Ikat Chapan Tunic // Uzbekistan // 19 Century CE // 1

This Ikat Chapan Tunic features exceptionally rich colour and dynamic pattering. Viewers may become lost in this ikat’s intertwining motifs, but it is color that truly entrances them. Each unique ikat is the work of an individual who thought deeply about their every choice of color and form in order to build a harmonious composition. There is always a concern with negative and positive space with regard to the placement of each pattern and its corollary. In this piece, you can see the risks that the anonymous ikat designers took and trace their response to each step of the dyeing process. In their way, each ikat is a discovery of a new kind of order.

Ikat weaving has emerged from different parts of the world independently, however it is ikat from Uzbekistan, defined as abrabandi (“bound cloud”), which is the most captivating. The word ‘ikat’ comes from the Malaysian word ‘mengikat’ or ‘to tie’, because the loose threads are tied into bundles using grasses or wax-treated cotton to specify where the dye is able to sink in and color the thread. The threads are dyed before they are woven into the textiles.

A characteristic of ikat textiles is an apparent “blurriness” to the design. The blurriness is a result of the extreme difficulty the weaver has lining up the dyed yarns so that the pattern comes out perfectly in the finished cloth. The blurriness can be reduced by using finer yarns or by the skill of the craftsperson. Ikats with little blurriness, multiple colours, and complicated patterns are more difficult to create and therefore often more expensive. However, the blurriness that is so characteristic of ikat is often prized by textile collectors.