The Textiles of Covalima

THE TEXTILES OF COVALIMA TIMOR-LESTE

THE TEXTILES OF COVALIMA TIMOR-LESTE WRITTEN BY JOANNA BARRKMAN

Written by Joanna Barrkman.

Researched by Joanna Barrkman with Rui Amaral, Albino Amaral and Faustino dos Santos.

Photography by Ciella Williams and Joanna Barrkman. In some instances photographs are not attributed with locations for confidentiality purposes.

Design by David Palaz贸n (www.davidpalazon.com) Printed by PrintTogether (www.printtogether.com.au) ISBN: 978-989-8726-26-1 The author asserts her moral right to be identified as the author of this book. She acknowledges the generosity of the owners and producers of textiles in sharing information with her regarding Covalima textiles.

All foreign words in this publication are Tetun language, unless otherwise specified.

Language Key: (B) = Bunak; (Ind.) = Indonesian; (G) = Gujarat; (UM) = Uab Meto A project by the National Directorate of Arts, Culture and Creative Industries, Timor-Leste in collaboration with Timor Aid. 漏 SEAC, RDTL 2014.

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PREFACE With the present book the Ministry of Tourism/ State Secretariat of Arts and Culture, through the Directorate-General of Arts and Culture and the National Directorate of Arts, Culture and Creative Industries, initiates the publication of a series of books on the tais of Timor-Leste. This work is the result of a fruitful collaboration with Timor Aid, a local NGO with extensive knowledge on the production process, the diversity and the heritage significance of the hand-made cloths of our country.

Tais are the material result of knowledge and techniques passed down from generation to generation for centuries - what we commonly designate as intangible cultural heritage. In recent years, the State Secretariat of Arts and Culture has developed specific work to inventory, study, support and promote this unique art, so that it is not lost and can contribute to the enrichment of our social, cultural and economic fabric.

With the support of national and international institutions, the effort and dedication of experts such as Joanna Barrkman, and with the assurance that the State will make every possible effort to safeguard the expressions of cultural heritage that are part of the identity of our country, we are sure of heading in the right direction, enhancing the development of creative industries in the cultural sector and opening the door to a significant improvement in the lives of communities.

The culture of Timor-Leste is rich and dynamic.

The work we have been developing aims at making it also sustainable. With the publication of Textiles of Covalima, the Government reiterates its commitment to protect the cultural heritage of the country, thus contributing for it to become one of the vectors of national development.

CecĂ­lia Assis Director-General of Arts and Culture Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Dili, February 2015

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FOREWORD From the time that Timor Aid was founded, the organisation has been engaged in documenting the textile cultural heritage of Timor-Leste, working closely with weavers and weaving communities throughout the country. This research and documentation is an urgent task because of the extensive loss of material culture in the latter decades of the twentieth century, partly due to change in the modern world, and also as a result of conflict, displacement and deprivation. Timor Aid is proud of our work in this area, bringing this artistic tradition to the attention of the people of Timor-Leste and beyond. The Textiles of Covalima is the latest product of this work.

This publication would not have been possible without the generous support of the Secretariat of State for Art and Culture, through the National Directorate of Arts, Culture and Cultural Creative Industries. SEAC personnel formed part of the research team and Timor Aid is grateful for the ongoing partnership that we enjoy with the Secretariat, a partnership that has extended over a number of exhibitions, publications and research projects. Timor Aid looks forward to continuing this partnership into the future as we complete together monographs on the textile traditions of the different peoples and regions of Timor-Leste.

Timor Aid is very grateful for having had the benefit of the research expertise of Joanna Barrkman in leading the field work and distilling the results into this book. Joanna has been the driving force over many years to increasing the research capacity of both Timor Aid and SEAC, in our work in collecting and conserving important cloths, and devising public presentations in the form of exhibitions, films and publications. Timor Aid would like to express our appreciation to Joanna for the generosity and care she has shown in working with our organisation and with the artisans and communities over the time that it took to complete this book. Joanna and the research team have documented some wonderful textiles in the following pages. We hope that the book brings pleasure to the weaving communities of Covalima as well as to a wider public.

Timor Aid is grateful to the weavers and community of Covalima for sharing their time, stories and textiles with us, and allowing the world to see their extraordinary skills, ingenuity and creativity.

Their textiles are their legacy, and the most important manifestation of their culture. We salute their work, and thank them for sharing it so generously with us.

Jose Lobato Chairperson Timor Aid Dili, February 2015

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A view of the fehan, southern plains, and tasi mane coastline can be seen from the foho, mountainous inland region, of Covalima.

