Songket Melaka Adds Prestige to Historical State

According to history ,Srivijaya governed the Southeast Asian sea route from the 7 th century - lured merchants from the east and the west to trade under well-organised and protected conditions. Vague evidence seems to suggest that Srivijaya's rule began to crumble in the 13 th century, this gave other trading ports the opportunity to divert merchant ships with promises of trade opportunities. One such port was Melaka, which swiftly took charge of the trading route down the Straits of Melaka. Traders exchanged goods at the port, shipping basic necessities such as rice, sugar, pottery and luxury items such as silk yarns, gold and silver for ivory, tortoiseshell, resin, waxes, sandalwood, spices and other jungle products abound in the region's rainforest. Textiles were brought in to trade or as gifts for the Sultan and his entourage. It is noted that the royal court clothed in textiles were very much influenced by Indian weaving and design methods. The courts' controlled the textile trade and by the 15 th century, Melaka was trading in a variety of luxurious textiles including fine silks, gold threads and brocade. Weavers were no longer restricted to the use of local materials.

The adoption of silk led to many changes to the local weaving technology. Although the back-strap loom was capable of producing intricate designs and motifs, the use of fine silk threads required greater control. By the 16 th century, the Europeans had colonised many parts of Southeast Asia including Melaka. The frame loom was probably introduced from West Europe. The Malay weavers added to the frame loom, a fine comb where the warps could be passed through and separated but kept evenly spaced. This modified method meant that it was much easier to set up a plain silk warp and create patterns with the weft threads. It must have encouraged the creation of the songket especially in decorating the fabric with gold threading.

Image of bunga kesidang

Traditionally, the songket, the luxurious textile hand-woven in silk or cotton and intricately patterned with gold or silver threads, is an exclusive artwork from Kelantan and Terengganu.

Now, Melaka, a state in the west coast, aims to be part of the songket’s legacy with its own unique brand of songket bunga kesidang.

The songket is the brainchild of Yang Dipertua Negeri Melaka Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob, who wanted to ensure that Melaka had a songket of its own. In fact, the songket is already most commonly associated with the state.

The motif chosen for the songket was based on the bunga kesidang (Vallaris Glabara), the bread flower, which is also the state’s official flower.

These small pretty flowers are commonly used for decorations due to its fragrance. It is the perfect plant to decorate the garden in temples , churches and wedding venue.It is often used to adorn locales of various functions as well as other events and celebrations .

Traditional Malaccan women, the Malay women, Nyonya ladies and Chitty women use bunches of these tiny, white flowers to beautify their hair at bridal rituals and special occasions as it serves as natural perfume for them.

The fragrance is light and lingers in the air creating a magical feeling. These tiny flowers are often mixed with other perfumed plants for the preparation of bunga rampai. Bunga rampai is the local pot-pourri used mainly at Malay weddings during the merenjis ceremony.

Whie the Peranakan put the bunga rampai on their wedding beds to create a romantic atmosphere for the first night! The flowers, just like the small sized Melaka, though small, its beauty and fragrance will capture your senses just like the Historical State of Melaka  capture your hearts with its friendly multiethnic people and unique culture.

In 2004, the Institut Seni Malaysia Melaka (ISMMA) was tasked with designing the songket using the bunga kesidang motif and ensuring that it qualified as the Songket Melaka.

The institute was also entrusted with ensuring that Songket Melaka was on par with the songkets from Kelantan and Terengganu.

ISMMA’s manager, Noor Azlina Yunus, told Bernama that the institute started designing the songket about six years ago using the expertise of two cultural icons, Malaysia’s Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Tapa and Bapak Tenas Effendy from Indonesia.

She noted that the songket basically has four parts: a body, head, kapit and legs. Both experts, she said, decided on the most suitable design for each part.

“Each part of the songket has its own motif and reason for why it is there,” she explained.

Azlina revealed that the work of designing the patterns on the songket took about a year before a ‘prototype’ was made for the approval of Mohd Khalil.

After getting the nod from Mohd Khalil, ISMMA searched for the best weaver to ensure that Melaka entered the world of songket-making in style.

ISMMA compared the work quality of weavers from Terengganu, Indonesia and Selangor. After a thorough scrutiny of woven work from the three states, a company in Selangor was awarded the task of weaving the songket.

“It is not that ISMMA did not want to weave the songket itself; rather, it was done to ensure the highest weaving quality and we wanted the skills of an expert weaver before taking on the task ourselves,” she said.

ISMMA is currently learning the art of songket weaving to create high quality songket bunga kesidang.

In pursuit of this goal, ISMMA has sent some of its staffers on an exchange programme to a weaving handicraft agency in Indonesia.

“We always send young staffers on such exchange programmes. We want to expose them to the art of songket weaving, as well as ensure that this art form is handed down to future generations,” she explained.

So far, two types of songket bunga kesidang are available, namely the samping (short sarong worn over the trousers) for men and the textile set, and sash for women.

The hand-woven songket made of silk can sell for RM 2,500, while the one made of polyester material fetches RM650. However, a machine-made songket is much cheaper at RM250.

A hand-woven songket made of silk, in the form of sarongs and sashes, can sell for RM3,000.

Since 2009, ISMMA has been promoting the songket bunga kesidang locally, starting with official state government functions.

“Currently, members of the public are encouraged to wear the Songket Melaka at official state events, like the investiture ceremony,” he said.

ISMMA has plans to market the songket overseas. In addition, the Malay Islamic World Secretariat (DMDI) has been identified as the agency with the capability to market the songket on the international stage.

On 6 Dec, 2008, Bollywood star Datuk Shah Rukh Khan wore the samping Songket Melaka sponsored by ISMMA when he received the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka (DMSM) award. The award gives official recognition to songkets unique to the state.

Source: Star Newspaper

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Image: http://flowersofmalaysia.blogspot.com