Checking out Gianyar Bali part III: Endek factory

The Cap Cili Endek weaving factory is located close to the big statues on Jl. Ciung Wenara. Endek is a type of ikat, one of the traditional cloths from Indonesia. Cap Cili isn't a fancy place and you have to look for the sign. The shop is located at the front of the building and features batiks, ikats and endeks, some made right here, others from Java. The staff told me the place was open 9am-5pm. Out back was the factory, which consisted of 3 people dyeing the threads and 4 more people spinning and weaving, on large wooden machines. They chatted amongst themselves and they effortlessly performed the same movement over and over. I chatted with a couple of the ladies and they of course wanted to know where I was from, if I was married, where my wife was from and how many kids we have. I could save time by printing out a pamphlet and passing it around, but it is nice to chat.

I was allowed to wander around a snap photos freely and no one really seemed to be in charge. The owner of the place had a very nice Plymouth parked outside which I admired. I asked to see some endeks in the main shop and the staff told me they use the word ikat to covers endeks too. Basically an ikat is a type of tie-dyed cloth where the longitudinal (warp) threads are tied to a frame with special twine that resists the dye, in order to create the pattern. Dying is repeated for each color. The plain threads that go across the cloth (weft) are then woven in.

Bali specializes in doing it the other way around and this is called endek. The patterns of ikats have fuzzy edges and the endeks tend to have geometric designs. The shop sold shirt, table covers and other items as well as batik sarongs. The sarongs are immediately identifiable because of their sharp designs and shapes. I asked one of the older ladies how long it takes to make a sarong and she said "Satu sarong, satu hari" (1 sarong 1 day). Prices ranged from 40,000rp- 180,000rp that I saw. I did not buy anything but its great to see a traditional art still in practice.