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INTRODUCTION The Covalima District of Timor-Leste is home to a range of distinctive styles of textiles. Each style of textile bears the influence of the remote region’s varied environment and culture. Located on the south central coast and surrounded by the southern seas, tasi mane, the fertile southern plains, fehan, of Covalima extend northward into central Timor, rising up into the rugged and mountainous foho lands. Although inhabited primarily by Tetun people, Covalima is also home to a significant Bunak population, who settled in the district over the past centuries. Kemak people also reside in the north of Covalima District.1 Consequently, the textiles produced in some parts of the region display an intermingling of Tetun, Bunak and, to a lesser extent, Kemak design and aesthetics.

The Tetun people of Covalima are related culturally to the Tetun of Malaka and Belu Regencies of West Timor, Indonesia. The former Wehale Waiwiku Kingdom was located in modern-day Malaka Recency and in pre-colonial times exerted authority over seventeen domains on the island; SuaiCamenasse (Suai-Camenaça) was one of the

thirteen eastern domains under the kingdom’s control.2 Indeed, the name of the district is an adaptation of the Tetun term koba lima, a reference to the five original seats of power in central Timor: Fatumea,3 Lookeu, Dakolo, Sisi, and Mau Demu.4 Located on the south coastal plains, Camenaça5 and Suai Loro are the home to textiles that exemplify the classic Tetun textiles of the district, and bear influence of foreign design. The nearby communities of Debos and Kampung Baru are home to Bunak enclaves within the town of Suai, where tais reflect techniques and designs associated with the Bunak people. Finally, the mountain communities of Fohorem and Fatumean carry another series of design and aesthetic. Naming conventions for tais vary within sub-districts.

The regions featured in this publication are those accessible at the time of research. Those most noticeably absent include Tilomar, Fatululic, Maucatar, and Zumalai. More comprehensive research into the textiles of these areas will undoubtedly enrich the existing knowledge of Covalima textiles.

1. Schapper, Antionette. “Finding Bunaq: The homeland and expansion of the Bunaq in central Timor” in Life and Land in Timor-Leste ethnographic essays, McWilliam Andrew and Traube, Elizabeth G. (eds.), (Canberra, A.C.T., ANU E Press, 2012), 163-186.

2. Therik, Tom. Wehali the Female Land: Traditions of a Timorese ritual center. Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, (Canberra: The Australian National University in association with Pandanus Books, 2004), 53.

3. Kehi, B & Palmer L Hamatak Halirin: The cosmological and socio-ecological roles of water in Koba Lima, Timor, (KononklijkInstituut voor T aal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 2012). URL:http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/btlv. The authors use the spelling of ‘Fatumea’.

However, for consistency the more contemporary spelling of ‘Fatumean’ is used in this publication.

4. Ibid p448.

5. The spelling ‘Camenaça’ has been adopted for this publication, which is listed as the official spelling for the area in the Jornal de República, Publicação de República Democrática de Timor-Leste, Serie, I, No.3, Quarta-Fiera, 16 Setembro de 2009. Other spellings include ‘Camenaça’, ‘Camenassa’, ‘Camenasse’, ‘Kamanasa’ and ‘Camanasa’.

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TIMOR-LESTE

COVALIMA DISTRICT

FATUMEAN

FOHOREM DEBOS CAMENAÇA SUAI LORO

The dominant techniques used to create and decorate tais in Covalima are warp resistant dye (futus), tabby weave, and float warp weave (foit).

Sui is a supplementary weft weave technique, also popular with Bunak weavers and, to a lesser extent, Tetun weavers. The word soru in the Tetun and Bunak languages describes the act of weaving, which is commonly done on a backstrap loom. The most striking change to the textiles of 10

Covalima in the modern era is the replacement of handspun cotton with commercially spun cotton or rayon threads. There has been some initiative in encouraging the retrieval of knowledge and skills that would enable the continued use of local plant and mud dyes, but a preference for brightlycoloured thread, together with the convenience of commercial dyeing, has seen these methods fall into disuse.

The traditional backstrap loom is used throughout the Covalima District for weaving tais , as demonstrated by Orlanda Boavida Martins.

Photograph, Camenaรงa, Covalima District, 2013.

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During the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste, specifically in 1975 when the Indonesian military first invaded, and later in 1999 during the targeted atrocities, people fled Suai Sub-District to take refuge in Malaka Regency, West Timor, Indonesia.6 Many heirloom tais from the district were carried across the border, and were in some instances sold so a family could survive. Some refugees tell of having buried their precious tais in an attempt to preserve them. Those tais that survived are now often stored in the customary manner, inside a tanasak or tubis basket, to keep them safe from pestilence. Often, women’s tais are turned insideout when stored in this manner.

