Barkcloth arranged in a ranging shade of brown (Source: Cinta Bumi Artisans)

Novieta Tourisia, of Novi as she is commonly known, is the owner of Cinta Bumi Artisans. Novi was a tourism sector professional when she chanced upon a tribe in Poso, Central Sulawesi who is practising the art of barkcloth. She was touched by their culture and heritage that she founded Cinta Bumi Artisans as an avenue to support these sustainability of the artisan communities and their art.

In this episode of aNERDspective (our NERD talk show where we converse with amazing friends about their textile adventure and perspectives), we talked to Novi in more details about this barkcloth culture and how she introduces them in contemporary settings.

Note: This transcript has been edited for reading format.

Tony Sugiarta (TS): Welcome Novi to today’s section of aNERDspective. How are you doing? How is Bali?

Novieta Tourisia (NT): I am doing good. Bali has started to shine some sunlight. How are you, Tony?

I am doing pretty good. In Singapore there is both rain and sun, so it is pretty unpredictable.

I found out about Cinta Bumi Artisans through Meet the Makers talk and I found out more when you are working with barkcloth as well as eco-prints. Those are two very different concepts, one is traditional heritage and the other one is a relatively new technique. I want to find out more about your journey, your practices, and perhaps you can start with a little introduction about who Novi is and your journey leading to Cinta Bumi Artisans.

Sure. My name is Novieta, you can simply call me Novi. I am an artisan, a natural dyer, and I would consider myself as a home-gardener. My journey in artisanal craftsmanship is.. actually I do not have any background in textile art or in fashion academically. I was studying tourism and I was a tourism practitioner for about 10 years before shifting my path to textile and fibers. 

My main reason that I started to shift to this path is because through all the travels and journeys that I had during my work in tourism, I had this amazing opportunity to meet some artisans, weavers, dyers. As I traveled to West Sumatera, that is where my maternal family lineage came from, I began to learn that my first, second, and third great-grandmothers were Songket weavers, so it was like something that was reconnecting to my ancestral path. I cannot weave a songket yet, but that was a dream I hope to learn. Then, I started to build Cinta Bumi Artisans, the embryo started in 2013, but then our work with barkcloth was just launched three years later, in 2016.

How do you get in touch with all these different weavers, such as barkcloth artisans?

It is back to my practice in tourism. 

Back in 2013, I was helping a friend in Poso, Central Sulawesi. I went there to help arrange how to make a community-based ecotourism in that area. One of the things we did was actually survey and research, mainly the intangible cultural heritage. So, I went to Lore Lindu National Park, Bada Valleys and that is where the barkcloth culture and traditions are still alive. I lived with these mother artisans at their homes and learned how to make barkcloth. 

So, long story short, the project in the community ecotourism was finalising, but then my connection with them just evolved. I believe nothing is coincidence, but as I started Cinta Bumi Artisans, this just went really naturally. We work together, started with two mother artisans. Apparently, we just found out that previously we thought it was only two people who can still make barkcloth, but the truth is that they still can practice but a lot of their equipment and tools were either sold to museum or other people like collectors from other countries, so they no longer really practice it on their daily basis. Unless somebody comes to order barkcloth wedding attires, (orders) from their neighbour, their relatives, they are not making it regularly.

Can you share a little bit more about this barkcloth culture, because I am not very familiar with it.

In Central Sulawesi itself, the materials that we use for making barkcloth, there are 18 species of plants. The source is limited but we found some of the materials of the barkcloth and, I have courage to say that, it was the most sustainable material because it grows like bamboo. Paper mulberry plants, they grow like plants and the more you harvest at the right time, they are actually regenerating into more and more plants like the bamboo itself. 

But the culture itself, it has been centuries living in Central Sulawesi. One of the barkcloths that they have called Bea or Ivo, these are actually the exact same barkcloth as Tapa cloth (Hawaiian term for bark cloth) in Micronesian Island in Hawaii or in Aotearoa in New Zealand, they called it Aute. This also brought us to learn about the Austronesian migration, because we are all actually connected with people in Taiwan, New Zealand, Micronesians. Sulawesi somehow have these common roots that evolve into the culture and traditions into what we have now.

