Palu’e Ikat: Nomenclature and Iconography

Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive documentation of customary Palu’e ikat textiles and investigates the extent to which the design nomenclature and local interpretations constitute an iconography. A multivalent approach is used, starting from linguistic-ethnographic fieldwork and engaging critically with scholarly ikat research and the anthropological methods often applied in studies of traditional textiles, including the underlying assumptions about meaning, symbolism, and mythology. The Palu’e design nomenclature is not embedded in the recorded oral literature, or vice versa. Rather than being repositories for mythology, the cloths signify transmissibility; the act of transmitting them, along with the required craftsmanship skills, from generation to generation assigns them meaning and sacrality. This accounts for the discrepancy observed with compartmentalized or linguistically-inclined inquiries. For weavers, the nomenclature serves as a mnemonic device for memorizing designs, and enables discourse about them.