Two basic styles of koba (also known as mama fatin ) exist in Covalima District. Distinctive koba with a base and a lid in the style of the vernacular architecture continue to be used to serve betelnut to visitors. Another use of koba is as a container to place offerings of betelnut, silver and gold coins to ancestors during ceremonies at the main pillar in sacred houses and at sacred sites. A third use is for the respectful exchange of money as part of marriage and other communal ceremonies. For rituals women prepare an offering of betelnut ( halo mama ) and men invoke the ancestors through the betelnut ( sera mama ).

(Kehi and Palmer, 2012, 450-451). Photograph, Kampung Baru, Covalima District, 2013.

Many of the tais documented in this publication have fortunately survived the passage of time.

They remain valued as family heirlooms and as material evidence of the distinguished Tetun and Bunak cultures - fehan and foho communities that proudly wore these cloths on Covalima lands.

6. James J. Fox, Dionisio Babo Soares, et al. “Out of the Ashes: Destruction and Reconstruction of East Timor�, Abstract for Chapter 1, (Canberra, A.C.T., ANU E Press, 2003), 24.

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CAMENAÇA AND SUAI LORO Suai Loro and Camenaça villages share a distinctive textile heritage in the context of Covalima. Often referred to as ‘Suai-Camenaça’, these neighbouring matrilineal communities employ the same textile motifs, design structures, and weaving techniques.

As masters of the warp resist-dye technique (futus) the weavers of Suai-Camenaça are the custodians of a striking repertoire of intricate motifs particular to their communities.

Lucia Amaral ties the warp threads on a slak , futus frame.

She is tying the lakulo resist-dye motif. Photograph, Camenaça, Covalima District, 2013.

These motifs show the influence of Indian trade cloths that entered the port of Suai-Camenaça, which in the eighteenth century was a wellestablished trading port for the movement of sandalwood and human slaves.7 Its placement near the former Wehali Waiwiku Kingdom which once ruled large portions of the island, was presumably based on its strategic proximity to the river and harbour: well positioned to ensure access to the island’s interior and southern coastline.8 Access to Indian trade cloths with intricate, repeated geometric motifs became a source of design inspiration. Specific motifs such as the basket of flowers, jilamprang (G), and the star motif, fitun matan, are examples of foreign influences incorporated into SuaiCamenaça textile designs.9

7. Roque, Ricardo.“The Unruly Island: Colonialism’s Predicament in Late Nineteenth-Century East Timor” in Parts of Asia, Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture, (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 2010), Vol. 17/18, 317.

8. Barrkman, J. “The textiles of Suai-Camenaça” in Textiles of Timor: Island in the Woven Sea, Hamilton, Roy W. and Barrkman, J. (eds.), Los Angeles: UCLA Press, 2014.

9. For an example of a jilamprang (G), patolu (G) intended for the Insular Southeast Asian market see Guy, John, 1998. Woven Cargoes, Thames and Hudson, London, Fig 116.

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Other examples of Indian trade cloths that entered central Timor were attributed status as ceremonial heirlooms, incorporated either into local rituals, or had their motifs replicated in local royal treasuries of textiles.10 & 11 Illustrating this point, the UPDT Provincial Museum of Nusa Tenggara Timor in Kupang holds in its collections an Indian silk patola (G) cloth featuring the jilamprang motif, which was acquired from the former Raja of Belu whose family received it as a gift from the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company). Listed as a soea (UM) heirloom cloth, it is credited with 18th to 19th century provenance in the museum’s 1996/97 acquisition report.12 A study of Indian trade cloths is informative as they bear a direct similarity to Suai-Camenaça resistdye designs. It is possible that weavers extracted elements of these impressive Indian textile designs to replicate in their local repertoire.13

Three men’s cloths form the basis of the barlake gift exchange from the bride’s family to the groom’s family as part of marriage negotiations in Suai-Camenaça. The three cloths are given to establish the initial agreement that the alliance can proceed, and include tais duka, tais klar and tais na’in Nurak. As part of the marriage ritual, twenty or more tais are presented to the groom’s family and in return the bride’s family is gifted money, buffalo, swords, and belak, ceremonial medallions.

The repertoire of Suai-Camenaça tais can be divided by gender, with the exception of a funeral shroud known as tais koli (see Figure 2). Due to their size, tais koli are locally referred to as tais biti, a name that references a mat plaited with dry pandanus leaves.

Three men’s tais form the basis of gifts exchanged between the bride and groom’s families as part of marriage alliances.

They include tais duka, tais klar and tais na’in Nurak.

Photograph, Camenaça, Covalima District, 2013.

