Malaysian textiles on display at NID in Ahmedabad

Imparting glimpses of the textiles tradition of the Iban people of Malaysia to the people of the city, an exhibition called 'woven dreams' began in the premises of the National Institute of Design (NID) on Friday.

While the exhibition is being organised by the Textile Art & Fashion Forum (TAFF) of Ahmedabad, it was inaugurated by the director of NID Pradyumna Vyas.

The two-day exhibition showcased many designs of textiles known as 'Pua Kumbu' which is the traditional textile of the Iban people of Malaysia.

Edric Ong who brought the exhibition to NID said, "The exhibition here displays some of the contemporary and historical textiles of Iban Pua Kumbu weaving. We wanted to display the Iban textiles to the people of Ahmedabad."

The day also held a lecture on 'Pua Kumbu' by Ong who is also an architect, author and curator. Talking about the background of the traditional craft, Ong said, "Many traditional Pua Kumbu had their designs derived form dreams given by the weaving goddesses known as Kumang or Meni and thus earned themselves the term 'woven dreams'. Since 1988, the weavers have mastered the weaving using silk yarn with natural dyes using the traditional back-strap floor loom."