Weaving for Development: An Ethnographic Study on How the Ibans

of West Kalimantan Determines the Color of Pua Kumbu

Nita Trismaya

, A. Cahyo Nugroho

and Semiarto Purwanto

Sekolah Tinggi Desain Interstudi

Semarak Cerlang Nusa Consultancy, Research and Education for Social Transformation

Department of Anthropology, University of Indonesia

Keywords: color, selection, composition, pua kumbu, traditional weaving, Iban, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract: Color is a cultural expression derived from the culturalknowledge of particular social groups. Culture in the

form of local tradition determine the color composition and selection can be seen in tenun or traditional

weaving. Almost every tenun uses natural dyes will come-up with soft, darker, and other low intensity of

colors. It is considered that local technology gives a limitationto the crafters to produce brighter colors. The

changes brought by modernization today has, however, enabled them to have more choices in colors since

the use of colorful thread is commonly found now. Our short ethnographic observation, conducting

intensively for one month in some Iban communities in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan has shown us that

color composition and selection is in fact not a simple matter. Research notice that color selection is in most

cases very impersonal and sacred, and is made based on dreams, symbols, and the experience of respective

crafters who mostly women. When an empowerment program for women introduced by a national NGO,

which encourages peoples to produce more pua kumbu or Ibanese tenun, the color selection was done by

also considering the market demands. Eventually, this market-driven production produces a new cultural

problem for the Iban crafters.

1 INTRODUCTION

Iban people are one of the ethnic groups that inhabit

Borneo Island which is included in the generic

category of ethnic Dayak people. The distribution of

Iban people covers the northern part of the island’s

northwestern side. Most of Ibans live in Sarawak

which is part of the Federation of Malaysia. In

addition to Sarawak, settlements of the Ibans can

also be found in several locations in Brunei and

Sabah. A small group of Iban people lives in several

villages in the West Kalimantan Province,

Indonesia. The villages were spread from the Badau

region in the west to the Putussibau area in the east.

The Ibans who are living in Kapuas Hulu have

strong historical and kinship ties with the Iban

people who livein Sarawak. These kinship ties are

formed together with the migration process for

various reasons, in which economic factor is also

one of that reasons. Weaving as one of the products

of the Iban Dayak tradition has an essential meaning

in their daily life. The presence of weavinginthe

wholelife of the Iban community can be divided into

three domains, namely (1) the momentum of

transitioning stages of human life, such as birth,

marriage, and death (2) large parties of customs and

devices and (3) kinship identities. The tradition of

making weaving originated came from betang house

that has been inhabited by three generations: the first

generation is the grandmother, the second generation

is the children and the third generation is the

grandchildren. According to the first and second

generation weavers, they started to learn about

weaving at an early age through a gradual learning

process. Weaving skills are acquired through

everyday practice, the weavers got the knowledge

from the previous generations and practiced the

skills while helping other weavers. Weaving skills

were passed down from generation to generation

through oral tradition. The weaving techniques were

not recorded in any written form. There is no

standard pattern in studying weaving and there is

nodefinite age to start studying it. In Iban

community, there are four weaving techniques,

namely kebat, pilih and sungkit which have not

changed much from the beginning until now,

whilesidantechnique has only been known for over

20 years as well.

356

Trismaya, N., Nugroho, A. and Purwanto, S.

Weaving for Development: An Ethnographic Study on How the Ibans of West Kalimantan Determines the Color of Pua Kumbu.

DOI: 10.5220/0009931003560363

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 356-363

ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9

Woven fabric made by the Iban people is

included in the category of warp ikat which those

ornaments are woven into their warp and this are the

oldest weaving technique in Indonesia. The

distribution of warp ikat area covers the Sulawesi

region in Rongkong and Galumpang in TanaToraja,

also Bentenan and Rantahan in the Minahasa Bantik.

In North Sumatra, there is Batak. In East Nusa

Tenggara there are Sumba, Flores, Sawu, Roti,

Ndao, East Timor. In Kalimantan, especially in West

Central and East region.