Do they still wear it, because you mention that they only order it for special occasions?

In the past century, since the 1930s, they no longer wear it as daily attire because cotton and other synthetic materials came and arrived on the island. So now, many wear it to weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies and purposes. 

It is also interesting to see and listen to their perspectives, because just like us, they want to evolve in terms of clothing. With the climate changes, it is no longer cold or cool like it used to be. (Also,) barkcloth although it can be really flexible as time goes on, when it is just newly made, it is like paper, a little bit stiff. But after a couple of months, it becomes very flexible just like fabrics. 

One of the things that they mention is that it can be really hard, they are now going to the rice fields and did not wear attires like that. We are in an age where everything is just developing and evolving really fast and it is very natural to listen to feedback and their own perspectives on clothing.

What do they do after the ceremonies or the funeral?

They actually keep it within the family. For example, if it is a wedding attire, somebody in the family who will get married, they will borrow it. So it is going to be used, maybe after a couple of wear. It also depends on the person who is going to get married, if they want to nikah adat (ed.: traditional ritual wedding) or modern wedding.

Can you share a little bit more about the process of getting the cloth itself from tree barks, from what you show earlier?

It depends on what kind of plants, but usually they use the paper mulberry (the bea barkcloth) or the nunu which is brown in colour. 

First of all, for bea or paper mulberry, they would cut it without killing the mother tree. After they cut it, it has to be the diameter of three to five centimeters, so it is not a big tree, it is a small tiny branch. 

Then they would peel the outer skin, then they cut the inner layer of the bark and started to wash them and beat them. There are several stages in the beating process. First they would use something called moboba, it is made of the branch of enau arenga pinnata. 

After that they would wash it so that the fibers will be more flexible, they usually fermented it for about overnight or two days. This is useful to make all the sap comes out because the sap will be a natural glue to attach the fibers to each other. 

After that, they continue beating with the stone beater, it is called ike, from the big stripes to the small stripes, because there are stripes and it makes a pattern. One branch or one whole bar, usually it is two meters long with three to five centimeters diameter, they can make about fifty centimeters by two meters (cloth). If they want to make it wider, they would just beat up and attach from another bar and with the sap being natural glue is really good, they do not really need to sew, they do not need synthetic glue, so you can just beat it and make it longer and longer.

This is very interesting. So, all the patterns are already part of the materials itself and there are no other decorative steps?

For decorative steps, it is usually done for ceremonial purposes. As I mentioned before, in weddings, they would hand-paint it but it is a very sacred practice. Actually in the old days, there were only specific shamans who were allowed to paint on a barkcloth and it had to be male shaman not the female. The female just makes the barkcloths and the painters are the males. 

For the hand-painting itself, for the bride attires, we just did it a month ago for exhibition, it took our partner artisan about two months to paint them all. It is so long because it uses native plants and native binder, so it looks like getah karet (ed.: rubber sap) and they will mix it with a colour from the plants or other pigments. This natural binder could last for a maximum of 10 hours. So, every time he wants to paint, he had to harvest little by little, so it took a long time to paint it.

That sounds very intensive work. Are there still a lot of people who are practicing it?

I would say that only less than five people are still practicing and I tend to see that the flow of how they pass on this skill and knowledge is actually purely generationally. So, let’s say if there is a father who is a hand painter of barkcloth, he would pass it on to his sons or nephews.

It must be to the male heir?

To the male, yes. I met some of these intergenerational hand-painters and that’s what they did, like from their grandfather to the father and now they are teaching their sons and nephews. 

I, myself, am still learning how this flow would be sustained within the community, not exclusively on generational family lineage, because what we are sometimes worried about if someday no one actually gives birth to sons, there are only daughters. Would that be something that would stop this practice?

How restricted are they to teach it outside of the family or is it something that is not in their practice, or their mind?

That is a great question. Because in the barkcloth hand painting practice, I and some of our researcher friends tend to see that they are quite sacred at that practice. So they are not really open to sharing to other artisans even though they are from their own tribe or community, so it is really familial lineage. 

