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Baduy Woven Fabric Crafts as the identity of the Baduy Community


The Weaving Tradition From Baduy Tribe

Indonesia has a very large cultural diversity when compared to any other country. One of Indonesia's works that should be proud of is the woven cloth of the Baduy Tribe.

Even though it is not as well known as the Palembang songket cloth or the Pesisiran Batik, this Baduy woven cloth has its own peculiarities, both in terms of material and decoration that underlie its manufacture. For people in the Kendeng Mountains, Kanekes Village, weaving is an activity of their ancestors that must be preserved.

In Indonesia, the expertise to make weaving has been owned by people in the 8th century to the 2nd century BC. For the Baduy tribe, the skill of weaving is inseparable from a background that is influenced by historical elements.

Weaving activities for the Baduy tribe are activities carried out by women. At an early age they were taught how to weave cloth. Baduy weaving is believed to have a symbolic meaning related to the traditions and beliefs of the Baduy people.

For them, besides functioning to fulfill clothing needs, weaving also functions as an identity, especially for customary values ​​which also symbolize their existence.

The process of weaving the Baduy woven cloth

Baduy woven fabrics are made with the help of nature. The process starts with the cotton being spun to form yarn. This cotton is one of the main ingredients. They process the cotton into threads with simple spinning, then weave it using wooden tools that they make themselves.

The weaving process can take weeks to months. The length of this process is due to the size and complexity of the fabric motif.

Baduy woven fabric motifs

Usually, the Baduy woven fabric motifs are colorful lines and the motifs are inspired by nature. Baduy woven fabrics are always used in making traditional clothes. Especially if the Inner Baduy tribe still adheres to customary rules.

In the Inner Baduy tribe, clothes must be made from when and no sewing machine is allowed in the making. For the Inner Baduy tribe, the color is dominated by white. This color is interpreted with holy and rules that have not been influenced by outside culture. As for the Outer Baduy people, black and dark blue fabrics are often used colors.

For women, cloth is used in making traditional clothes that have a shape resembling a kebaya. The use of Baduy woven fabrics is not only intended for traditional clothing. The advancement of tourism in Outer Baduy is used by local residents to sell cloth to tourists who come to visit their area.

If you are interested in seeing the Baduy people weaving Baduy woven fabrics, you can visit them in Cibeo Village, one of the villages in Kanekes Village. Here you can learn and learn the complexities of the fabric making process which is done by weaving. There is one interesting thing about this Baduy woven fabric, that weaving activities can only be done by women.

It is said that if a man is exposed to a weaving tool, let alone trying this traditional activity, then the man will change his behavior to become like a woman.