Ritual textiles in the karo Batak village: A report on the field studies in 2018

Abstract

The article is based on the author’s field studies in Sumatra, Indonesia, in August 2018, which aimed to collect data on the production and usage of ritual textiles in the Karo Batak village as well as to amplify the information on the Batak collections held in the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in St. Petersburg. The major piece of Karo Batak weaving tradition is uis, which is a rectangular handwoven cloth produced on a back strap loom involving the techniques of ikat and songket. Uis appears to be central to the Karonese culture, its ritual and social functions including those of a key element of the passage rituals and its role of an ethnic identity marker. In the MAE collections Batak ritual textiles are mainly represented by late nineteenth-century items which belong to the so-called “blue textiles” type. Nowadays these textiles can be still found in Karonese houses where they are kept as heirlooms, but their production has all but completely ceased. The repertoire of Karonese uis changed significantly over the past century, the dark blue color set having been replaced by bright red tones. The advent of new technologies and synthetic yarn and dyes contributed to the issue, as did the increase of interaction between the Karo Batak and other peoples of the region. However, uis retains its integral role in the Karonese culture and social activities.