Other than barkcloth, I think you also explore a lot of different material or you visit many different places. From what I see, other than barkcloth the other one is eco-prints. Why these two techniques that finally you concentrated on?

For the barkcloth, I think I was and I am always fascinated by these fibers because it is one of the oldest fibers in our human clothing history. It is actually amazing how it is still alive after centuries and then after a lot of other modern fabrics come (into existence). It is believed that it has a place where it can shine its light because of its sustainability characteristics.

For eco-printing, that is also the same reason why I was encouraged to learn about it. First time I learned about it was from the book of Original Discovery by India Flint, she wrote a book about eco-colours. Actually during my work in tourism I also have this opportunity to learn about batik, weaving, and other (textile techniques. Eco-printing or bundle-dyeing as a contemporary method. I believe it is more sustainable than doing immersion dyeing because it needs less energy, less water, and to put it in a sustainability context, I think that is a perfect match. 

I started to explore how to connect the barkcloth and eco-print and started to experiment with what if I do eco-print on barkcloth. Recently we came back from Central Sulawesi to share with our partnering artisan on how to do eco-print on barkcloth. They are really interested because none of them can do natural dyeing with plants, only some of them, but they do not really practice the painting. As I told you it is a sacred practice by certain familial lineage. So, to introduce something like this, it is also a part of me feeling that I have learned so much from them and I would like to share the contemporary practice that might be a part of the solution to create some surface design on their own work.

How is the progress on that?

It is amazing. I think it is not that they do not know, but there is a phase where all the knowledge, all the skills, were just disconnected from two generations ago and was not passed on to them. 

So, we are really learning together because I also found plenty of native plants in the Bada Valley that actually have pigments and tannins (but) are not in the book, not in the vocabulary of natural dyes of Indonesia. It is very specific and only in that area. So, we are still in a learning phase and hopefully later this year we can bring up and be more open to show the progress.

Very interesting to combine eco-printing on barkcloth, something that I have not imagined, actually. I do not think that eco-print is a native Indonesian technique and you combine it into local tradition to come up with something fresh and exciting which I think many people will be looking forward to. 

I think the main connection that we try to bring up is using this foreign method (eco-print), but using ancestral dyes. For example, in Indonesia they tend to use eucalyptus for eco-printing, but I also found that rainbow eucalyptus is native in Central Sulawesi, so it is something that we can connect using another method but with heritage sources that you have and what is available around you. 

One other thing that I also love is collaborating with other artisans, like on Meet the Makers we have plenty of amazing makers from batik and weaving (community). I reach out to some of them, for example Nuri in Yogyakarta is exploring batik on barkcloth with us. We can see that the possibility is limitless for exploring and staying true to our heritage, but also realising that with this sustainability perspective, we can all walk together and create conscious creativity together.

We can connect using another method but with heritage sources that you have and what is available around you. 

That is nice that you are opening up to different collaborations. What is next in terms of what you do to promote the use of barkcloth because I do not think the consumers will wrap around barkcloth on their daily basis? So, how to introduce this material to them?

At the very beginning of productions, we created bags and accessories using barkcloth as material. It was not without challenge at all. 

First of all, what we did was actually asking this artisans community, ‘Do you want to work with us?’, ‘Do you want to explore?’, instead of just coming to this community and purchasing materials and creating products as this is (going) to be collective products and collective treasures. 

At the beginning they were doubtful about it, the Ketua Adat (tribe chief) is telling me that it is an ancient thing and is not interesting at all. I said that you are very blessed, I do not know how to weave, I do batik but not on a daily basis. So I said, it is up to you, if you are open to creating this together, then I would really love to walk hand in hand with you. 

Then we began trials and errors, from handphone pouches, bags, accessories, journal, making with barkcloth as cover. Some people also order wall tapestry for them and then hand-printed by artisans in Bada. 

At the first test after development of trial and error, we brought some of these prototypes to them and they could not believe that it is actually made from their barkcloth. I was saying to them, ‘Are you excited about it?’, ‘Do you now see your heritage fiber in a different way?’, and so on. 

