Celebrating Threads: The Artistry of Weaving by Ambalang Ausalin

Description of the details of the weaving patterns

The Bunga sama is a design or category of weaving with floral and bold designs. The cloth is usually fashioned into upper wear and pants, though only for the dress of a high status Yakan, specially the suwah bekkat and the suwah pendan. Today, however, the bunga sama is commonly produced and pressed to service as table runners, placemats, wall decor, or doilies. Ambalang can easily identify the variety of motifs in this category. Her best work for this form of weaving is always reflected in the bunga sama teed peneh pitumpuh (cloth with seventy designs), and the peneh kenna–kenna (fish-like design), peneh sawe–sawe (snake-like design), peneh dawen–dawen (folial design), and peneh kule–kule (turtle-like design).

She is also renowned for weaving the Sinalu’an. This is a design or category of weave with stripes of the diamond twill technique. The finished cloth is traditionally sewn as trousers as well as upper wear. Under this category, Ambalang is best identified with the sinalu’an teed, the most complicated of all Yakan woven textiles.

Each of the stripes has an elaborate pattern of very small diamonds and incised triangles resembling the sections of bamboo. It has tiny bands of zigzags called kalis-kalis (incisions); minute diamonds called bulak-bulak (flower-like); diminutive horizontal lines that separate the motifs into the littlest segments resembling the sections of the bamboo called batak or honga, small bands of diamonds inside the bulak-bulak called lepoq-lepoq; vertical rows of small dashes called olet-olet, sipit-sipit, or lelipan-lelipan (caterpillar-like); rows of crab-like motifs called kaka-kaka; a panel of jar-like motif called komboh-komboh; and the plain vertical lines or columns called bettik (resembling the contour of the land when planting in straight lines).

The Seputangan is her other exemplary specialty, as it was her mother’s too. This cloth is a meter square in size with geometric designs, and is the most expensive part of the Yakan female ensemble because of its detailed design. This piece of cloth is folded and tied over the olos inalaman or olos pinalantupan to tighten the hold of the skirt around the waist. It may also be worn as a head covering. To this day, it is placed on the shoulders of brides and grooms during weddings. The pussuk labung (sawtooth), sipit–sipit orsubid–subid (twill-like), dawen–dawen (leaf-like), harren–harren (staircases), kabban–buddi (diamonds/triangles), dinglu or mata (diamond/eye), and buwani–buwani(honeycomb-like) designs are evident in this type of cloth that sets apart Ambalang’s creations from those of other seputangan weavers.