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Weaving Week
A 7-day workshop on ikat, natural dyes and backstrap loom weaving - limited to 6 people.
Sunday 13 May - Saturday 19 May 2018 (13-18 May non-residential)
The ikat, backstrap loom weaving, and natural dye traditions of the Indonesian archipelago date back over 4500 years, and are continued to this day by indigenous weavers for whom the expression of ancestral knowledge is the highest form of artistic and spiritual expression. The Weaving Week workshop offers a brief immersion into this world, during which participants will spend 5 days making a small, weft ikat patterned, natural dye cloth using a traditional backstrap loom that has been modified to accommodate sitting in a chair rather than on the floor. Though the more ancient tradition is warp ikat, weft ikat is employed so that dyeing and loom preparation can be learned in parallel, and all steps in the process can be practiced in a week. Limited to 6 participants.
The workshop offers a residential and a non-residential option:
- The Threads of Life studio and dye garden are at the Umajati Retreat where residential participants will stay in shared rooms. Twin share rooms may be made up with a king size bed for couples; single room supplements are available on request; shared accommodations for a non-participant partner are available on request.
- Non-residential participants staying in the center of Ubud will be provided with morning and afternoon transfers between accommodations in central Ubud and the workshop venue.
The workshop will be held at the Threads of Life Dye Studio and Bebali Dye Garden at the Umajati Retreat
Participants will:
- create a weft ikat design and warp a backstrap loom for two days
- dye with indigo blue, tannin browns and morinda red dyes for a day and a half
- weave a textile for a day and a half, with each participant on their own loom.
Jean, William, Komang, Wayan, and Made are the workshop leaders
Workshop Leaders
The workshop is hosted by Threads of Life founders, Jean Howe and William Ingram. Warping and weaving activities will be guided by women from Seraya in east Bali. Ikat and natural dye work will be led by Threads of Life’s dye studio staff Komang Sujata, Wayan Sukadana and Made Maduarta, who together bring 35 years of experience to the teaching of this workshop. Focusing on traditions that have degraded and are being recovered, they document local dye recipes and processes in the field, and test them in the studio before taking suggested refinements back to the communities. In the dye garden, they establish cultivation and harvesting methods to address plant resource scarcity being faced by traditional dyers. In the studio, they lead half-day up to weeklong workshops, both for indigenous weavers and international students. Their approach to natural dyeing seeks plant-sourced dyes by plant-sourced processes and avoids synthetic additives or mordants.
Residential accommodations at the Umajati Retreat
Workshop Schedule
Sunday
Residential participants check in to Umajati Retreat | Non-residential participants arrive in Ubud
Transfer to Umajati Retreat for non-residential participants | Group introduction and program overview | Group Dinner at Umajati
Transfer to Ubud for non-residential participants
Monday
Breakfast for residential participants | Transfer to Umajati Retreat for non-residential participants
Create a weft ikat design | Warp a backstrap loom
Lunch | Create a weft ikat design | Warp a backstrap loom
Transfer to Ubud for non-residential participants | Residential participants free for dinner at Umajati Retreat or in Ubud via free shuttle
Tuesday
Breakfast for residential participants | Transfer to Umajati Retreat for non-residential participants
Dye ikat with indigo, tannins and morinda red dyes | warp a backstrap loom
Lunch | Dye ikat with indigo, tannins and morinda red dyes | warp a backstrap loom
Transfer to Ubud for non-residential participants | Residential participants free for dinner at Umajati Retreat or in Ubud via free shuttle
Wednesday
Breakfast for residential participants | Transfer to Umajati Retreat for non-residential participants
Prepare weft for weaving | Weave a weft ikat textile on a modified backstrap loom
Lunch | Weave a weft ikat textile on a modified backstrap loom
Transfer to Ubud for non-residential participants | Residential participants free for dinner at Umajati Retreat or in Ubud via free shuttle
Thursday
Breakfast for residential participants | Transfer to Umajati Retreat for non-residential participants
Prepare weft for weaving | Weave a weft ikat textile on a modified backstrap loom
Lunch | Weave a weft ikat textile on a modified backstrap loom
Transfer to Ubud for non-residential participants | Residential participants free for dinner at Umajati Retreat or in Ubud via free shuttle
Friday
Breakfast for residential participants | Transfer to Umajati Retreat for non-residential participants
Prepare weft for weaving | Weave a weft ikat textile on a modified backstrap loom
Lunch | Finishing of weft ikat textile | Workshop closing
Transfer to Ubud for all participants | Group dinner at Moksa Restaurant | Transfer to Umajati Retreat for residential participants
Saturday
Breakfast for residential participants | Check-out and departure
TERMS & CONDITIONS
INCLUDED FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS:
5 days of workshop program; arrival and departure airport transfers; 5 lunches, 2 dinners; scheduled local transportation.
