the world dedicated exclusively, and with an educational purpose, to the ikat textiles and the fabulous wealth of the Indonesian weaving traditions. The ikat textiles are fascinating, extremely difficult to make, stunningly beautiful and shrouded in mistery.

The exhibition showcases the art of weaving across the Indonesian archipelago, from Sumatra and Borneo to East Timor and even beyond, including tiny remote islands. "Woven languages" presents some of the world's rarest ikat examples, thus providing a unique opportunity to contemplate closely these fragile masterpieces, products of an almost endangered form of ancestral art.

Particularly interesting are the silk ikat shawls with gold brocading, the sacred Balinese double-ikat of Tenganan, and exquisite ikats from Los Palos and Timor-Leste of which less than 10 pieces are surviving today.

Some of the exibits were lent by museums, but most of them belong the famous "Pusaka Collection", which was initiated by Peter ten Hoppen, a writer who resided in Portugal for many years, after a trip to Indonesia in 1970. It is one of the finest collections of Indonesian ikats in Europe, and probably the best documented in the world. Consisting of 175 pieces, antique and "vintage", its purpose is to add a didactic component, i.e. the sharing of knowledge about this magical and almost disappeared art, to the collection.     

Lisbon, Museu do Oriente
October 23rd, 2014 - January 25th, 2015

Link