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Encyclopedia ID 321

Tais

Also known as Timorese backstrap weaving

Tais: photograph by Rahmaziz
Photo: Rahmaziz, CC BY 4.0, source on Wikimedia Commons

Build banded cloth with colour stripes and motif bands on a backstrap loom to match a pattern card.

Heritage note

Part of the living heritage of Timor-Leste. Some forms of this practice carry deep meaning for the communities who keep it; here we describe the play and the craft only, with respect for its roots.

Origins

A living tradition passed from person to person; it is not tied to a single dated origin. It belongs to the cultural world of Southeast Asia and the Islands.

Sources

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