Based on the tradition of Iban weaving, there are

things that have very close relations between the

symbols and its functions, namely motives and

color. Weaving technique means how about to

weave warp threads into weft threads become motifs

appropriate to design itself, including determining

the color composition. Color plays a vital role in

woven fabric because the tradition of ethnicity in an

area is described by color. Some colors in the classic

tradition have ritual symbols and functions, such as

the using of black color for grieving or black color

will bringbad elements, so they avoided it as

dominant inIban woven. Those motives in Iban

weaving are mostly taken from the surrounding

environment such as crocodiles, snakes, roots, and

others where the color system used it to associate

with nature itself.

Those motives in Iban woven are divided into

two categories: sacred motives and profane motives.

Sacred motifs (Pusaka and Khusus) are classic

motifs and have certain meanings whose source of

inspiration is obtained through dreams. The motives

that included in the Pusaka Sacred category are

Naga, Nabau and Antu, while those belonging to the

Khusus Sacred motives are Humans, Beasts, Baya

and Junan. Profane motives are more dynamic, not

have many conditions and abstinence that must be

considered as well as sacred motives. The idea of

making these motives usually imitate from the motif

in the woven mat, from old fabric or creates itself

based on market tastes. Flower patterns, leaves and

geometric patterns are also commonly used as filler

motifs. These motives are mostly made by beginner

weavers or market-oriented weavers with an

emphasis on aesthetic concepts.

The color used in Iban weaving are produced

from the processing of natural materials from the

area surrounding tribe, and it produces four colors,

namely red, blue, black and white. For Iban people,

color and motif are an integral and inseparable

characteristic of woven traditions that telling a lot of

things which they had created. Color selection is

also carried out with special considerations, for

example, the red color is a symbol of the courage of

the Ibans and there are also restrictions on using

black as a dominant color in weaving.

As time changes, there were changes in the

orientation of the Iban weavers motivation in

making fabrics, from weaving for the daily and

cultural need to weaving for sale. Women's

empowerment programs introduced by the

government and NGOs had encouraged weavers to

recognize consumer needs, which then resulted in

the increasing production of woven fabrics

according to market demand. It raises some problem

that weavers are facing market demands that are no

longer oriented towards preserving traditional

values. The production of woven fabric is also no

longer in the form of a piece of cloth, but it shifts to

functional forms such as bags, wallets, and scarves.

Those composition color in weaving become more

diverse and has no longer taboos and symbolic

meanings. Specifically, regarding coloring, NGOs

have encouraged Iban weavers to return for using

natural dyes which in the 1980s the use of synthetic

dyes was once the primary choice of weavers.

Market orientation on woven fabric has brought new

values in Iban culture which has two sides, namely

in the economic sectorand in the original traditions

of the Iban community.

A question raises from the problem stated above

is: how far will the market orientation change the

Iban tradition of weaving? How do Iban weavers

maintain their traditional coloring system in weaving

designs to suit market taste? What goals do NGOs

want to which advise weavers to return to using

natural dyes?

2 METHODS

Data for this documentation were obtained from

interviews and observations of our informants that

relevant to the topic of Iban weaving, natural dyes,

ASPPUK field officers (NGOs that provide

assistance to weavers), and some figures who

understand the culture of Iban people in general. The

research process is carried out at the level of the

longhouse which is usually found in the hamlet or

village.

The villages and hamlets that became the study

area included sub-districts consisting of 10 hamlets

or dusun namely Dusun Tekalong in Lanjak Deras

Village, then Dusun Kampung Sawah, Dusun

Sungai Sedik, Dusun Sungai Luar and Dusun Sungai

Long in Desa Sungai Abau. In Desa Mensiau,

includesDusun Entebuluh, Dusun Kluin, Dusun

Engkadan,andDusun Kelawik. In Desa Labian only

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357

one hamlet namely Dusun Ngaung Keruh. The

research method used was participant-observation,

immersion, interview, documentation through

photos. Primary data obtained through field

observation for approximately one month, while

secondary data gathered through books and

scientific articles.

Our observation method is done by observing the

entire stages of the weaving technique starting from

the preparation stage, the coloring stage to the

weaving stage. We did not only documented it but

also participated in those stages. For immersion

methods, we lived with the locals in a number of

houses to get more accurate information and data by

experiencing their daily life.