10. Maxwell, 2003, 133 see example of an Indian trade cloth traded from Decca, India to Belu, Timor; Barrkman, 2006 and 2008; 11. For a more detailed discussion of Indian trade cloths that entered Timor-Leste see Khan Majlis, B. “In Quest of Patterns: Notes on a Group of Indian Trade Textiles from the Treasury of the Raja of Los Palos in East Timor” in Textiles from India, Crill, R, (ed.), (Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2006), 117-134. Also see Guy, John. Woven Cargoes, (London: Thames and Hudson, 2009), Fig 150.

12. This patolu is accessioned in the UPDT Museum Negeri Propinsi Nusa Tenggara Timor collection as accession number 309/05.01.

It is documented in Barrkman, J. ‘Entwined: The influence of Indian patola and trade cloths on the ritual practices and textile motifs of the Atoin meto people of West Timor’, unpublished MA thesis, Charles Darwin University, 2007, pp. 211-213.

13. See Barnes, R., Cohen, S., Crill, R.. Trade, Temple and Court: Indian textiles from the TAPI Collection. India Book House, Mumbai, 2002. See border patterns in Fig. 6, TAPI 01.199; Fig. 12, 01.190; Fig. 13, TAPI 01.210 and central motifs in Fig.15, TAPI 00.170.

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A band of warp resist-dye threads feature the jilamprang , basket of flowers motif, derived from Indian patola cloths that were traded into the region. Photograph, Suai Loro, Covalima District, 2011.

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Tais duka (see Figure 3) was customarily worn folded and draped over the shoulder of an emissary whose responsibility was to advise relatives of a recent death. Tais duka can also be worn by men of commoner status as cloth wraps, and are tied around the waist at harvest ceremonies and ceremonial house inaugurations. Tais klar (see Figure 14) were also worn as everyday attire by people of commoner status. Its name is derived from the word klaran meaning ‘inside’ or ‘centre’.

Tais nai’n Nurak (see Figure 4) was formerly a design associated with the king and with aristocratic clans. Suri Nurak was a liurai of Wehali Kingdom origin who relocated to Suai-Camenaça, hence the name and its association with the aristocracy.14 Tais na’in Nurak features a koba boot motif, symbolic of the woven basket used for customarily offering betelnut and piper betel leaves (mama) (Areca catechu and Piper betle L.) to ancestors and visitors as part of life-cycle ceremonies.

The centrefield of tais na’in Nurak is either plain black or features black linear bands, metan butuk.

They are also known in some instances as tais halai laran. 15 Repeated semi-circular motifs known as kelu oan, representing a girl’s bracelet, are characteristic motifs on this style of man’s tais.

No longer worn is the hakfolik (see Figure 6), a long handwoven band of fabric once worn as a loin cloth by men, typically for physical activity, farming, and fighting. A narrow strip of woven

cloth, decorated with bands of foit motifs and fringed tassels formed the foli laran, inner loin cloth.

The outer loincloth, hakfolik, was either plain, making it practical for physical activity, or highly decorated with shells (hmok suskoi ), (Nassariu scallospira L.) hand-stitched onto the hakfolik.

In Suai-Camenaça, women’s tubeskirts feature bands of intricate resist-dye motifs encased by finely woven foit, float warp weave borders. Tais wal metan (see Figure 7) is the classic form of woman’s attire in Suai-Camenaça. This specific example of a tais wal metan was woven over five generations ago by the master weaver, Bei Ida. It features the bitter cucumber, baria fuan motif, and three-threaded foit, rin tolu . 16 The outer foit features the sanak motif, and the inner section features the peanut shell, ahan kakun motif. This tais wal metan was worn at sau batar, harvest ceremonies.

Various motifs are featured on women’s tais, such as bitter cucumber (baria fuan), lakulo; star (matan fitun) and half-moon (fulan baluk). The influence of Indian trade cloths and their designs are evident, together with contemporary innovation and inspiration from daily life, dreams, and individual creativity. Relatively plain tais are woven by women as they learn the art of weaving. Known as tais ku’u tilun (see Figure 8), such tais feature a simple ‘rainbow’ of colour at the head and foot of the tubeskirt.

14. Therik, 2004, 49; Barrkman, 2014.

15. Personal communication, João Mali, 31 January 2104, Dili, Timor-Leste.

16. Foit can be created using two, three, four or five threads together; hence the terms rin rua, rin tolu, rin haat and rin lima.

