HAMILTON, Roy W. (2012). Weavers’ Stories from Island Southeast Asia, Los Angeles: Fowler Museum Textile Series no. 10. ISBN: 978-0-9778344-9-5, softback, 88pp, full colour, bibliography. Price: US$ c.20.
One of a series of books produced by the Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, about textiles and dress. This volume contains a series of eight short essays about different aspect of textiles from Indonesia, East Timor (Timor-Leste), Malaysia and the Philippines. Most of the chapters, however, are about Indonesian textiles of various types. Most of the essays are about woven textiles, especially ikats of various forms, but there is also one on batik. This essay in particular is about Siti Samsiyah (Madura, Indonesia), who is a professional batik producer. Many of the textiles illustrated in the book are now part of the extensive Fowler Museum collection of world textiles.
Recommendation: A well-illustrated and written book about a small group of textiles within a vast region. This book belongs in any library concerned with Asian textiles and their production.
Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, November 2017