3 RESULTS

As quoted from Kartiwa (2007), pua is a cloth that

functions as a blanket, a ceremony cloth that is hung

in abetang house, used to treat sick people, and

becomes a symbol of social status. The length of the

fabric reaches two and a half meters and is almost

one and a half meters wide. One type of pua is pua

kumbu, based on our research in the field, pua

kumbu is made of kebat weaving techniques and has

symbolic meaning inthe motif. Pua kumbu serves as

a sacred woven cloth such as the shade of a

ceremony of a newborn baby and the death

ceremony also. Pua Kumbu also serves as a cover

for offerings at custom events, as well as wall

hangings to be exhibited. Pua Kumbu which has a

high sacred value which is a woven cloth that is used

to receive the head of pengayauan and will be used

as a ceremonial center where the pua will wrap the

central pole of gawai (sandung) together with the

mat. Besides being exhibited, pua kumbu is also

used for clothes and cloth by all Iban people. The

use of the two ingredients displayed on the wall to

be exhibited is also used to entertain people from

Khayangan (Pangau) who go down during the

gawai. The essence of the gawai itself is to thank

you for the past and hope for a better fortune in the

future. Gratitude is manifested in the form of

offerings given to be given to demons or disturbing

beings and to God. As for the devil, the Ibans give

offerings outside the home to avoid disturbances in

gawai.

Gawai or gawa are traditional Dayak tribal

ceremonies including Iban Dayaks. Gawa in the

Iban language dictionary written by D. William,

implicitly means "work". In the dictionary explained

the word worker in the Iban language is pengawa

(Veth, 1856). The same absorption in Indonesian for

the term 'employee' from the basic 'gawai' which

also means 'worker' from the word 'work'. Although

there is one big gawai every year carried out by Iban

people, even in Malaysia it is set on June 1 as a

national gawai day, but gawai is a general term for

various kinds of great work done by Iban people

with similar meanings as a celebration in

understanding that is widely known Indonesian

people. So the term gawai in the Iban community is

done for various ceremonies including ceremonies

for individuals, not just for groups. In the Iban

community, there are various types of gawai,

namely the Penyalang gawai, the Ari Sandau gawai,

the Kelingkang gawai, Gawai Batu, Puncung Tahun

and others. Different program events have special

communal gawai held where each family can hold

them.

According to our informant in Lanjak, pua

kumbu in the past had the function to receive the

head of a human. Usually the head is received with a

special woven cloth, namely pua kumbu with nibung

barayah motif. During their warfare and revenge,

even for traditional rituals, the Iban always practice

recitation. This tradition is also a step towards

maturity for men to prove their courage and heroism

as well as the right time to marry a woman. In the

past, Iban people were once known as tribes that

were feared by other tribes in Kalimantan. This is

because the Iban are considered fond of fighting and

expanding other tribal territories in order to open

new fields and gain access to forest products. Rite

beheading (mengayau) is part of the process which

is considered a threat to other tribes. Based on

searches from oral stories in the 2000s, mengayau

rites were also carried out as a condition of funeral

ceremonies of people who had socially important

positions. For Iban people today, the mengayau rite

is considered a dark history of their parents'

generation which is considered irrelevant in the

contemporary social context. After the Tumbang

Anoi peace agreement took place in 1894, the life of

the Dayak culture, especially the Iban, proceeded

without the practice of headhunting, and it meant

that some ritual and procedures involved in the pua

kumbu had disappeared.

From our observations in the field, the pua

kumbu fabric that used for traditional ceremonies is

coming from an old fabric inherited of weavers'

parents or replicas of an old cloth that is no longer

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available or because of has been sold for their urgent

needs. Replica of pua kumbu has the same color

patterns as the original fabric, as well as its symbolic

meaning and function. Some pua kumbu only used

during certain events and are not traded with the aim

that their next generation will have original fabric

that can be replicated later. Through pua kumbu, the

Iban people are caring for and preserving their

weaving tradition that has been passed down from

generation to generation.

According to the pre-history of the Megalithic

era, before Dongson culture came to this

archipelago, some artifacts of illustrated stones were

found, and commonly it used three colors, black, red

and white, which considered having a cosmological

meaning. White is a color that is found in almost

every tribe of Indonesia as a symbol of the Dunia

Atas (spiritual color), black is the color of the land

(human earth), and red is the earth of humans as well

as its position as a category of women because white

is the category of men for the Dunia Bawah

(Sumardjo, 2001). The possibility of the old color

layout still hasa connection with the typical color

system of Iban weaving, namely red, black and

white along when it traced from the similarity of the

prehistoric motives that contained in Iban woven

fabrics.