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Horse blankets, colloquially known as tais amarasi, were customarily used in the Suai-Camenaça region by rulers, liurai and distinguished warriors (see Figure 1). The name, ‘amarasi’ refers to one of the former princedoms of the Sonb’ai Kingdom, located south of the port city, Kupang on the south-west coast of Timor. Horse blankets may have been gifted as tribute or as part of intraisland marriage alliances from Amarasi to Wehali Waiwiku. In time, tais amarasi were introduced and produced in Suai-Camenaça due to the area’s role as a domain of Wehali Waiwiku Kingdom.17

This tais wal metan was made by Bei Ida, the grandmother of the women holding the tais. Her grand-daughter points to Bei Ida’s signature, four embroidered circles, indicating the ownership and pride that Bei Ida had for her creation.

Photograph, 2013.

17. Therik, 2004, 57.

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Tais amarasi. This horse blanket is made from panels of handspun cotton and natural dyes with twine.

This cloth, held by Jacinta Namoc, is decorated with the lakulo motif.

Photograph, Covalima Distirct, 2011.

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A. This motif was made by a senior weaver Amanda de Araújo based on a ‘creation’ dream, Suai Loro, 2011.

B. Herminia Vicente had adapted the matan betek motif by adding a santa cruz, crucifix, to the centre of the design, Suai Loro, 2013.

C. Paulina Barros created this motif inspired by teka teki (Ind), crossword puzzle, Suai Loro, 2011.

D. Paulina Barros created this motif inspired by teka teki (Ind), crossword puzzle, Suai Loro, 2011.

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CATALOGUE OF TEXTILES: CAMENAÇA AND SUAI LORO

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Fig. 1 – This tais amarasi was made by Maria Amelia in 2010.

This horse cloth features the lakulo and matak betek motifs, whose origin local weavers attribute to Suai-Camenaça.

Due to migrations to west Timor, Indonesia, these motifs are popular as far across the border as Kletek village in West Timor. Maria Amelia used cotton handspun by her mother for this tais amarasi. Photograph, Suai Loro, Covalima District, 2013.

Fig. 2 - This contemporary tais koli, features vibrant, synthetically dyed, commercially spun cotton.

Photograph, Suai Loro, Covalima District, 2013.

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Fig. 3 - This tais duka was made by Carolina Barros in the mid-twentieth century from commercially spun cotton with natural and synthetic dyes. Made from two woven panels stitched together in a central seam, the centre-field consists of 24 lines of resist-dye patterning. The centre-field is bordered with the matan betek, ‘short lid motif’ and three diman motifs. Photograph, Suai Loro, Covalima District, 2013.

Fig. 4 - This tais na’in Nurak made by Emalita Jacinta features black stripes referred to as metan butuk, a defining feature of this style of tais which is named after the ancestor, Nurak. Photograph, Suai Loro, Covalima District, 2011.

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Fig. 5 - This tais halai laran was made by Matilda do Rego. It features the koba boot design signifying the cultural value attached to this cloth and the dignified status of its wearer. Photograph, Covalima District, 2011.

Fig 6 - This hakfolik, outer loin cloth, features a lenuk, turtle design, created by stitching shells onto the ends of the cloth.

The cloth is over 2.5 metres in length.

Made circa early to mid-twentieth century.

Photograph, Covalima District, 2011.

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Fig. 7 - This tais wal metan was made

by Bei Ida, over five generations ago.

Photograph, Covalima District, 2013.

Fig. 7 (detail) - Bei Ida’s signature, four embroidered circles, indicates her ownership and pride in her work.

Photograph, Covalima District, 2013.

Fig. 8 - This tais ku’u tilun was made

by Maria Luruk. This simple tubeskirt can be worn as day-to-day attire.

Such cloths were often made by young women as they learnt to weave.

Photograph, Camenaça, Covalima District, 2013.

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Photograph, Debos, Covalima District, 2011.

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DEBOS AND KAMPUNG BARU Debos and Kampung Baru are regions within Suai, the capital of Covalima District. Here Bunak people live alongside Tetun and Kemak peoples.

The migration of Bunak people to Suai took place over generations, largely during the mid-twentieth century and most noticeably since World War II due to population pressure and a shortage of arable land in the island’s north central region.

These turbulent times pushed many people in Covalima into West Timor. Many, including Bunak people, returned to Suai in the post-independence era. The town of Suai remains a magnet for employment, trade, and infrastructure.

Photograph, Debos, Covalima District, 2013.

A member of the Debos weavers’ group showed this tais remnant (see figure 9) to illustrate the technique and designs used in Bunak textiles in Covalima. The remnant, considered precious to its owner, was cut and salvaged from a damaged tais sui Namok. It is kept as a template or guide for the Namok motif and presumably as reminder of the exemplary technical skill of the Bunak women who wove it. The Debos weavers’ group was established

by Timor Aid in 2007.

