Lawan Plangi

Hand woven silk Lawan from Palembang, Sumatra. While tie-dyed cloths, or Plangis, are made all over Indonesia, in Palembang the tie-dye technique is somewhat different. It is called Tritik  and it involves stitching the cloth in linear design. The stitches are pulled tight and then the material gets dipped in dye. upon the removal of the stitches long fuzzy lines appear.  Tritik patterns are linear, and the designs are concentric rectangles or diamond shapes. When only the Tritik technique is used, as in this example, the resulting textile is called Lawan. Information on lawans is largely anecdotal and refers to their usage during marriageand house raising ceremonies.

Made mostly of hand woven silk, these ephemeral textiles are referred to by the design world as Rothkos alluding to the apparent influence they had on this iconic 20th century abstract minimalist American painter.