Even so, there are different versions as our

informant said at the Betang Enkadan in Lanjak

which they say that weavers in the past did not use

many colors, limited to only red (brownish red),

black, blue and white. This color selection was due

to limited knowledge of color in possibility. The

informant from the Betang Ngaung Keruh had a

different opinion that the original colors of the Iban

weaving were white, black and red. According to an

informant in Sungai Panjang, the original colors of

Iban are red, yellow, black and white. However, the

informants at Tekalong said that the original Iban

color was red, black and white. The locals' opinion

on the color composition of Iban is not so different

from the information found in Gillow's book entitled

Traditional Indonesian Textiles (1992) which

describes that the traditional colors of Iban weaving

are brownish-red, blue-black and yellow without

further elaborating on the symbolism that each color

carries.

The color of the Iban woven fabric its specific

name in Iban language; black is celum, white is

burak, red is mansau, green is gadung, purple is

belo-belo. For blue and yellow, the Iban call it biru

and kuning the same as its’ Indonesian terms. The

locals also named the colors based on its intensity,

such as; dark red is called mansau tuai, light green is

gadung muda, orange is kuning tuai, reddish purple

is mansau tuai, and turquoise is called biru tuai. For

lighter color the Ibans use the term curak which

means grey, for example, curak mansau, curak

celum and so on.

In choosing the color of woven fabric for the

gawai, the Iban people wear bright colors such as

red and blue in connection with the implementation

of the method he held after receiving a sign of the

descent of the heavenly people. There are no

restrictions on the use of colors, such as in a

Christian ceremony, harvesting celebration, as well

as a baby birth ceremony. But specifically, for the

wedding ceremony, the Ibans wear clothes in bright

colors. Weavers avoid the use of black as a

dominant color because it is believed that it will

make their eyes blind. Unless there is a grieving

ceremony for the deceased Iban, then the sign of

condolence is utilized in the form of a rattan-made

rope that is dyed black then tied to the body.

The ban on using black colorcan be seen in a

ceremony called Gawai Sanawari. This ceremony is

held if there is an Iban who often get nightmares,

then in the next dream, there is a sign that the person

must have gawai. If the signis not obeyed, then the

person will go crazy or die. For the ceremony, the

person who gets the nightmare must offer a pig. In

this ceremony, the pedara is placed on a high

bamboo pole, then the yellow rice made of the

mixture of limestone and lime is thrown away so

that the nightmare becomes tasteless. After that, the

pig is killed and cooked, and to accompany it the

locals will drink tuak. Ibans find out the meaning of

the dream by using gawai the heart of a slaughtered

pig. If the shape of the heart is good or if there is no

injury, the related person will not go crazy or die.

On the other hand, if its liver looks like a wound, it

means a bad sign, then they should make gawai

again in the same manner. Pork meat that has been

cooked is then eaten together with the other

residents of a betang house. When the Iban will kill

the pig, a special weaving called Pua Atap Babi is

issued. This weave is brown-colored with a hint of

black and yellow with geometric plant motifs and is

used for protecting pigs when cut for offerings.

The symbolic meaning of the colors applied to

the Iban woven fabric was seen with a different

perspective by different weavers, as quoted from our

informant at the Betang Ngaung Keruh that people

in the past did not tell them much about the colors of

the woven fabric that they had made. One of the

examples is the red color for sungkit cloth does not

have a specific rule, it is only to extend that red is a

symbol of the courage of the Iban people. While

other weavers said that they have some restrictions

on color, based on messages from their parents

thatthey should not make woven fabric in a black

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color, but failed to elaborate further about this.

In the process of making natural dyes, some

restrictions must be held by the weavers. People are

not allowed to disturb the process while its ongoing.

One of the rules is the weaver should not be asked

about the color they are working on; it is because the

question will lead the process into failure. The result

of the dying process will not be the same with the

estimation of the weaver. Inability to dye the thread

will also affect the result of the woven fabric.

