Ikat Textiles of the Indonesian Archipelago offers a comprehensive overview of the profusion of ikat styles found across the region and is the first detailed reference book on the subject. Unlike most collectors, both public and private, who typically show a selection of stellar pieces from a limited number of different localities, Peter ten Hoopen shows not just individual masterpieces—though we encounter many in this book—but the culture of the “ikat archipelago.” This is done through the close reading of over two hundred early and emblematic examples from his Pusaka Collection, and by introducing us to the living conditions, beliefs and customs of the various peoples who have created and used them.
The author’s ethnographic approach to collecting allows us to see to where the styles from neighbouring island regions are interwoven—reflecting migration, bridal exchanges, trade, and raiding patterns—and where they stand out by marked individuality. It also allows us to study, not just the people’s finery, but equally their everyday clothing.
Created with scholarly input from a dozen region-specific experts, Ikat Textiles of the Indonesian Archipelago spans the entire arc of the Indonesian archipelago, from Sumatra in the west till the Moluccas in the east. In fact, it reaches beyond Indonesia's borders to include the Malaysian state of Sarawak, and the Democratic Republic of East Timor.
While building on the literature of the “golden years” of ikat research,  ten Hoopen offers numerous new additions to the knowledge base, including information on the ikat of a dozen islands and regions not described before. Ikat Textiles of the Indonesian Archipelago also features an extensive selection of photographs, provided by museums, field photographers, and fellow collectors.