Last Thursday (26 June), as participants of the TRC’s 5-day Intensive Textile Course were making their own samples of velvet, we had the honour to welcome Dian Oerip, with her son, together with Nova Burdo-Marseline (Fig. 1).
They had been looking for the ‘Textile Museum’, which is listed by Google Maps as being on the Hogewoerd here in Leiden! What Google means is of course the TRC. They were initially disappointed that the TRC is not a museum, and that currently there are no exhibitions for the public to see (this is not the first time that visitors to the city have come looking for the Leiden Textile Museum!).
Fig. 1. Surprise visit of Indonesian weaver at the TRC Five-day Intensive Textile Course, June 2025
However, they were quickly made to feel at home and we explained what we are doing and why. It turned out that Dian is a weaver from Indonesia, doing important work in keeping local Indonesian textile culture alive.
She gave an impromptu talk for everyone at that moment at the TRC (including the students!) about what she is doing and how she is working on helping to preserve handmade Indonesian textile techniques and patterns that are facing threats from cheaper industrial textiles and clothing, especially those imported from China.
Fig. 2. T-shirt with a map of Indonesia indicating the various cultural areas with specific textile traditions.They had taken with them two beautiful textiles and gladly shared their stories about the textiles with the group, and then to our surprise Dian donated the items (a jacket and a cloth) to the TRC (TRC 2025.0901 and TRC 2025.0902).
One stunning item is a pink jacket with a panel on the back showing the Indonesian islands mapped out in appliqué (Fig. 2). Each cultural area has its own textile traditions, and what makes this garment so unique is that the specific appliqued panels used for the cultural areas represent the styles for each area using the local patterns and techniques, even making sure the fibres themselves were grown in the region,as were the natural dyes used to create the colours.
The other item is a beautiful cloth woven by the Iban Dayaks in Kalimantan (Fig. 3). This cloth is woven with naturally dyed cotton, with a particular design representing protection. Both of these items will be added to the database next week.
Fig. 3. Woven cloth from the Iban Dayaks, Kalimantan. They were also taken around the TRC Depot and various boxes with Indonesian textiles were brought out and details about the various patterns, their names, symbolic meaning, etc., were shared.
We also had time to talk about possible ways of helping each other support textile artisans. Perhaps when we move to larger premises we can have an Indonesian textile exhibition, or one on a particular aspect, such as ikat and its future in a more and more competitive world.
Dian also said that she gives workshops throughout Indonesia and visits the Netherlands frequently and would certainly come back to the TRC during her next visit. Perhaps we can persuade her to give a workshop at the TRC?
It is worth noting that Dian and Nova have a small shop in Rotterdam (Middellandplein 32) and can also be found on Instagram @dian_oerip @dianoerip_europe
29 June 2025