Meanwhile, from the preparation stage of

weaving on four types of Iban woven fabric

consisting of kebat, pilih, sungkit and sidan, only in

weaving for kebat requires different preparations

with other weaving, namely in the final stage in

designing motives there is the activity of straining or

binding threads according to design motive. Then it

is continued with the coloring stage which contains

the preparation of coloring material, boiling, dyeing,

then tightening once again or embossing, drying, and

opening the thread bond. At present, not all stages of

weaving are carried out. The two initial stages of

spinning yarn and nakar have disappeared and are

no longer carried out by the weavers because there

are no more weavers who can spin the yarn, while

the nakar process is considered impractical and

takes too long.

To bind the yarns in forming motifs before being

dyed with dyes using Lembak leaves. In the present,

they are wearing raffia for practice reason. And

because it is used, the binding of the thread to form a

motif no longer begins with the process of drawing

on the thread but directly binding. The weaving

work is done as part time after farming and doing

housework. The period of work cannot be

ascertained when the completion, for example for a

scarf with a width of 5 cm and a length of 1 meter

takes about 2-3 days. For larger table sizes, it can

take 2-3 months. Iban's women's work is farming,

making baskets, weaving mats, taking care of the

family, and weaving. While men are farming, doing

carpentry work, and making looms. Men cannot

weave and weave because they are considered to

take women's jobs.

Nowadays, Iban weavers also use synthetic

coloring as an alternative to make the product more

attractive. The result of synthetic coloring is more

commercial than the classical one which pays more

attention to the symbolic meaning behind the colors.

Here lies the interesting relationship between the

desire of the Ibans to keep preserving the tradition

and the desire to produce commercial fabrics to meet

economic needs.

4 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Changes in the natural landscape of Kalimantan

occur on a massive scale, entering the mid and late

half of the 20th century. The development of the

logging and mineral mining industry has made

forests cleared and turned them into expanses of

open land. This process was followed by the

expansion of oil palm plantations and various

experiments to open new agricultural land on a large

scale which not only changed the natural landscape

but also encouraged the social changes of the people

who inhabited it. One of the social changes can be

seen from the characteristics of settlements with

long house settlement patterns (betang) that turn into

rural areas with the establishment of individual

houses. Rivers and forests that used to be food

sources and sacred sites no longer provide places to

hunt, live ancestral spirits, game hunt animals,

medicinal plants and important materials such as

rattan, bark, leaves and fruit that are usually used to

make various agricultural, household and handicraft

items including woven fabrics.

Betang in the area of our research area are

inhabited by three generations, namely the

generation of parents, children and grandchildren.

Although the statistical data states the population in

one hamlet or betang reaches tens or hundreds of

lives but the reality is not that much. Usually only

parents and mothers who have children under five.

More adult men go and live abroad to work in the

cities of Malaysia, Puttusibau and Pontianak, while

school-age children to teenagers live in locations

close to schools and campuses. Some teenagers who

occasionally appear in Betang are those who do not

have a job and live while waiting for the opportunity

to come to Bakuli outside. One of the social status of

a person for Iban is measured by the knowledge of

areas far from their place of residence and the

number of social relations that are woven during the

trip. So bajalai and bakuli become important things

for Iban men when they enter the adult stage.

According to Freeman, bajalai is a social

mechanism to replace the mengayau tradition to

improve one's social status.

Almost all family members of the Iban who

settled in Betang ranged from children to the elderly,

involved in field work. Agriculture is very important

for the life of the Iban people, because agriculture is

not only moving the economy but also their socio-

culture. The Iban plant rice for their own

consumption and for the fulfillment of traditional

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ceremonies and large parties such as gawai.

Weaving activities today are still largely part-time

jobs after doing work in the fields.

In the 1980s, there was a change in the coloring

technique, in which the Ibans began to use synthetic

dye. The consideration was the lower price, the more

natural dyeing techniques, and the capability to

produce a brighter and more intense color, as

opposed to the natural dying method which only has

limited color variation. As in weaving techniques,

the knowledge of Iban weaving dye technique also

inherited from generation to generation by taking

essential ingredients in the surrounding nature, for

example, the red color is obtained from the

processing of roots of Mengkudu Kayu while the

blue coloris taken from the leaves of Rengat Akar.

Iban people called that synthetic dyes as wantex.

However, the use of synthetic dyes has negative

impactson the environment. It caused pollution

which may threaten the perseverance of the nature

around them.