Fig. 9 - This remnant of a tais sui Namok man’s cloth wrap serves as both a guide and a memento for young Bunak weavers. Photograph, Debos, Covalima District, 2011.

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Fig. 10 - This supak (B) which serves as a ‘pattern template’ was made by Celestina da Costa, circa 2002 in order to pass on her motif designs to her daughter, Esmeralda Soares, who continues to use them. Photograph, Debos, Covalima District, 2013.

One local Bunak weaver, Celestina da Costa, created a belt (supak, (B); ahan (T) decorated with a range of sui motifs that she wove to pass on to her daughter, Esmeralda Soares (see Figure 10). Made in 2002, just prior to Celestina’s death, this supak serves as a guide for Esmeralda as she continues to weave tais Namok, today (see Figure 12).

Specific motifs that Esmeralda has replicated on her recently created tais Namok include apa laluhan (B) / karau laluhan (T) symbolic of a buffalo corral and sasuit (T) hair combs and hot gidal (B) / loromatan (T) symbolic of the sun. The motif sui Namok, featured in orange and white on the tais feto Namok is attributed to the name of an ancestor (see Figure 12 detail).

The yellow and red motif symbolises warriors and bravery, while the white and blue design is symbolic of short buffalo horns.

It is possible that some of these motifs have origins in clan hedi, symbolic designs used as body tattoos, woven into mama fatin, baskets, and as symbols burnt into trees indicative of land boundaries.

Similarly, livestock was also branded with hedi to make them recognisable.

Esmeralda Soares discusses her tais feto Namok with Albino Amaral, Rui Amaral, Maria da Costa and Agustinho da Silva. Photograph, Debos, Covalima District, 2013. ‘Namok’ motifs relate to the name of a Bunak aristocratic ancestor. These designs are replicated in the sui technique, a supplementary weft weave in which Bunak weavers excel. Photograph, Debos, Covalima District, 2013.

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Technically sui, a supplementary weft weave technique, appears to be the most popular technique with the inland, foho groups of Covalima, but has also entered Debos and Kampung Baru through Bunak migrations. Sui technique is used by both Bunak and Tetun weavers in mountainous central Timor. It appears to be unique to this area and the eastern tip of the island where Fataluku and Makasae weavers are also familiar with the technique. An excellent example of a Bunak woman’s tais, locally referred to as tais adi, features colourful and complex Namok motifs executed in sui technique (see figure 11). The body of the tais features fine red and black horizontal lines and a black head and foot.

Although the band of futus is replaced with Namok motifs executed in supplementary weft weave, the design structure’s similarity to Tetun women’s tais still indicates an interconnection between the designs of the two cultural groups. In the case of men’s cloths, the Bunak people of Debos have adopted the local Tetun design structures. One example is a tais klar which reflects the exact design structure of tais klar woven in nearby SuaiCamenaça. (see Figure 14)

A Bunak weaver Amelina Amaral displays her woven tais adi, that features Namok motifs woven using a supplementary weft weaving technique. Made during the mid-twentieth century this woman’s tubeskirt is constructed from four hand-woven panels. It includes both hand-woven and commercially spun cotton.

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CATALOGUE OF TEXTILES: DEBOS AND KAMPUNG BARU

Fig. 11 - This tais sui Namok, a family heirloom, was made in the midtwentieth century from commercially spun cotton with synthetic dyes.

The cloth is constructed from four woven panels. It features the Namok design bordered with foit bands of the motif hali funan (banyan tree). Photograph, Kampung Baru, Covalima District, 2013.

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Fig. 12 - This tais Namok, was made by Esmeralda Soares, a Bunak weaver, circa 2006. It incorporates designs she learnt from her mother. Photograph, Debos, Covalima District, 2013.

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Fig. 13 - This detail of contemporary tais feto Namok made by Esmeralda Soares in 2013. Photograph, Debos, Covalima District, 2013.

Fig. 14 - Although made by a Bunak weaver in Debos, Maria da Costa, circa 1995, this tais klar is based on Tetun designs adopted by local Bunak weavers in Covalima. Photograph, Debos, Covalima District, 2013.

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View from Aldeia Aitos, Suco Dato Rua. Photograph, Forhorem, Covalima District, 2013.

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FOHOREM Fohorem is home to both Tetun and Bunak communities and was formerly headquarters for Portuguese officials who arrived on the north coast of Timor at Atapupu. From Atapupu the Portuguese moved to Atambua and then in 1943 to Fohorem. Later, in 1948, the Portuguese administrative centre moved to Bobonaro and eventually to Suai in 1961.

