On the Indonesian island of Bali, the central tenet of life is harmony – harmony among people, between people and the environment, and between people and the divine. This philosophy is known as Tri Hita Karana.
“Here, culture, tradition, and the environment are one,” says Made Maduarta, a Balinese local who directs the nonprofit Yayasan Pecinta Budaya Bebali. The organization’s name translates to the Bebali Culture Lovers Foundation; bebali is the Balinese term for sacred textiles used in religious ceremonies and rituals.
The nonprofit, popularly known as the Bebali Foundation, works with nearly 60 culturally distinct community groups across 12 islands in eastern Indonesia to revive and keep alive their diverse textile traditions and natural dyeing techniques in an environmentally sustainable way. These communities also happen to be some of the poorest in the region.
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Preserving a culture isn’t always financially profitable. The Bebali Foundation has found a way to honor heritage and generate income in Indonesia.
“The foundation is the common platform that connects different Indigenous groups in Indonesia to preserve their knowledge,” says Mr. Made, an expert on plants and cultural practices associated with dye-making here.
Through the nonprofit’s partner organization Threads of Life, more than 1,200 weavers, dyers, farmers who grow natural-dye plants, cotton-spinners who make yarn, and knowledge-holders – most of whom are women – work to produce traditional (though nonceremonial) textiles for sale to tourists in Bali and for the global market. The income enables the women to support their families.
“For them, the market is most important,” says Mr. Made, highlighting the importance of the business in motivating communities to preserve their textile traditions.
Each handwoven textile – which takes several months to be completed – is a kind of heirloom whose motifs tell a story that is passed on from one generation to the next. For example, on the island of Sumba, textiles are often woven with the kaka, or cockatoo, motif. Since this bird is mostly observed in groups in the wild, the motif is symbolic of “community” and is a reminder for people to work together to create a harmonious life for all. Similarly, every motif woven into the pieces represents some sort of message or folklore.
An ambassador for communities
Mohamad Widodo, a senior lecturer at the Polytechnic of Textile Technology on the Indonesian island of Java, appreciates the Bebali Foundation’s efforts. The nonprofit “serves as an ambassador of the communities it works with, telling their stories and promoting their culture to the outside world,” Dr. Widodo says. “It has become a trusted and respected partner of the artisans.”
In addition to its work on several remote Indonesian islands, the Bebali Foundation also partners with communities on Bali, helping these villages preserve their culture while also generating income.
In the coastal village of Seraya, the foundation has helped revive the knowledge of natural dyes – colors derived from the roots, bark, or other parts of specific plants. “We had lost almost everything with regards to natural dyes,” says resident Wayan Karya, who recalls the days when weavers used synthetically dyed yarn bought from the market.
Then, in the early 2000s, Mr. Made began visiting the village and interviewing the few older women still around, hoping to understand the natural-dye recipes used in the past. He not only gathered information but also worked on improving the traditional recipes to produce a better-quality color. These enhanced natural dyes have made the textiles produced by the cooperative in Seraya immensely popular; they sell at a premium.
“People come from other villages to buy our textiles,” says Mr. Wayan, who heads the cooperative. Registered in 2003 with 10 weavers and dyers, the cooperative today has more than 50 members. Weavers use the traditional backstrap loom to produce Seraya’s famous textiles, including the multihued rangrang, which has an interlocking zigzag pattern.
“By reviving traditional textiles and giving us the opportunity to make a living out of it, the foundation has helped improve the quality of our lives,” Mr. Wayan says.
The scenario was different in the village of Sidemen, where natural dyes were being widely used when Mr. Made first met Ida Ayu Ngurah Puniari in 1996.
A set of bebali textiles can be used for a long time and by many people within a community, a fact that created a gap in the production of the textiles. The knowledge of how to make them was lost for about 50 years, until the foundation encouraged Ms. Ngurah – whose father had been a Hindu high priest – to document available information.
Using knowledge gathered from her father before his death, Ms. Ngurah wrote a book about bebali textiles. The foundation published it in the Indonesian language in 2003, and it was translated into English a year later. Proceeds from the book sales were used to support weaving activities in the village.
“We are very happy about our association with the foundation,” Ms. Ngurah says. “Thanks to their efforts, more people now know about bebali textiles and their importance.”
Another important aspect of the Bebali Foundation’s work is to regularly conduct knowledge-sharing workshops, in which weavers, dyers, and others from the communities come together to convey ancestral information about weaving techniques, dye recipes, motifs, and everything else related to traditional textiles and culture.
The first workshop was on the remote island of Lembata in 2005, drawing nearly 100 people from eight islands. The foundation records the knowledge gathered from these workshops and various field trips in an information management system so that future generations of Balinese – or others interested in the textiles and the communities that produce them – can access it.
Benefiting culture and nature
The foundation researches and experiments with natural-dye plants and recipes to extract the best colors. One such plant is the Morinda (Morinda citrifolia), whose roots provide the red color seen in many traditional Indonesian textiles.
Dyers usually wait about seven to 10 years before harvesting the roots of the Morinda tree. In most cases, the tree is cut down to harvest the roots.
To prevent the needless destruction of Morinda trees, the foundation experimented with growing saplings in polythene bags in its nursery and harvesting the roots after about eight to 10 months. The results were promising. “The small root produces a good red,” Mr. Made says.
If adopted in communities, the technique could save hundreds of Morinda trees each year.
The nonprofit also maintains an herbarium of nearly 360 local plants, most of which are used to make dyes.
“The foundation’s work benefits both culture and nature,” says Anthony Cunningham, an Australian ethnobotanist who advised the nonprofit in its early years. In Dr. Cunningham’s experience, it takes nearly a decade to determine whether a development project is successful. “The Bebali Foundation has passed this test,” he says.
