DENPASAR (indo.com): Traditional textiles are hand woven works of arts, requiring a tremendous amount of skill and time. They are also highly valuable cultural artifacts, widely sought-after by collectors and institutions.

The traditional textiles of Indonesia, particularly old ones, have long been of interest to art-collectors and academics alike. Prized for their stunning beauty and essential cultural function, these works of art are perhaps the most meaningful objects to acquire in Bali.

Perhaps some of you have showed Rangda and Barong Dances in Bali or on television. You could see that the dancers wears a special red cloth wound around his hips to protect him from the overwhelming powers at works. It is kain cepuk, a hand woven ikat cloth from Nusa Penida that serves as the barrier between human soul and bedlam. It shows that cloth has more than strands of thread woven together.

In Bali textiles are everywhere. Religious paraphernalia, shrines, dancers, priests, masks, and animals to be sacrificed will be wrapped, bound, draped or ornamented with specifically prescribed textiles, redolent with symbolic meaning. Bali has no means unique in this regard.

Throughout Indonesia, traditional textiles are more that mere objects. Textiles are perhaps the most significant single art form in the archipelago. As well as Bali, they are also ritual objects, stored wealth, trade goods, and tokens of power.

The Batak People has the ulos ragidup which literally means cloth of life. It is a composition of sombretoned cotton, worn by rajas, and used in major life transition rituals. Its end panels contain weird geometric diagrams, which can be "read" by shamans, for the purpose of divination.

In many regions, heirloom textiles are required gifts during wedding ceremonies, symbolically connecting the clans of the bridge and groom. On Lembata Island off the coast of Timor, when asked what they would do without their bread wealth textiles women answered, "Without the cloth we cannot marry." If these women did not marry, their culture would soon be extinct.

That is how essential textiles can be in Indonesia, and they are therefore woven with extraordinary care and attention, on both a visible and invisible level.

The famous double Ikat Geringsing from Tenganan village in Karangasem derives from the double ikat patola of West India. The ethnically unique people of Tenganan claim to be directly descended from India.

Many Indonesian textiles are colored with organic dyestuff, which requires meticulous care. The dyeing process ensures a successful outcome. Like the alchemists of medieval workers of magic, and formulas, processes and rituals are closely guarded secrets.

Among the Iban people in Kalimantan, while warfare is the domain of men, weaving is 'the women's warpath'. Ritual textiles are women's contributions to the martial efforts, and closely related spiritual life of the community. The intensely powerful human, animal, and mythological figures in Iban cloths are imparted to the weavers in dreams, and so belong to mystical realm.

Just a suggestion, you don't have to scour the far corners of the Indonesia to find top quality traditional textiles at good prices. Bali has become the marketplace for antique textiles, almost from all over the archipelago. In fact, you will probably do better in Bali, because there is more selection in one place and often better prices.

For self-guarantee satisfaction, try the Galleries at five-star hotels, and then visit antique shops in Ubud, Kuta and Nusa Dua. In reputable galleries you commonly get what you pay for. (Bali Echo)