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Alola Foundation Brochure
Alola Updates
April 2008 Tetun Newsletter
February 2008
For Newsletters from 2006 and 2007 please go to Go to Archives Page
Photo Exhibitions
Common Ground: Vision
Shared - Photo exhibition in Canberra depicting
photos from East Timor and PNG. Learn more about
East Timor and see some of the photos by clicking
here
East
Timor Tais
Textiles Exhibitions
This exhibition
of Tais celebrates
the Alola
Foundation’s
‘Weaving
Women’s
Stories’
Project
that supports
East Timorese
women in
producing
and selling
their Tais.
As well
as enhancing
the value
of the textiles,
the project
encourages
them to
recount
their life
stories
and gain
understanding
and acknowledgement
of their
unique role
and experience.
We also
hope to
display
here the
beauty and
symbolism
of East
Timorese
culture.
We have
seen the
terrible
suffering
of the East
Timorese
people.
Now it is
time to
celebrate
the strength
of the culture
that has
sustained
them.
East Timor,
the transitional
bridge where
the Malay
world meets
Melanesia
has been
described
as ‘a
Babel...
a melting
pot’
because
of its thirteen
distinct
languages.
The country
is characterised
by a diversity
maintained
by its changing
dramatic
landscapes. Tais designs
and colors
are specifically
associated
to districts,
embodying
the environmental,
cultural
and linguistic
differences
between
the communities.
It is through
the art
of Tais that a woven
narration
of the paradigms
and stories
of East
Timor’s
history
has been
recorded.
Tais are hand
woven lengths
of cloth
worn as
traditional
dress and
used for
decoration
using Ikat
dyeing and
weaving
techniques.
Traditionally
made for
ceremonial
occasions, Tais are given
as tribute
and presented
at any significant
event.
There are
two main
types: Mane,
worn by
men, and Feto,
worn by
women. The Mane
Tais are usually
quite large
pieces of
cloth with
tassles
at each
end, tied
around the
waist and
worn like
a sarong.
The Feto
Tais have the
ends sown
together
to form
a tube that
is worn
like a strapless
dress. In
recent times
a third
type has
evolved,
the Selendang,
a long slender
piece of
cloth used
for giving
tribute
by placing
ceremoniously
around the
neck.
East
Timorese
Tais Textiles
Exhibitions
Held
East Timorese
supporter,
Sarah Niner,
curated this
travelling
exhibition.
She was able
to purchase
the Tais on
a trip to
Timor with
the assistance
of the Melbourne
International
Arts Festival.
The exhibition
has been at
the heart
of efforts
in Melbourne,
Australia
to assist
the nascent
Handcrafts
industry in
East Timor
during the
rebuilding
of the country
and is a practical
way to assist
women, who
are the main
producers,
to develop
sustainable
livelihoods.
For inquiries
about this
project please
email sara@alolafoundation.org
The Exhibition
has travelled
around Australia
during 2001-03.
It has had
numerous smaller
showings and
three of them
are described here.
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