Pua Kumbu “Cloud Ladder”

This is an exceptional example of a pua kumbu, a single warp ikat textile woven from handspun cotton with natural dyes. Woven on a backstrap floor loom by Iban women of Sarawak, the technique was likely imported when Iban migrated to Sarawak over forty generations ago from the Kapuas basin in Kalimantan Borneo. Natural dyes produced from the roots and stems of Engkudu (Morinda citrifolia) and the leaves of the native indigo plant Tarum (Marsdenia tinctoria) are the most common dyes used, giving the distinctive reddish-brown and black tones of the textiles. The designs and patterns on this textile include stylized references to plants, and a fluid layering of individual motifs such as narrow diamond-shapes with borders and foliate designs or tendrils that are layered over each another to create highly symmetrical, repeated designs, known as a ‘cloud ladder’. The reference may also refer to the fact that meaning is often inspired through dreams with specific iconography passed to the female master weavers by Iban female deities who are believed to empower the women to create these high status textiles – evocatively known as ‘woven dreams’ - so they can continue the highly revered and sacred art of weaving within the community.