Reframing Death – A View from Indonesia

Many cultures of Indonesia view death very differently from the cultures in the most of other parts of the world.

In Indonesia it is treated as an important event -perhaps even the most important event – of our journey that begins at birth and then goes through marriage and procreation.

Death is the event that takes us into the next stage.

The ceremonies surrounding this final event are grand and in many of the sub-cultures grander than weddings.

Secondly, the concept of woven cloth had a very high status and weavings were seen as wealth. It was therefore appropriate that the best textiles were used at ceremonies for funerals. 

This is my understanding based on conversations in Kamasan (Bali), Toraja (Sulawesi) and Lampng (Sumatra).

Some of these funerary textiles have been shown in my Notes on Toraja Culture & Textiles and the Lampung State Museum .

Understanding their paradigm of death – which is quite far removed from the concept I held earlier – helped to come to terms with this inevitable event that all must go through.

In the context of wovensouls, I used to view artefacts associated with ceremonies for death with some reservations. Understanding the context of the cultures that produced these artefacts forced me to reframe my view and see them as the extremely important (if not the most important) textiles of the culture. 

These are rare and textiles that survive and make it to the world of collectors are very few and to be treasured. 

Here is one from Lombok from the Sasak people:

Featuring Asset 2075 / Wovensouls Textile Art Gallery

This is similar to another seen in Thomas Murray’s book on Indonesian Textiles.

This image is from Lampung State museum depicting the use of prestigious Indian trade textiles in use in the funeral.

And another one from Toraja

Toraja Textile adorning the coffin at the funeral

Balinese textile made to cover the face of the departed at the funeral.

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So the journey of exploring textiles of the world leads not only to he appreciation of the art forms but also of the culture that gives rise to these.

More often than not, also ends up opening my mind.

And therefore my personal views on life and death and everything in between, are now a patchwork of beliefs and disbeliefs, constructed from experiences across dozens of cultures. Every new exposure either challenging or affirming the beliefs held heretofore – either reinforcing my life model or breaking it or adding a new facet to it.

And this kaleidoscope will continue to remain ‘under-construction’ until my last thought.

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August 2026

jaina mishra / wovensouls,com

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