Weaving

Home » Workshops » Weaving

Weaving natural fibers into useable forms for human communities is one of mankind’s oldest skills. On Bali, the availability of bamboo and palm has enabled the island’s Hindu culture to create daily offerings to their deities and ancestors. Weaving natural fibers into offering baskets, food containers, purses, floor coverings and art is a daily activity for many Balinese.

 

Weaving Workshops

 

Bamboo weaving is inseparable from Bali’s Hindu culture. Bamboo has been crafted for centuries as decorative baskets to contain the food, flower and fruit offerings that are the heart of every Hindu ceremony. Lontar is Bali’s papyrus; the pre-paper organic writing surface. Lontar tablets are scored by artisans using charcoal and ink to write and paint images and words for perpetuity.

Lontar is a form of palm plant and has found it’s place in the Hindu ceremonies alongside bamboo. Both of these natural fibers are hand-crafted into a variety of shapes to fit the needs of the Hindu worshipers. So, one might fold a young blade of lontar to hold rice for boiling (cook and carry!) or craft an intricately folded bamboo basket to hold the day’s offering for the family temple.