INCLUDED FOR RESIDENTIAL PARTICIPANTS:
6 nights of twin-share accommodations, 6 breakfasts.
Note: twin share rooms may be made up with a king size bed for couples; single room supplements available on request; shared accommodations for a participant’s partner available on request.
INCLUDED FOR NON-RESIDENTIAL PARTICIPANTS:
Morning and afternoon shuttle transfers between accommodations in central Ubud and the workshop venue are included in the workshop. The shuttle route will be along Raya Ubud Road (bit.ly/raya-ubud-road), Hanoman Road (bit.ly/hanoman-road), Monkey Forest Road (bit.ly/monkey-forest-road), and Suweta Road (bit.ly/suweta-road) and participants will be notified before the workshop what time and where their morning pick-up will be.
GROUP SIZE
Maximum group size is 6 participants. Minimum group size is 2 participants.
ROOM SHARING (residential option only)
Accommodations at Umajati Retreat are based on twin share. Unless another attendee Is specified as a room mate, a participant will be allocated a room mate of the same gender from among the residential workshop participants. The organisers will attempt to match room mates, but take no responsibility for any social problems that may occur as a result of such allocations.
PAYMENT
Payment will be made through PayPal via an automatic link in the booking website. You do not need to have a PayPal account to make a payment; PayPal will simply be used to process your credit card payment.
PAYMENT PROBLEMS
If you do not have a credit card or if the link between the booking website and PayPal fails, payment can be made directly:
(1) Complete the registration process as far as you can then contact tour@threadsoflife.com and tell us you were unable to complete your registration; we will then put your place on hold so that it does not get rebooked
(2a) Make payment through your PayPal account to accounting@threadsoflife.com
(2b) Or make payment by bank transfer to: Account name — PT Ersania; Account number — 2-195-091015; Bank Name — Maybank Indonesia; SWIFT code — IBBK IDJA; Bank Branch — Ubud; Branch Address — Jalan Raya Ubud, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia.
PARTICIPANT CANCELLATION AND REFUNDS
Cancellation requests must be made by email to tours@threadsoflife.com. The date of cancellation is the date on which the written cancellation is received in Bali. No refund will be made for failure to attend or if you voluntarily leave the workshop for any reason after it has begun. No refunds will be given for any accommodation, transport, sightseeing, meals or services not used during the workshop. Cancellation may be made at any time and refunds will be reversed directly from PayPal to your PayPal account or credit card with the following conditions:
• A 100% refund will be made within 7 days of booking to allow participants to arrange air tickets and time off from work.
• From 8 days after booking, and if there are still more than 91 days until the workshop, a 90% refund will be made for cancellation.
• From 90 days before the workshop up to 31 days before the workshop, a 50% refund will be made.
• Within 30 days of the workshop, no refund will be made.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
Travel insurance is required for all participants. Travel insurance should, at minimum, provide coverage against trip cancellation, travel interruption, personal accident, personal liability, medical expenses, and emergency evacuation. (An emergency air medical evacuation to Singapore can cost upwards of USD 30,000.) Medical care facilities in Indonesia are significantly different from the West and medical evacuation is extremely expensive.
MOUNT AGUNG
In the event that an eruption of Mount Agung on Bali disrupts travel to or from Bali for the workshop, or makes hosting of the workshop impractical or unsafe, the organizers will cancel the workshop. Under such circumstances, participants will claim refunds for the workshop fees from their travel insurance. If a participant's travel insurance has an exclusion on claims caused by the eruption of Mount Agung, Threads of Life will make a full refund of workshop fees upon receipt of a copy of the certificate of insurance including this exclusion; however, in such circumstances the organizers cannot be responsible for any participants’ airfares or non-resident participants’ accommodations.
WORKSHOP CANCELLATION BY ORGANIZERS
If the workshop is cancelled by the organizers, there will be a 100% refund of participants’ workshop payments within 28 days of the cancellation; however, we cannot be responsible for refunds of participants’ airfares or non-residential accommodation costs.
FORCE MAJEURE
We cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our contractual obligations is prevented or affected by reason of circumstances amounting to “force majeure”. Circumstances amounting to “force majeure” include any event which Threads of Life and workshop leader(s) could not even with all due care, foresee or forestall such as (by way of example and not by way of limitation) acts of God, terrorist activities, insurrection, explosion, flood, tempest, forceful wind, fire or accident, war or threat of war declared or undeclared, sabotage, civil disturbance, labor strikes, requisition, sickness, quarantine, government intervention, weather conditions, and unforeseen circumstances.