Then we just started exploring from 2015 until now. Although there are some people who come to us and ask if they can create a collaboration but making cloth (only). I am still not seeing that as something that is possible to do, but always open to just exploring together, like creating a daily attire, because it is totally different for fibers and fabrics.

You do have people who work with barkcloth as a fashion material?

I am open to that, but also I would like to have the opportunity to educate, like how to maintain and fair collaboration with artisans because a lot of time some people, whether they are artisans or brands, they could create something but discredited artisans who make them. So, it is still an ongoing (discussion).

But I really like that you actually managed to convince them of their tradition, which they found it kuno and ancient, that it can be refreshed for the modern audience. It is very important in order to preserve the heritage. 

Yes. Absolutely. 

Are there any other materials that you are working on or just these two primarily at the moment? 

On textiles, previously, we also use modern fabrics, for example silks and then cotton but in the past two years, we have been shifting slowly into working with pineapples fibers from West Java and then Peace Eri silk from Yogyakarta, Gedog hand-woven textiles from Tuban in East Java. The possibility to create naturally dyed textiles with the community in Nusa Penida for example because they grow some cotton there and it is in our home island. 

I think a lot of things are happening in Bali. It is just that as a Balinese myself I have not actually gotten deeper. Something that should be rectified soon.

But that is what is really beautiful about the textile and fibers world, you are reconnected to your heritage textiles, maybe in the near future. I myself am still learning about all these ancestral heritage. There are a lot of them, so we cannot really absorb in just a couple days. 

You mentioned that you have Sumatera, was it Minang lineage? 

Yes, Minangkabau. 

Yeah, that is how you get reconnected as well.

What are some of the initiatives that you include in your process to ensure sustainability in the production?

At the beginning, we just (use) common practice in the production world. Usually, if we want to create this, so we need these materials. But I think creating and having small enterprises is like going to school again. So you learn processes every day and we begin to switch the process.

I think it was back in 2018, we tend to see what materials are available at the moment and not only in terms of the fibers or the fabrics or the barkcloth, but also the natural dyes that are available right now. 

So, we now have this flow called “productions follow materials” instead of “materials follow productions”. I think it is also something that I love to always inform our partners and clients who would like to work with us to dye some fabrics. We are always being honest and transparent about the capacity and also the materials availability right now, so it is not going to be overproduction. I think that is one of the keys that we as a conscious creative have to manage in our creative process.

“Productions follow materials” instead of “materials follow productions”.

I think that it also ties back to working with the artisans themselves because we do not just want to buy the materials and produce it myself. I think that is part of that collaboration and the openness to work with them to get all these different processes.

You mentioned something about “production following materials”, can you elaborate a little bit more on that?

This is actually a term that I often hear in the architecture world. They said “form follows function” or “function follows form”. So, I apply that in my practice. The production that we do should be based on the material availability. 

In our case, with the barkcloth artisans also, it has to be based on their current circumstances. Like for a local custom, for example. If there is mourning in the community, they are not allowed to produce any barkcloth within seven days or if it is a long rainy season, it is not possible for them to produce anything. 

So, instead of (basing) on the materials that have to be exactly what we need to be in producing something, we try to switch it. It is not easy, especially when it is working with other practitioners, artists or brands, who already have set their exact production timeline, like this has to be finished within two months in these quantities. I think it is just communication, the first thing that we need to be clear and just very transparent about the process. So, they also (need to) have a better understanding about this. 

How do you work with different partners or designers then?

For example, I have a friend in Denpasar and the name is The Bali Curator. They have clients who are looking for artisans who can create natural dyes or plant dyes, and they usually give them a list of options because in Bali now we have about five or six dye houses that we have on the home island. 

We are just collaborating with people who resonate with our practice and it is not always going to be smooth, but I think that the interesting part in growing and evolving. 

Also, one of the things that is quite challenging for some people and working with Cinta Bumi Artisans is that we have this limited capacity because we honor the principle of making only small batches. For example for fabric dyeing, we can only take 20 meter maximum per month. This is not large at all. Maybe for productions, like making ready-made clothing, it is going to be hard (with) only 20 meters. But we want to be very attentive to the quality of the dyes and also just taking it slow, in reality.

