Life Stories on a Strand of Yarn
TWO vintage looms sit in the center of a workshop at Jero Puspa, Sinduwati village in Karangasem, Bali. They are solid and shiny, despite being built over 30 years ago. Puspa, 44 years old, takes special care to keep them in tip-top shape. "One is used to weave plain cloth, the other to weave cloth for sacred ceremonies. The two should never be mixed," Puspa said, whose mother was also a weaver. In Sinduwati, weaving traditions are passed down from mother to daughter.
Puspa moved to one of the looms and sat down to work on a cloth, stitching in dark green butterfly patterns. It is an old decorative pattern with no special meaning. "This is unlike the traditional-ceremony cloths, which often have circular patterns, symbolizing the admonishment to refrain from lust," she toldTempo.
June 2, 2015
TWO vintage looms sit in the center of a workshop at Jero Puspa, Sinduwati village in Karangasem, Bali. They are solid and shiny, despite being built over 30 years ago. Puspa, 44 years old, takes special care to keep them in tip-top shape. "One is used to weave plain cloth, the other to weave cloth for sacred ceremonies. The two should never be mixed," Puspa said, whose mother was also a weaver. In Sinduwati, weaving traditions are passed down from
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