From our experiences in Batang Ai, Nanga Sumpa Longhouse and our observations at the Tanoti Songket Weaving Workshop in Kuching, we felt that a knowledge of the complex and time consuming process behind Songket weaving adds significantly to its perceived value. Our emersion in Malaysian culture, led us to formulate several important personal objectives, that we felt were necessary to maintain the integrity of the Songket weaving process. Visits to SIRIM and the industrial ceramics workshop, revealed the ease with which cultural messages, and subtleties between the symbolism of different cultural groups, become obscured, when traditional processes are replaced with industrial ones. We also became aware of the risks involved in basing decisions on the evolution of traditional crafts purely on how they might appeal to an international market. In many cases this proved to be a poor approach and the results seemed eerily detached from the examples of pure and unaltered traditional craft that we were exposed to at the longhouse. We wanted the object we created to encourage dialogue about the intricacies of the Songket process, and to let the form reflect this.
On the first day of the project we devised two ideas. These are as follows:
Copper and Ceramic Songket: “From fibre to fabric”
Our initial idea involved imprinting copper Songket on thin slabs of ceramic, removing sections in correspondence to natural rises and falls in the woven structure, and using the removed sections to thread loose copper warp fibres. This idea could be extended to lighting, with the copper fibres replaced with fibre optics. The copper could also be replaced with stainless steel.
Kringka Tableware Collection
Centred around the idea of meaningful consumption, this collection of tableware would be housed in a beautifully crafted Songket parcel which can also be used as a table runner. Through slowly unfolding the parcel, the Songket weaving process is revealed through a series of imprinted ceramic panels as well as the motifs on the tableware itself. This motifs require further development and will be explored over the coming days.
The dinner table is a great forum for discussion. The tactile nature of the imprinted ceramics is designed to encourage conversation and introduce people to the complexity of the Songket weaving process. The table runner could incorporate stainless steel/ceramic elements to ensure a stronger structure for the parcel.
Group Members :Amber, Fendy, Hilya, Kiara, Vashti
Post by: Kiara Spencer-Smith, Amber Jade Green, Vashti Maynard
On the first day of the project we devised two ideas. These are as follows:
Copper and Ceramic Songket: “From fibre to fabric”
Our initial idea involved imprinting copper Songket on thin slabs of ceramic, removing sections in correspondence to natural rises and falls in the woven structure, and using the removed sections to thread loose copper warp fibres. This idea could be extended to lighting, with the copper fibres replaced with fibre optics. The copper could also be replaced with stainless steel.
Kringka Tableware Collection
Centred around the idea of meaningful consumption, this collection of tableware would be housed in a beautifully crafted Songket parcel which can also be used as a table runner. Through slowly unfolding the parcel, the Songket weaving process is revealed through a series of imprinted ceramic panels as well as the motifs on the tableware itself. This motifs require further development and will be explored over the coming days.
The dinner table is a great forum for discussion. The tactile nature of the imprinted ceramics is designed to encourage conversation and introduce people to the complexity of the Songket weaving process. The table runner could incorporate stainless steel/ceramic elements to ensure a stronger structure for the parcel.
Group Members :Amber, Fendy, Hilya, Kiara, Vashti
Post by: Kiara Spencer-Smith, Amber Jade Green, Vashti Maynard
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