blue mountains east timor sisters

TAIS

Handicrafts

Tais (traditional weavings) are an important source of cultural sustainability and income for many women. There are several Tais co-operatives which support many families.

The Melbourne based East Timor Women Australia group is active in promoting weaving and assists with the design and marketing of textiles.

More information is available on their website see links page

The Blue Mountains East Timor Sisters group support a Dili based group: Mana Martas Co-operative.

An exhibition was held in September 2005 in the Blue Mountains.

THREADS OF HOPE

By DAWN DELANY

Each of Timor's thirteen districts is culturally and linguistically unique with their own techniques, symbols, motifs and weaving styles.

The craft of tais is only performed by women. These textiles are an important part of Timorese cultural heritage and play a vital role in traditional activities. Tais are made for ceremonial occasions such as births, weddings, funerals or other important traditional events as well as for everyday personal wear. Tais textiles can depict cultural beliefs, stories or record significant events. Traditional motifs and patterns are passed down through the generations.

Weaving is considered an integral part of a woman's duties. They must fit it into a day full of the chores and family responsibilities expected of their gender and often weave together as a social activity.

Some tais are considered valuable family heirlooms as are gold coins and jewellery from Portuguese times. These tais are often used as part of a dowry or berlaki that a prospective husband’s family pays to the bride and her family.

There was little formal handicraft production during the twenty-four year military occupation. Indonesian culture and language were imposed upon the Timorese. Families were displaced and separated during the years of repression and forced from their ancestral lands. As a result social cohesion and community bonds suffered. Traditional practices are passed on by word of mouth through the generations and much information was lost.

This applies to the traditional Timorese tais made from home grown cotton seeds and dyed using colours derived from plants, leaves and trees. A few older women told me they no longer know how to produce certain colours used in the antique tais of their forebears. Fewer young women are interested in learning how to weave the modern tais from synthetic cotton let alone the labour intensive traditional tais. In 1999 many tools of production were burnt along with crops of cotton trees, seed stocks and the native bushes and grasses used for dye colours.

The old women say it is difficult to keep the old traditions alive when the raw materials and tools are in short supply.

Men and women wear distinctively different tais. Tais Mane or ‘man’s cloth’ are woven as one large piece of cloth in bright colours often featuring a fringe or tassels. These are wrapped around the waist like a sarong. Tais Feto or ‘women’s cloth’ are sewn together to form a tube. The women wear it tucked around the waist or pulled high like a dress worn with bare shoulders.

Knowledge about sacred symbols and patterns and the techniques of spinning, dyeing and embroidering is handed down from grandmothers and mothers. Each of Timor’s thirteen districts is culturally and linguistically unique with their own techniques, symbols, motifs and weaving styles.

Tais cloth is woven on a simple backstrap loom, which can be dismantled quickly and easily. The weaving can be lifted off and folded away for safekeeping. Women weave on the floor of their homes or on a straw mat outside in the shade.

The horizontal threads are passed through the cloth by hand using thread attached to a sharpened bamboo stick and then pushed into place by a wooden cross bar. The vertical threads are coloured using the resist process. Skeins of yarn are wrapped at intervals in strips of plastic cord. These sections resist the dye and are left plain or are dyed another colour. When these threads are woven into the tais the dyed areas form the pattern. Motifs are woven into side or central panels and depending on whether it is a male or female tais and the district it originates from embroidery, tassels or fringes are added upon completion. Larger pieces are made by sewing several identical tais together.

A tais made from Indonesian synthetic cotton can take anywhere from four days to a month or longer to complete depending on its size. The traditional tais from home grown cotton take more than a year to complete hence their rarity and value.

Popular motifs include the gecko, the horse, the distinctive Timorese stilt house and the crocodile. Myth has it that the island of Timor is the solidified body of an old crocodile which the people call ‘grandfather’.

Other kinds of tais include the ‘Ine’, a wedding tais for women woven with synthetic gold threads; the ‘Kadele’ worn by men at funerals; the &lsquoSabu’ a general purpose ceremonial tais that indicates high social status; the &lsquoBodato’ also used for ceremonial events. The selanda or sash draped around the neck or across the chest is worn by both men and women and is often presented as a gift at official occasions. Some of the most beautiful and coveted textiles are produced by women’s cooperatives in Oecussi, Bobonaro, Lautem, Ermera, Suai, Viqueque and Bacau. Many other areas are exploring ways to market their craft both within East Timor and abroad.

re-produced here by kind permisson DAWN DELANY