I guess they will need to understand in terms of the production process as well as the material availability and to expect all these different delays and to incorporate the materials into their design versus having set requirements and specifications to be forced on to you guys. “Oh,  I have to produce this kind of cloth with this texture or thickness.” There must be a connection in the first place before the project would begin. 

It is true. 

On the flip side what are some practices that you might find it interesting, but you have not actually implemented in terms of sustainability?

We grow our own dye garden for eco-printing. For immersion dyeing, at the beginning of our practice, we tend to source it from suppliers without really knowing or understanding the traceability of the dyes, for example. But fortunately in the past two years we have connected to some people who are really generous and also really open to share about their suppliers who can be traceable. 

For example, we source the indigo from the community in West Seraya in East Bali. We mordant our fabrics and barkcloth by using the loba leaves, the Symplocos, not using alum sulfate since the 2017 and source it from Bebali Foundation who work together with the farmers and weavers in Flores and Sumba. 

What I would love to apply that I have not done yet is actually to have a more integrated natural dye garden, for example, and also to grow our own barkcloth trees. We have about five plants in the studio, but I think it is not really enough yet because we need to regenerate more than we produce. It is my big wishlist and hopefully later this year when we can find a land where we can grow all these plants and then just having it as a communal space where people can also source the traceable dyes.

It will be very interesting. It is permaculture, the different plants in the same plots of land. The plants for the barkcloth are actually farmed and harvested or they are actually from the forest?

They are invasive. They are actually categorized as bushes not really plants. This also brings me to an interesting story about two years ago I met a lecturer from West Java who is also researching this and he said that in Bali the paper mulberry bark cloth was actually the bark paper. I found two people actually who are still practicing creating bark paper here in Bali. It is called ulantaga here and the ulantaga’s plants are actually just invasive. If you remember the road to Bedugul and Baturiti, they are all growing there, but no one really knows what it is for. So it is only for pakan ternak (livestock feed).

So, are they actually just wild plants?

Yes. So, the reason why I said I needed to find a land is because the garden is not in our studio but in my house. In my house, I planted in a pot so it is not an open land which they can grow invasively, while in a pot they are just really limited.

What are the different challenges that you have while running Cinta Bumi Artisans?

I think there are several real challenges, but I think what I would like to point out is that since we are talking about barkcloth and also fair collaborations, one of the challenges is that the more people actually notice you and your work, sometimes we find that not everyone really has a good mission. When we went to Bada Valley last January, we did a monitor and evaluation with the artisans, they told me that there were a couple of times when people came to the Bada Valley and then going to artisan’s house and trying to purchase their barkcloth and bargain in a very unreasonable price, for example, even 30 percent of the price. To make a barkcloth skirt as an example, it takes them for about a month to make.

But they tend to use my name or use the Cinta Bumi name as their friends. So I think it is still a challenge, but it is something that we cannot control. What we need to strengthen is actually to keep checking in with the artisans so that they do not always believe or accept any treatment from people just because they say they know me or they say know these people or that people. I think it can happen to anyone. That is the first challenge about working fairly with communities.

Secondly, I tend to find sometimes with clients for example that have very limited deadlines and want the perfect quality, but also with a low price so I think it is a challenge for a lot of artisans and I think we all resonate and relate to that. 

How do people find the artisans? I believe they are not in a very big city.

They are not in a very big city actually, but with the transportation they can still reach it. I would elaborate this, from Bali if you want to go to Bada Valley, you have to take a plane either to Palu or Makassar and then from there you need to take another flight to Poso. From Poso you will need about six to eight hours on the road to the Bada Valley. In Palu, Poso or Makassar, there are tour guides who are actually knowledgeable about the area because it is a part of Lore Lindu National Park and people always come there for research, natural tracking. 

I, personally, and Cinta Bumi Artisans, as an organization, do not work exclusively with the artisans, so we do not really make an MOU that restrict them or make them unable to work for other people or work with someone else. What I am highlighting here is if you want to work with artisans, why do you not do it fairly, properly and appropriately based on the genuineness or the mission that you actually have. It is complicated, but it is something that really happened. 

