Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The fabrics of Indonesia have long held an allure. They have now won universal popularity, so much so that local names for techniques of dying and weaving - batik, ikat, tritik - have been adopted internationally as generic terms.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Traveling throughout the large Indonesian archipelago, researcher and collector John Gillow, an expert on Indian textiles, has made a study of contemporary Indonesian textiles including resist dyed textiles for domestic use and everyday wear, for ritual purposes, and for commercial sale. After providing a brief history of the Chinese, Indian, Arab, and European influences on Indonesia and their incorporation into native textiles, the book delves into the materials (cotton and silk), the looms (body-tension backstrap loom and shaft frame-loom), and the dyes (traditional and comtemporary) and dyeing processes. In a detailed survey of the different resist methods--batik, ikat-dyed weaving techniques (including the rare double-ikat of Bali), plangi and tritik resist methods--used by the (mainly female) craftsperson, Gillow discusses the history of the technique, its methods of application, and the regional varieties of the fabrics produced. He also covers songhet, a supplementary weft technique used for special ceremonial cloths, and describes embroidery, appliqu'e, bead and shellwork as well as bark cloth. Numerous line drawings of tools, processes, and designs, and maps as well as photographs, most of them color, of fine textiles illustrate this rich tradition. Glossary; a list of museums and galleries with collections. This thorough and well designed volume should interest crafts-persons, students of anthropology and textile history, and the general public. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; professional. M. Tulokas; Rhode Island School of Design

Booklist Review

With women's fashion now relying on the 1960s and 1970s for inspiration, the renaissance of resist-dyeing just might happen. Textile scholar and author Gillow (Traditional Indian Textiles) combined creative forces with photographer Dawson to produce a visual gallery devoted to the art of batik. Those who simply equate resist-dyeing with tie-dyeing will be surprised; the range of possibilities, colors, and techniques varies with almost every major area in the 13,000-island state. Textile history, of course, is documented, showing the rites and rituals associated with this cloth, as are the regional styles and embellishments, such as embroidery, applique, beading, and shellwork. Acting as a foil to the sometimes intellectual text are the more than 150 brilliant examples, which teach via pictures the similarities and differences among batik processes. ~--Barbara Jacobs