Problems stated above had prompted NGOs to

help the weavers to strive for betterment.It began in

2010 where World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

consistently helped to revive the weaving activities

that had been abandoned by the majority of the

second generation of weavers who were more

focused on education and preferred to do other jobs

thatwere more promising than weaving. One of

NGO’s programs is a natural coloring process that

supports nature conservation. This activity did not

stop at that moment, NGOs also assisted local

people with the procurement of yarn and to market

the product which was the main problems for most

of the weavers. Recently, NGOs namely PRCF and

ASPPUK came to the community in2016 and were

supported by TFCA. The presence these NGOs

besides helping the locals to get the threads also

arousing the enthusiasm of the other Iban women

who previouslywere not interested in weaving. It

was possible as the womenbegan to realize the

economic opportunities that emerged from weaving.

NGOs also often encourage their guests to buy Iban

woven fabrics and create special programs to do

marketing outside the community.

The effort to train Iban weavers to use natural

coloring had pushed the Ibans to return the traditions

handed down from their ancestors. Even though the

current implementation is not one hundred percent

similar to the old techniques, but it utilized the

combined with methods and materials from outside

Kalimantan. For example, the material of Kapur

Sirih, Tawas, and Tunjung brought from Java as one

of the basic ingredients for natural dyes, instead of

using Tempuyung due to physical constraints and

limitations of snails taken in the river as raw

material. For example, when the rainy season

arrives, tempuyung on the banks of the riverbed will

be swept away by fast flowing water so that it will

be easier to find in the dry season where river water

flows more calmly. Tempuyung was also used for

Iban people who were still fond of nyirih not much

different from the function of whiting which is also

used by Javanese to nyirih.

For natural dyes, most of them are taken from

plants in the area around the betang house, like

Rengat Padi leaves that grow near the Betang

Enkadan, every time they picked for coloring the

woven cloth, the weavers will replant the stems to

maintain the availability of natural coloring sources.

Another way is through the planting program of

natural coloring plants in each betang house that

initiated by several NGOs including ASPPUK so

that weavers not only learn to process about coloring

but also get the ease of getting these plants. The

location of planting natural coloring plants varies,

some are chosen close to the betang house where the

weavers are settled or in locations close to their

fields. Most of the weavers choose a location that is

close to the betang house with consideration of the

ease of access to transportation, supervision of plant

maintenance and harvesting of crops whenever

necessary.

The Iban weavers aside from learning to look for

new colors that are in accordance with market

desires, also do not leave the original colors of Iban

whose ingredients are obtained from plants that

grow in the environment of their betang houses. For

example, the weavers in Betang Ngaung Keruh

studied the technique to find new colors from plants

that had not been used by the old-time weavers such

as Kemunting leaves that are growing in the yard of

the Betang Ngaung Keruh. Kemunting is one of the

plants tested and managed to get yellow when mixed

with Tawas and Kapur, then become blue after

fixation with Tunjung ingredients. To get the green

color, the weavers get it by dipping the yarn in

yellow then the same thread is dyed again in blue.

The weavers in Betang Enkadan have been handed

down for generations using Jangau tree bark which

is chopped and pounded as color lockers in the

process of making natural dyes. The other color

locking material is lime (tempuyung) taken from the

edge of the river which is processed by burning the

conch house on a bamboo base until it is destroyed

using firewood until it turns white and becomes

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powder, then stored in a jar or bottle. The use of this

lime in dyes will produce a brighter color intensity

on the fabric than betel lime. The weavers in

Kampung Sawah also use Jangau to tie natural dyes,

for example the red color produced from the

Mengkudu plant will be better in intensity if tied

with a long way, as well as the black color produced

from the brush or rice whining will be stronger in

color with a strange mixture. Another alternative to

tie colors is to use tempuyung chalk. Plants that are

used for natural dyes can vary in a number of betang

houses, for example in the past, Mengkudu plants

were not found in the area of Kampung Sedik, so for

the red color they used plants and shrubs. After

ASPPUK arrived, then they planted Mengkudu for

natural coloring ingredients.