I would also think that to communicate with the artisans themselves, such as the different approaches that people might have, so that they can be more careful when they are partnering people next time. 

And on your second point on the market having a very tight deadline with very below the market price. They always say that the trifecta of price, quality and speed, you can only choose two of them. You cannot get things of a high quality at a cheap price and at a very fast time.

Yes, that is very true. 

But we are also very blessed and grateful because we partnered with a lot of people who are really understanding and very open to learn about this. I mean this is to reintroduce craftsmanship, like natural dyeing. It was not really a hype about 10 years ago, but now I think with the climate change and with the pandemic and people started to just realize that maybe we have to change through our clothing or food consumption (among) other things.

How is the response so far specifically for your products and your offerings?

Actually, it is beautiful. 

This is quite unexpected. That is why this is one of the main things that we have been considering in the past couple of years is to open a space for creating workshops so people can learn. Right now, the workshops and courses that we run are only about natural dyeing and eco-printing. I do not know when we will be able to travel freely again. I actually want to be open for people who (want to) learn about barkcloth so they can have a trip with us to go there and then just see by themselves. I can make barkcloth but it is a totally different atmosphere and different feelings when you really see it being done by the people who have actually honoured the heritage since they were not born yet.

Are the audience mostly the local Indonesian or are they overseas?

Before, it was more overseas, but we are really happy that now we have a plenty of audience that are actually fellow Indonesians and they are really keen to learn and know more about the barkcloth. I think it is also wonderful to see some new artisans. Thanks to Instagram, we found people and made friends with them who are also creating barkcloth, who are also creating natural dyes in a very sustainable way.

Where are they, the one who makes barkcloth?

For example, in the West Java there is Kang Mufid. He already does it for decades. Then, I found this artist, his name is Faris. He is also making barkcloth and also Wayang Beber made out of the barkcloth. So, it is a revival of this heritage, not just about the barkcloth physically, but the intangible skills that they are reviving.

Barkcloth as the materials themselves, like making wayang from barkcloth, is really interesting too. 

Can you share with us what are some of your ongoing projects or what we can expect from Cinta Bumi Artisans in the near future?

Ongoing, we are creating something with barkcloth and I hope to launch this project actually in August. 

Also we are preparing an exhibition and collaborating with some artists and artisans in Australia for weaving and eco-printing. I cannot really elaborate yet what the project is, but that is something that we are working on. 

Internally, we like to share a virtual tour and also workshops online because that is just what is more accessible right now when people cannot really travel here and to learn, but I think the good side is doing an online course or workshop so that you can actually see closely about the available plants and materials that you have around you, (such as) from your kitchen. That is something that we can all look forward to in the near future.

Finally, if you can sum up our sessions today – hope for Cinta Bumi Artisans or massages for the audience? 

I think it is important to always have a strong reminder about why we are here, why we are actually creating these heritage treasures. For example, in my case, is it because I want to reconnect to my own ancestral path in artisanal craftsmanship or is it because we value our contribution as individuals and for collective through the cloth that we make, the cloth that we wear?

This also brought us to share about conscious creativity where we can start to switch the perspective instead of doing overproduction and then sourcing plenty of materials. We can also start to think about what if it is the other way around, like regenerating our materials and the productions can follow what is available, but also still practicing very fair collaborations with our fellow artisans, artists and other people. I hope that is clear enough.

Yes it is. Thank you so much for the final message. Definitely we have this program aNERDspective to talk and to learn new perspectives from other textile-related topics. You mentioned something about just tweaking like ‘form before function’ or ‘function before form’ give a totally different thinking and consideration. So I think this one of the interesting points that we have today. 

Once again, thank you so much Novi for dropping by today. 

Thank you so much for inviting me, it has been a pleasure.

 

We hope you enjoyed this episode of aNERDspective. Check out the previous episode on IGTV and our gallery and store if you would like a piece of Indonesia for your home or wardrobe. You may also check out Cinta Bumi Artisans’s Instagram or website for the latest collection.

Photo credit: Cinta Bumi Artisans, unless stated otherwise.