Weaving Arts

What is Weaving?
Weaving affairs or weave is the process in making cloth by plaiting woof thread between lungsi thread by using a loom made of wood, sticks, bamboo and metal.

Weaving Produts?

From this weaving process will be produced cloth, songket, and gloves. Songket  is one of Minangkabau woven products which is best known by the people and having the high quality, not only because the beauty of golden thread sparkle in a unique variety of motives but also because of its social function as a traditional costume fittings. Songket plays an important role in the ceremonies of birth, circumcision, marriage and death in Minangkabau.

One of the famous songket local weavers in Minangkabau is Silungkang village. Art lovers should visit the weaving village at Silungkang for a look into how the beautifully colored silk songket sarongs and scarves are made.

Getting There
Silungkang village is located in the edge of Sumatera highway approximately 95 km from south-east of Padang City or 12 km south of Bukittingi.

Getting Around
Silungkang village is also famous for its art such as woven rattan craft, stick, bamboo, brooms and weaving.

Songket Weaving Process
Songket is derived from sungkit or leverage that is way to add woof thread and golden thread in manufacture variety of adorn done by embroider lungsi thread. The materials used for weaving are the thread from cotton, fiber, silk and macau thread (gold and silver thread). Thread that generally used is imported abroad such as India, China and Europe.

Songket Motifs
Decoration or motif on songket called Cukie, some are using thread macau (gold and silver thread), silk and colored cotton. A uniqueness of the old Minangkabau songket there is a combination of two or three types of thread in a single motif.Silungkang woven in general have Batabua types, songket that is decorated not fulfill the field of cloth, and with some basic of songket are plain and some boxes. Silungkang woven motifs derived from the natural environment such as pucuak rabuang, flower, bird motifs, sirangkak, balah katupek and others. Its form is quite simple when compared with songket pandai sikek and not so complicated in the process so it can be completed in a relatively short time.

Manufacturing Techniques
In the development of Silungkang weaving today is there also combination between the ikat technique with songket technique with a variety motives of songket.  The materials used today except cotton, there has also been decorated with silk thread, macau thread and colored cotton thread. The Results of  Silungkang weaving, except made clothing there is also a need for decoration and other accessories. Now, Silungkang songket have good enough quality of materials, manufacturing techniques, decorative motifs and marketing, has even produced also weaving machines with a variety of motives and a relatively cheap price. Silungkang also well known as a local supplier of colored thread woven for needs of weavers in West Sumatra.

Songket and gloves Silungkang woven already well known in West Sumatra. Songket Silungkang also made traditionally, with a loom similar to loom in Pandai sikek but slightly having larger size from the loom in Pandai sikek. Since 1860s weaving industry in Silungkang was basically home industry and managed by the family members, which resulted in small scale production with small capital.

adapted from sawahlunto-tourism.com