Day 2 of Ubud Writers & Readers Festival
Last year about three weeks before the festival I read through the whole programme page by page, box by box, ad by ad, and had a multilayered and coloured highlight and pen system to indicate which events I was interested in, which I would definitely go to, and which I decided that I couldn't attend because of a schedule clash. This culminated in an A4 Excel table that I printed with times, locations, speakers, and who I would be attending with, all perfectly mapped out.
On the second day of this year's festival I traipsed in in the late afternoon, deciding spur of the moment which of the venues to go to (Neka, because that's where the best of the main programme is), with a vague knowledge that I probably missed a couple of good speakers in the morning but hoping that the day's last two sessions would make up for it.
The first one was on the role of the arts in diplomacy. The second explored how fabrics and dress can be used to make statements and channel values. One of the speakers was Didiet Maulana, the founder of Ikat Indonesia, a company bringing traditionally weaved ikat textiles back into daily life and the fashion mainstream. His creations, shown in a short video with some samples on display live, were extraordinary, and the way he spoke about his family history and the significance and meaning behind different kinds of patterns showed a person who cares deeply about what he does.
Towards the end in the question and answer session I asked him about why he feels young people in Indonesia, especially men, shun traditional textiles, associating them with formal occasions and the older generation, and what, if anything, can be done to change that. As a reward for my question after the event I was given a free Ikat Indonesia cloth to take home. I opened the package and found what appearead to be a napkin with maroon, bronze, light, and dark lines. I asked Didiet if I could take a photo with him and the gift. I thought I would hold it, but he took the cloth and quickly fashioned it into an impromptu necktie.
That's a fashion designer for you. And I thought it was just a napkin.
#ubud #ikatindonesia #uwrf #uwrf19
