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Maros, Indonesia (Headquarters and Home Base No. 1)
Tagari, Balusu, North Toraja (Home Base No. 2)
Contact: Dalle
(WhatsApp and Call)
The village of traditional weavers in Toraja: Sa'dan
Lat. 2°53'54.4"S | Long. 119°57'27.5"E
Sa'dan region is well-known for its weaving tradition. The region produces high-quality woven cloths which are sought by people from all over Indonesia and abroad. We were charmed by traditional weaving activities in the Andulan area that we witnessed during a recent trip.
It was a rather cloudy 9 am when we departed to Sa'dan from Tagari. Riding motorbike in winding roads, we could see a vast expanse of empty rice fields (it's not yet a planting time in that part of Toraja). Upon reaching the area, we stopped to visit Mama Felisha, our relative, who knew a person that could demonstrate cloth-weaving today. She recommended contacting Mama Linda for she was known as an active weaver in a village called Andulan, 500 meters from her place.
Mama Felisha's house
The Andulan region
Toraja households commonly keep roosters as a pet.
After taking a wrong turn on one of the slopes, we finally reached the village. There, on the veranda of a wooden house, Mama Linda sat tightly in front of a 4 meters cloth. Her seasoned fingers moved several colorful threads at the same time, effortlessly.
The weaving village at Andulan, Sa'dan.
Mama Linda.
According to Mama Linda, to buy a woven cloth, an interested buyer must place an order and wait for around two weeks per cloth. Once it's ready, she will send it by a forwarder. Price is highly dependent on motifs. There are Paruki and Pamiring types of motifs, with Paruki being more intricate, thus more expensive. A piece 4 meters Paruki woven cloth costs around Rp 2,500,000 (as of March 2018) if you get it straight from a weaver like her, but yes, you have to wait for it. It would be more pricey to get it from a gallery outside the village. You can contact Mama Linda directly at +62 812 4540 6528 to get your piece.
If you can't wait, many galleries located nearby sell ready stock woven cloths. The photos below show some of the ready-to-ship products.
Another place to buy ready stock woven cloth is at To'barana. It is located around 30 minutes drive from Andulan. It is unfortunate that when we reached there, only two out of ten shops open. The owner of a shop, Mama Rate', was talking to a group of tourists when we approached her shop.
Mama Rate with Dalle, Jalan Jalan Toraja's tour guide.
From our observation, not only woven cloth from Toraja were sold there but also from Mamasa (West Sulawesi), Nusa Tenggara, and other regions. We thanked Mama Rate for her interesting explanation about woven cloth and wished her good day. It's 5 pm when we went out from To'barana complex, exhausted by the trip but certainly delighted by the experience!
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