Alorese Textiles, specifically Tenapi, and their Production of Ternate Island, Alor Regency, NTT, Indonesia, by Linda S. McIntosh and Yulianti A. Peni
- lindasmcintosh
- Jun 8
- 1 min read
In Archipel 2021 volume 102, pp. 209-239
Dr. McIntosh and Ms. Peni published about article on tenapi of the Alurung, which is also known as Alorese or Alor.
Abstract
Research and publications on the material culture of the Alorese of Alor Regency, NTT, Indonesia, is scarce, and a study of their textile production is absent from the field of Indonesian textiles. Ernst Vatter (1932: 241-244) described some weaving of the Alor Archipelago in his publication describing the cultures of this region but gave little detail, especially concerning the warp ikat textiles produced in the islands of present-day Alor Regency. Cora DuBois (1944) studied the Abui culture of Central Alor and remarked that this group made bark cloth since a “prohibition” against weaving in the hinterland existed and affluent Abui acquired woven materials from various textile-producing coastal settlements of the archipelago. Khan Majis (1991: 213) wrote in an exhibition catalogue that “textiles from the islands of Pantar Alor were virtually unknown until now.” Roy W. Hamilton (2010: 304) remarked on the “almost total absence” of textiles from the island of Alor in publications about Indonesian textiles and suggested that handwoven fabrics originated from other islands or were produced by people who came from afar if made in the archipelago. Books devoted to Indonesian and Southeast Asian weavings briefly mention the textiles from the Alor Archipelago. For example, Michael C. Howard (2010: 63) devoted two paragraphs to some examples produced in the Alor Archipelago in his survey of ikat-decorated cloth of Southeast Asia. Howard (2008: 45) also remarked about the lack of documentation on the textiles from this area in his survey of warp float-decorated textiles.