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Photo Exhibitions

 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.