The varied styles of tais identified in Fohorem are a consequence of its central location and evidence of a cosmopolitan community. An ornate ceremonial tais made by a Tetun weaver, Uduk Selvina Soares (see Figure 16) bears design structures similar to those employed in Malaka Regency, West Timor, Indonesia - also home to the Tetun people. Technically, this tais features resistdye bands of geometric motifs and a large ‘foot’ panel of supplementary weft weave, described by its owners as abstractions of water insects. In comparison to a Bunak ceremonial tais, also from Fohorem, (see Figure 17) the design structure remains almost identical, with the exception of the highly decorative ‘foot’. The geometric bands of resist-dye are also stylistically closely related.

Bunak tais customarily demonstrate subdued and restrained use of colour.

Uma Mane Ikun. Photograph, Fohorem, Covalima District, 2013.

A local Tetun weaver discusses her tais with Rui Amaral Suri Seran Cultural Officer, Covalima District, Secretariat of State for Art and Culture, Timor-Leste. Photograph, Fohorem, Covalima District, 2013.

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Other examples of Tetun tais from Fohorem carry intricate bands of resist-dye, featuring the lafaek (crocodile) motif. This iconography, on wide panels of resist-dye, is widespread and appears on both men’s and women’s tais in Malaka Regency of West Timor. These Tetun tais also feature colourful, commercially spun threads that have been available to weavers from across the border in West Timor. Before, during, and since the Indonesian era, the town of Atambua has been a source of commercially spun thread with vibrant synthetic dyes, which are increasingly popular in remote regions of Covalima District, such as Fohorem.

This short woman’s tais woven using the foit, float warp technique illustrates this preference for colour (see Figure 19). It features designs of birds, urns, and foliage copied from European crossstitch embroidery books, presumably introduced to Fohorem weavers by Portuguese officials.

Such innovation is often considered ‘modern’ as it represents a departure from classical styles of

tais specific to different cultural groups. The short length of this tais nian is also evidence of further external influence, suggesting that it was worn with either a Portuguese-style blouse or Malayinspired kebaya (Ind). However, other influences from nearby fehan communities also are evident in Fohorem (see Figure 18). This tais nian clearly has stylistic similarities to those tais of Suai-Camenaça.

Woven predominantly from handspun cotton, it is an excellent example of customary daily wear.

Alzira Moniz Carvalho, a member of the Bunak cultural group, displays her family heirloom tais koli una. This tais was carried into the mountains when her family fled in 1999.

Photograph, Covalima District, 2013

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Hilario Ferreira and Amelia Soares, with their family members, discuss tais at Aldeia Fatubarik Laran.

Photograph, Fohorem, Covalima District, 2013.

The uma lisan Loro Metan Oe Fali and members of Suco Koba. Photograph, Fohorem, Covalima District, 2013.

Bete Tobu, Maria de Fatima Godinho, a daughter of a former liurai, models a tais she wove several decades earlier.

Bete Tobu is approximately 90 years old. Photograph, Fohorem, Covalima District, 2013.

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CATALOGUE OF TEXTILES: FOHOREM

Fig. 15 - Bete Tobu, Maria de Fatima Godinho, approximately 90 years old, is a Tetun weaver and daughter of a former liurai.

Bete Tobu wove this tais in the mid-twentieth century. It features crocodile and anthropomorphic designs. Photograph, Fohorem, Covalima District, 2013.

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Fig. 16 - This intricate tais was made by Uduk, Selvina Soares, a Tetun weaver, formerly of Fohorem, in the mid-twentieth century. It features handspun cotton and indigo futus with commercial cotton and synthetic dyes. Photograph, Kampung Baru, Covalima District, 2013.

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Fig. 18 - This tais nian was made during the mid-twentieth century from handspun cotton and natural dyes. The foit borders that encase the bands of futus at the head and foot are woven with commercially spun cotton and synthetic dyes. The green red and blue foit is known as foit oan (fine, small foit) while the red and white foit pattern is silu kesak (broken twig) design.

Photograph, Fohorem, Covalima District, 2013.

Fig. 17 –Made by Amelia Amaral in the early to mid-twentieth century this tais is known as tais adi or tais koli una (una (B) butterfly). It is constructed from four handwoven panels and features sui Namok in red and white lozenges. Sui refers to the supplementary weft weave technique and Namok is the name of the hexagonal lozenge designs.

The inclusion of the Tetun word koli indicates this cloth’s association with mortuary rights. This tais was carried into the mountains when its owners, Bunak people, fled in 1999. Photograph, Covalima District, 2013.

Fig. 19 – This colourful tais foit was made by Marcelina Amaral, prior to 1975. It was formerly worn with a kebaya (Ind.) blouse.

