Barkcloth Craftsman

1. The Origin

Cloths is the actualization of human civilization which is made to protect people from hot and cold weather. Besides, a cloth is also used to fulfil people‘s spiritual needs. Likewise, such values can be found in Donggala, Central Sulawesi Province.

Barkcloth in Indonesia is commonly noticed as kain kulit kayu. The Donggala people call barkcloth with vuya. Some other names of barkcloth in Donggala are ivo, kumpe for people from Pandere and Kulawi villages, ranta for people from Bada village, and inodo for people from Besoa.

Barkcloth has been familiar amongst the Donggala people since hundreds years ago. They did not only wear barkcloth in daily lives but, they also dressed it on several customary ceremonies. Far before the emerging of textile factories, barkcloth has been functioned as shroud to cover a dead person in Donggala, especially presbyters and noble persons.

In several customary ceremonies, barkcloth takes form into specific types as follow:

• Toradau. This type of barkcloth shapes out like a blouse, commonly dressed in welcoming respected guests.
• Vuya. This type of barkcloth is used when healing diseases ceremony takes place.
• Siga. This is a headband that is commonly used in customary and adat ceremonies.
• Vini. This is a skirt dressed by a bride either on wedding or welcome parties.

As the time goes by, the existence of barkcloth is gradually ignored and threatened with extinction. The new wave of textile industry and the lack of awareness of inheriting barkcloth making skill are the motives. Besides, Moraceae tree as the main material of barkcloth cannot be easily found anymore since uncontrolled forest cutting.

Therefore, it is necessary to arrange some strategic efforts to preserve the existence of barkcloth. There are two strategic steps to preserve barkcloth, first, actively involving local government into such efforts by including barkcloth making skill into academic curriculum. And secondly, simultaneously developing barkcloth and adjust it to the modern world without leaving behind its philosophy since so far, barkcloth is solely dressed in customary ceremonies. Product development on barkcloth is necessary to be done by considering its economic value with hope it can help preserving its existence.

Product development on barkcloth will lure people‘s interest on barkcloth. By that way, people will be stimulated to enthusiastically preserve the existence of barkcloth amongst their lives. Hopefully, the local inhabitants‘ awareness of Moraceae trees preservation will immediately arise. 

2. Materials and Tools

a. Materials

Barkcloth comes primarily from the trees of Moraceae family consisting of Broussonetia papyrifera, Artocarpus altilis, and Ficus.

b. Tools

To make a barkcloth, we need to use several tools below:

• Parang. This is used to cut the timber.

• Ike (wood grinder). It is an alabaster or granite with 2 x 4 x 7 centimetres in width, and is bent by using a rattan rope. The alabaster or granite usually has specific linear motifs. Three types of Ike based on its linear motifs are wide-linear-motifs ike that is used to plane away the bark; narrower-linear-motifs ike that is used to plane away barkcloth; and narrow-linear-motifs ike which is used to create barkcloth‘s texture.

Types of ike that are used to make a barkcloth

• Tatua. Tatua is a half-circle wood or hard plane that is used as a pedestal on which the wood is ground by using ike.

3. The Making

It takes long time to make a barkcloth as it requires distinctive skills, and demands mystical rites as well. A barkcloth maker, for example, is not allowed to take bath using chemical soap or hand and body lotion before starting making a barkcloth.

Below are complete steps of barkcloth making processes retrieved from jgbua.wordpress.com and panyingkul.com:

a. Preparation stage

At this stage, there are two steps consisting of compiling materials and preparing the tools. Some stages during compiling materials are below:

• Looking for a Moraceae tree. Commonly, a barkcloth maker will choose a tree which has reached two years old. The right time to look for the tree is on a full moon.

• The tree is sliced four spans of hand in length.

• A barkcloth maker removes the bark from the tree (in local term called nosisi). The barkcloth maker should look at the full moon while he is removing bark from the tree.

• Then, the bark is brought home but the barkcloth maker must wait for her body become “clear‘ (the barkcloth maker is not menstruating).

After the bark being brought home, the barkcloth maker
has to wait for herself become “clear”

b. Making stage

The processions of barkcloth making stages are below:

• The barkcloth maker planes away the bark in such way until the bark has the average thickness.

Planning away the bark

• The bark is put on tatua, and forged out (in local it is called nambaovo) using ike. It usually takes three hours until a full barkcloth is shaped out. Barkcloth maker must hammer the bark rhythmically and sincerely as it will determine the quality of a barkcloth.

Hammering the bark rhythmically and sincerely

• After hammering the bark, the barkcloth maker cleans the bark, and stores it in a certain box for about 24 hours. Before being stored, the bark is wrapped with mengkudu leaf to smooth out the bark‘s surface.

• After 24 hours being stored, the bark is hammered for the second time using ike above tatua. On this stage, several sheets of the hammered-bark are glued together. This stage is usually called nontutu in local term.

• The next step is nompao which demands the barkcloth maker to rub the bark in order to smooth it out.

• Now the bark is dried in the sun. After getting really dried, a full barkcloth has been shaped out. After this step, usually the barkcloth maker adds some specific motifs based on her sense. Avoid from the water as the water can make the barkcloth rotten.

A barkcloth maker shows her work

4. Values

Barkcloth from Donggala is not solely a unique cloth made of bark to protect them from cold and hot weather. To some extent, at least there are three implicit values that can be found within. Those values are being wise in exploiting natural resources, religious message, and forbearance.

The existence of barkcloth indicates that the Donggala people is wise enough in employing natural resources to protect themselves from hit and cold weather. They deliberately consider the age of a tree that will be used as the material to make a barkcloth, which means they act wisely towards their nature.

The existence of certain thing has significant influence in a society; hence, automatically people will embed religious values on it. It is just the same as the existence of barkcloth amongst the Donggala people. Some prohibitions during its making processes indicate the effort to give sacred value on barkcloth.

To make a full barkcloth, it requires several complicated steps, especially when the bark must be hammered frequently and rhythmically for long time. This step takes great patience for barkcloth maker to create an elegant and beautiful barkcloth typically of Donggala, Central Sulawesi Province.

Written by Ahmad Salehudin (33/07-08)

Translated by Irfan Nugroho (ter/13/07-08)

Photo credits: Basri Marzuki

References:

• Basri Marzuki,  “Kisah Kain Kulit Kayu yang Layu,” retrieved from http://panyingkul.com/view.php?id=896&jenis=kabarkita, on July 3^rd, 2008.
• Basri Marzuki, “Tradisi Ramah Lingkungan yang Terancam Zaman,” http://jgbua.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/tradisi-ramah-lingkungan-yang-terancam-zaman/, retrieved on July 3^rd, 2008.
•  “Batu dilahirkan menjadi manusia/orang”, http://www.infokom-sulteng.go.id/pustaka.php?id=74, retrieved on July 3^rd, 2008.
• “Motana Tomate”, http://www.infokom-sulteng.go.id/budaya.php?id=42, retrieved on July 3^rd, 2008.         

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