EE00001982

Songket is a traditional Malaysian handwoven fabric. It is woven on two-pedal floor looms by the Malay women In Malay Peninsula (West Malaysia) and in Sarawak (East Malaysia). The term Songket is derived from the technique employed to make it: inserting gold or silver thread in between the weft and warp threads. Songket is woven using the Malay weaving loom called 'kek'. Songket is woven as the supplementary weft method, a decorative weaving technique in which extra threads "float" across a colourful woven ground to create ornamental effect. The delicate piece of Songket is the result of many months of skilled handloom weaving by expert craftsmen who learn the art from their ancestors. The identity is traced by its design patterns that use geometry and elements of nature such as flowers, birds and insects. The motifs of tampuk manggis (mangosteen calyx), tampuk kesemak (persimmon), bunga pecah lapan (eight-petal flower), bunga bintang (star-patterned flower), pucuk rebung (bamboo shoots) and awan larat (trailing clouds) are among the most frequently used. These traditional patterns continue to be used, especially in aspects of separation and placing the various parts of the cloth such as the centerfield, main panel and end borders. Unlike the old days, Songket is only worn by royalty and their families. But todays, it is mostly worn as traditional Malay ceremonial costumes during royal installations, wedding, birth, Malay festive occasions and formal state functions.