A leap forward

HERITAGE PRESERVED

In designing heritage-based materials such as songket, a thorough understanding of its basic anatomy, features and elements are crucial, says senior designer Normalia Abdullah, one the three designers at Ara Borgstena.

“We make sure that traditional songket design elements and motifs are featured in each piece.

“A songket has three parts, namely the

(head), (body) and (foot). We need to understand the anatomy, philosophy and the art of songket-making so that all three parts are present.

We have to place the design accordingly and see how it can be improvised or translated during the actual weaving process.

“Research is crucial. It is something we cannot compromise on,” she says.

With books and the Internet as her main source of reference, Normalia says the traditional Malay songket motifs used are

and

“These traditional motifs are at the core of each design but we improvise and stylise them to make the outcome more contemporary,” she says.

Improvisation is also present as there is the need to make the design more practical for the weaving process, says Normalia.

“Some designs, such as those that integrate a corporate logo, for instance, cannot be produced exactly due to the weaving process.

“Improvisation helps tackle that issue,” she adds.

CHANGING MINDSETS

The mindset and perception of customers are among the toughest challenges when it comes to factory-made songket, says Mohamad Pauzi.

“People always like to compare traditional handmade songket to factory-made ones.

“There are also people who accuse us of trying to compete with traditional songket, which is not the case at all. Our competitors are those imported, mass-produced songket fabrics from Pakistan, India or Indonesia,” he says.

“Why then do we do it? Well, when we make songket, we always make sure that heritage is preserved. We design and make high quality pieces with traditional motifs and features which people can relate to or which reminds them of their culture and roots.

“Rather than competing with local players, we support the local songket and textile industry by giving customers another songket alternative,” he adds.