Ikat is a beautiful textile made up of complex patterns that are formed by employing resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric. In ikat, the resist is formed by binding individual yarns or bundles of yarns with a tight wrapping applied in the desired pattern. The yarns are then dyed. The bindings may then be altered to create a new pattern and the yarns dyed again with another color. This process may be repeated multiple times to produce elaborate, multicolored patterns. When the dyeing is finished all the bindings are removed and the yarns are woven into cloth.
The process of creating Ikat textiles is extremely difficult and tests the skills of the dyer as well as the weaver. It takes a lot of planning and designing to get the dyed yarn lined up so that the pattern comes out perfectly in the finished cloth. Perfectly placed patterns, complicated patterns, and multiple colors are more difficult to create and are therefore often more expensive.
Although united by a common technique, ikat textiles are astonishingly diverse in their imagery, which ranges from bold geometric compositions to figurative patterns of striking visual and technical virtuosity. As the surface design is created in the yarns rather than on the finished cloth, in ikat both fabric faces are patterned.
THE HISTORY OF IKAT
The ancient trade routes of Asia blur the Ikat origins history into one tapestry. Quite fitting, considering the fuzzy Ikat style.
Textile experts believe that the art evolved in various places in Indonesia and other southeast Asian countries like Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand. They have a long history of developing the ikat weaving style; each with a flavor of its own.
Ikat has been part of Indonesian cultural history for millennia. Over time, different regions across Indonesia’s 17,000 islands perfected their own designs and production styles, which are still regionally represented today.
Ikat is not India’s indigenous textile, and is thought to have come to India long, long ago; because of its trade ties in ancient times with China and Indonesia. In fact, the fine quality of ikat from India became so popular that at one point in history, ikat was taken as currency on the famous Silk Route in ancient times. The oldest surviving example of Ikat was an Indian Odishan style found in a Pharaoh's tomb.
It’s also proof of the longstanding trade between India and Egypt.
In India, it came to be developed as a prominent handloom textile art in three major regions – Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Gujarat, and Odisha. Over the years, these three regions developed their own style of ikat weaving – each distinct in pattern and the way the yarn is dyed and used.
Origin
The term "ikat" has an Indonesian origin, and it was introduced into European textile vocabulary back in the early 20th century when the Dutch scholars begin to study the rich textile traditions of the East Indies archipelago (today Indonesia).
Uyghurs call it atlas (in IPA [ɛtlɛs]) and use it only for woman's clothing. The historical record indicates that there were 27 types of atlas during the Qing occupation. Now there are only four types of Uyghur atlas remaining: Qara-atlas (Darayi, black ikat used for older women's clothing), Khoja'e-atlas (yellow, blue, purple ikat used for married women), Qizil-atlas (red ikat used for girls), and Yarkant-atlas (Khan-atlas). Yarkant-atlas has more diverse styles; during Yarkant Khanate (16th century), there were ten different styles of Yarkant-atlas.
Distribution Ikat is a weaving style common to many world cultures. It is probably one of the oldest forms of textile decoration. However, it is most prevalent in Indonesia, India, and Japan. In Central and South America, ikat is still common in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico.
In the 19th century, the Silk Road desert oases of Bukhara, Samarkand, Hotan, and Kashgar (in what is now Uzbekistan and Xinjiang in Central Asia) were famous for their fine silk Uzbek/Uyghur ikat.
India, Japan, Indonesia, and many other Southeast Asian nations including Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand have weaving cultures with long histories of ikat production.
Double ikat weaving is still found in India, Japan, and Indonesia. In Indonesia, it is still woven in Bali, Java, Kalimantan or Borneo, and Sumatra.
THE TYPES OF IKAT OR IKKAT
Ikat is classified into single-ikkat and double-Ikat styles
Single Ikat fabric is created by interweaving tied and dyed warp with plain weft or resisted weft yarns are inserted in the plain weft. Double Ikat involves the process of resisting on both warp and weft and then interlacing them to form intricate yet well-composed patterns.
In warp Ikat, the dyeing of the threads would be of the warp (lengthwise lay of threads) on which the weft (feed of thread woven breadth wise across the warp) is woven. In weft Ikat, it would be vice versa. In double Ikat, both the warp threads and the weft threads would be dyed separately and then woven together.
In warp Ikat the patterns are evident on the warp lay even before the weft is introduced. Ikat created by dyeing the warp is simple as compared to the making of either weft Ikat or double Ikat.
Double Ikat
Double ikat is created by resist-dyeing both the warp and weft prior to weaving. Some sources use the term double ikat only when the warp and weft patterning overlap to form common, identical motifs. If they do not, the result is referred to as compound ikat.
This form of weaving requires the most skill for precise patterns to be woven and is considered the premier form of ikat. The amount of labor and skill required also make it the most expensive, and many poor-quality clothes flood the tourist markets. Indian and Indonesian examples typify highly precise double ikat. Especially prized are the double ikats woven in silk known in India as patola (singular: patolu). These are from Khambat, Gujarat. During the colonial era, Dutch merchants used patola as prestigious trade cloths during the peak of the spice trade.
This art of resist is widespread in other countries as well like
Cambodia
Iran
Thailand
Latin America
Accreditation
As of 2010, the government of the Republic of Indonesia announced it would pursue UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage accreditation for its ikat weaving, along with songket, and gamelan having successfully attained this UNESCO recognition for its wayang, batik, and the kris.
references ~ Wikipedia.com, craftatlas.co
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