When Peter ten Hoopen travelled across the Indonesian archipelago in the 1970s, he was taken by the textile arts he saw along the way. Ikat weaving is a common thread that ties together the diversity of this nation’s myriad cultures and traditions, and unites the layers of history it was … Continue reading
Have you got an eye for textiles? Test your textile memory with the Maharam Memory Game, a beautiful, enjoyable and relevant freebie on Maharam’s marvelous website. The game involves remembering the location of textile swatches and pairing them up on screen. Be warned: it’s compulsive. Maharam is a fourth-generation family … Continue reading
Here is a business named after a boxer pup, that does nothing but create patterns for industry. Any industry. Digitally. Customisably. (Is that a word?). DOON. The website is a dream, there are even pithy quotes about design and appearance to ponder while the images load. DOON. Come. Sit. Stay.
Lush, crisp, sophisticated, graphic, earthy, arresting. Antique batik at its highest levels has much to offer contemporary textile designers. Far more than one would think based on the banal repertoire of tourist batiks which are the most frequently seen examples outside of Indonesia. Visit the Honolulu Academy of Art between … Continue reading
About a week ago, I posted my report on the re-opening party at Quarzia, a designer batik boutique around the corner from my office and almost-built gallery in Seminyak. I promised to post photos if Marco and Simonetta, the Quarzians themselves, would send me some pics to post. Well, I … Continue reading
Illustrator Yehrin Tong has devised a stunning tiger pattern, for Maharishi Womenswear. We are mad about tigers in general, the name of our enterprise being Macan Tidur (“The Sleeping Tiger” in Indonesian).
From last December until March an extraordinary exhibition of Indonesian textiles was up at the venerable Art Institute of Chicago, entitled The Art of Indonesian Textiles. It closed in March, so if you didn’t go, you missed it. But you can still get the book, which is as extraordinary as … Continue reading