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FATUMEAN Red is the dominant colour appearing in the tais from Fatumean. This feature reflects the name of the area, which is derived from the Tetun words fatuk, meaning stone, and mean, meaning red. This red earth is mirrored in the tais of this mountaindwelling community. In the past, the red colour used on tais came from from the roots of ai-lenuk (Morinda citrifolia L.), and the black from taum (indigo leaves) mixed with lime powder and water.

Today these natural dyestuffs have been largely replaced by colourful, synthetic dyes.

Fatumean women’s cloths reflect the structure found in the fehan tais of Suai-Camenaça. The basic design structure of tais nia laran is that the centrefield is encased within a band of futus at both the ‘head and the foot’ of the tube. The edges, ninin, at either end feature a plain back band. In Fatumean, men’s tais are constructed from two or three panels, (see Figure 23) and women’s tais from either two, three, or four handwoven panels of cloth. The length of women’s tais in Fatumean is generally greater than in the fehan communities of Covalima, but it is not clear whether this is due to the cooler mountain climate, or a more plentiful cotton supply. Sophisticated longer tais were reserved for use at funerals and ceremonial house inaugurations.

Uma lulik Foho Metan, Covalima. Photograph, Fatumean, Covalima Distrct, 2013. In front of the majestic Uma lulik Foho Metan is a circle of stones known as sadan, into which bee lulik (sacred water) is carried for use during inauguration ceremonies. Inside the sadan is also the area where guests are formally received to the uma lulik.

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The use of both handspun cotton and Portuguese cotton was a feature of Fatumean tais made in the mid-twentieth century. Tais are often stored turned inside-out in a tanasak or tubis, woven from hedan / boro fibres. Tanasak, known as naha in Bunak language, are also used to make formal presentations of gifts as part of the mane foun / feto foun marriage alliance negotiations.

Many Fatumean women are proud to retain the textiles made by their grandmothers. When their grandmothers wove tais, they also used hedan fibres to tie the warp threads of their handspun cotton with distinctive motifs before dyeing in Morinda citrifolia and indigo dye baths.

The motifs decorating mid-twentieth century Fatumean tais are striking in their symmetry and archaic design sensibility. In addition to geometric patterns (see Figure 22) and ancestors’ figures with elongated fingers (see Figure 20), kauata (earrings) are a source of design inspiration for local weavers (see Figure 21).

Tanasak, woven from hedan leaves (a pandanus palm, commonly known as a screw palm). These baskets are used to store threads and tais. The tanasak is a smaller basket compared with the tubis basket which is also customarily used to store tais. Photograph, Fohorem, Covalima District, 2013.

The hedan plant fibres are used to weave baskets, tanasak and tubis, used for the storage of tais in the mountains.

Hedan fibres were also formerly used to tie warp threads with motifs prior to resist-dyeing. The hedan resisted the dye, resulting in the distinctive Fatumean tais designs.

Photograph, Fatumean, Covalima District, 2013.

Kauata (earrings) made from silver alloy are featured in resist-dye designs in Fatumean tais. Photograph, Fatumean, Covalima District, 2013.

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Fatumean weavers discuss textile designs from Oecusse, Timor-Leste, which share some similarities with local geometric designs. Photograph, Fatumean, Covalima District, 2013.

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CATALOGUE OF TEXTILES: FATUMEAN

Fig. 20 - This tais lita lahon was made by Buik Asu. Constructed from two panels of handwoven cloth, this tais features dynamic ancestral figures with exaggerated hands. Photograph, Fatumean, Covalima District, 2013.

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Fig. 21 – This tais lita lahon was made by Agustinha Amaral and Joana Tilman. The resist-dye work was created by Agustinha and the cloth woven by her daughter, Joana. Inside the lozenge-shaped motif, which represents tali taran, the tali (Corypha) palm thorn, is a design that local weavers say represents kauata (earrings). This tais is constructed from four handwoven panels with thread purchased during the Indonesian era in Atambua, West Timor, Indonesia.

Photograph, Fatumean, Covalima District, 2013.

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Fig. 23 - This man’s tais is constructed from two panels of handwoven cloth made from handspun cotton. It was made in the mid-twentieth century and features an archaic local Fatumean design in the longitudinal dark resist-dye bands on either side. Photograph, Fatumean, Covalima District, 2013.

Fig. 22 - This tais lita lahon was made during the Portuguese era.

It features an archaic lozenge design, reminiscent of designs used

by Atoin meto people. This cloth is exceptionally long, suggesting use as attire for funerals and local ceremonial occasions. It has been stored in a tubis basket. Photograph, Fatumean, Covalima District, 2013.

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http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/btlv.

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