In its weaving development, there was a third

generation contribution to Iban weaving which their

ideas became a source of inspiration for the creation

of new products design (re-invention) made by their

mothers. Those designs that come from their

children appear to be more modern and functional

according to market tastes. The Ibans started to

produce bags, wallets, pencil cases, cellphones cases

and others that use woven materials. The colors used

not only revolving around the original Iban colors

obtained through the dying of natural dyes namely

red, black, white and blue or variations in other

colors such as green, gray-blueand dark yellow but

also include the colors obtained through threads like

pink, green and purple.

The orientation of market taste for Iban weaving

production has indeed forced some weavers to take

compromise position so that the woven fabric is

quickly formed and has the power to sell by dyeing

colors according to consumer orders. For example,

Malaysian consumers prefer bright colors that

cannot be obtained from natural dyes but from

finished yarns or the process of dyeing synthetic

dyes, while the original Iban weaving colors do not

have bright color intensity but tend to be soft and

dark. As time went on, weaving began to attract the

attention of Iban adult women because weaving was

considered to have economic value. The position of

the weaver begins to shift from weavers who have

the ability to make weaving through customary

conditions to be in the quantity of production and

sales that are able to adjust to market demands. The

weavers who are able to sell large quantities of

woven cloth will receive praise from fellow weavers

which has an impact on the creation of successful

weaving and sales methods for other weavers.

Prestige for weavers is no longer in terms of the

courage to make sacred weaves but also in bringing

in money for children's education and meeting other

living needs.

In fact, Iban weavers cannot be said to be smart

traders and are successful in marketing woven

fabrics from their production because they are new

to making woven fabric as a potential business.

Weavers still seem stuttering towards buyers and

have not met at a balanced point between the quality

of their production and market demands. They

seemed a bit awkward in fixing prices so that it

seemed difficult to compromise in this matter. On

the other hand, the market still seems to be less

appreciative of woven fabric because of minimal

knowledge of the manufacturing process which is

difficult, complicated and requires a long time. The

purchasing power of the market is still limited, so

the economy of the weaving business has not been

able to spin smoothly.

The market taste for Iban weavers have some

dilemmas. Woven fabrics that meet market tastes

will sell faster and automatically bring economic

benefits but the other hand, if the market tastes are

not in the mission of caring for the Iban weaving

tradition, it is feared that it will threaten the

continuity of woven fabrics.

These dynamic have brought changes to Iban

weaving which initially produced as a cultural tool

for the fulfillment of customs, so this orientation

begins to shift into products that have economic

value. For example, pua kumbu is no longer only

used for traditional purposes which have symbolic

meaning, but it becomes products that can be sold

and used by anyone. The motives and colors on the

pua kumbu have undergone a shift in symbolic and

functional values, such as in fashion week events

where the fabrics as pua kumbu are processed into

fashion items, ranging from hats, shoes, bags to

more clothes prioritizing the concept of aesthetics

with high selling power.

The target of consumers is the primary parameter

for the production of Iban woven fabrics in the

present and to determine the composition of colors

which no longer focus solely on the characteristics

of the sacred colors and values of woven fabrics.

Thus, weaving Iban has entered the realm of design

that takes into account the products that have selling

power and competitiveness, but on the other hand, it

is expected to still have traditional characteristics as

a force that makes Iban weaving different from other

local products.

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5 CONCLUSION

Today, some knowledge about woven fabric

continues to grow, including color, because the Iban

people are open to change itself. Iban weaving is

currently compromising with the market, looking for

the equilibrium of price and quality of products that

are feasible. The balance between fulfilling

economic needs and cultural preservation is the

primary concern of the development of woven

fabrics carried out by related parties ranging from

government to NGOs. Iban weaving today is no

longer seen as a local product that contains

traditional values but also included in design

products that are trying to balance between local

values and commercial value as well as preserve the

traditional characteristics witha blend of modern

style. Thus, Iban weavers with the helping of NGOs

need an adaptation process so that new cultural

problems do not arise while at the same time

maintaining natural sustainability by using natural

dyes.

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Gavin, Traude. 2003. Iban Ritual Textiles. Leiden: KITLV

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Gillow, John. 1992. Traditional Indonesian Textile

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Kartiwa, Suwati. 2007. Tenun Ikat. Jakarta: PT. Gramedia

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Sumardjo, Jakob. 2001. Tafsir Gambar-gambar

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Veth, P.J. 1854. Borneo Bagian Barat, Geografis,

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