Ende. Handwoven textiles, locally known as kain tenun, stand as a cherished craft of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), drawing attention from tourists far and wide. Nuamuri Village, nestled in Mbuli Lo'o Sub-district, Wolowaru District, Ende Regency, serves as a hub for these skilled artisans.

Beritasatu.com, a sister publication of the Jakarta Globe, recently had the opportunity to visit Nuamuri Village and witness firsthand the meticulous process behind crafting these traditional textiles. It was revealed that creating a single piece of kain tenun using natural dyes can span several months.

"The authentic ones can take up to seven months due to our other activities. The non-authentic ones are quicker, around two months," explained Mensi, one of the weavers in Nuamuri Village, to Beritasatu.com on Wednesday.

Each kain tenun spans approximately 3 meters in length and 78 centimeters in width. The duration of the weaving process is also dictated by the complexity of the motifs.

"The motifs vary. The process depends on creating beautiful and intricate designs, especially with natural dyes," Mensi said.

NTT's handwoven textiles are categorized into several types based on their production techniques: ikat weaving, buna weaving, and lotis or songket weaving.

Ikat involves creating patterns by tying threads. Buna weaving technique involves weaving pre-dyed threads to form colorful and captivating motifs. Lotis or songket is characterized by dark base colors such as black, brown, navy blue, and maroon. The weaving process mirrors buna weaving but is distinguished by its traditional color palette.

Traditionally, artisans in NTT use natural dyes derived from plants such as tauk, noni (mengkudu), turmeric, and others. However, in modern times, many weavers have adopted chemical dyes due to their advantages. These dyes accelerate the production process, resist fading and sunlight exposure, withstand rubbing, and offer a diverse color range.

In NTT, the motifs on kain tenun serve as cultural identifiers, indicating the wearer's origin by reflecting distinct tribal or regional characteristics. These motifs embody the community's way of life and forge a strong emotional bond with the local culture. NTT residents take immense pride in wearing textiles from their own ethnic group, feeling uncomfortable wearing those from other tribes.

Crafting kain tenun involves a meticulous process, starting with spinning kapok (silk-cotton tree) into thread, stretching it to create motifs, soaking it in water after motif creation, and dyeing it using natural colors. The threads are then stiffened with a concentrated tamarind seed boil before weaving can commence. Due to the labor-intensive nature of production, kain tenun is priced in the millions of rupiah range.

One showcased kain tenun featured a black base with reddish-brown motifs, including the inscription "ine pare" (mother of rice), a mythological symbol of rice's origin in the Lio community, adorned with various animal motifs.

"The price starts at Rp 3.5 million ($216), but some pieces exceed Rp 5 million due to the use of kapok-spun threads and natural root-based dyes, which require months of soaking to achieve these results," Mensi concluded.

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