Gold Cloths of Sumatra ─ Indonesia's Songkets from Ceremony to Commodity

An anthropologist from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, (Rodgers) along with two textile experts, who have a background in physics and economics (Anne and John Summerfield) have combined forces to produce a beautifully illustrated study of the Indonesian cloth known as the songket. They have done field research to understand the history and cultural significance of the material. While a certain amount of industrialization is currently taking place, the cloth is largely still woven in villages and homes. The authors describe its manufacture in terms of social mutability and tradition. The place of the songket in trade is also examined along with how a once-elite material is now available to many. Distributed by U. of Washington Press. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Susan Rodgers is professor of anthropology at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts. She is the author of Telling Lives, Telling History: Autobiography and Historical Imagination in Indonesia.Anne Summerfield and John Summerfield are the authors of Walk in Splendor: Ceremonial Dress and the Minangkabau. Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, College of the Holy Cross.