Pattern and Meaning in Textiles from Indonesia
February 20–July 17, 2005

Pattern and Meaning in Textiles from Indonesia features a selection of textiles from the Dallas Museum of Art’s permanent collection representing seven Indonesian islands: Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumba, Roti, and Timor. The textiles range in date from the late 19th through the mid-20th century.

The textiles of Indonesia are a vividly expressive art form and often have ritual significance apart from their practical use as clothing. They are unsurpassed in the integration of form and function, color and texture, pattern and symbol.

The exhibition will explore pattern—the imagery, the visual subject matter of cloth, from figurative to geometric, from complex ship to bold star like forms, and from human figures to subtle stripes. Meaning has many facets. Designs can be symbolic, as in the ship of the Sumatran ceremonial cloth, which signifies a safe journey for the human spirit during rites of passage, or the paired phoenix birds on a Javanese skirt, which represents double happiness.

In addition, the exhibition will introduce four recent textile acquisitions in the context of other textiles that have not been on display for several years. These acquisitions include ceremonial skirts from Lombok and Timor, a ceremonial cloth from Bali, and a skirt from Hainan Island, China.