When you Google “Maumere”, tempting photos of turquoise waters, pristine beaches and coconut palm trees set against a lush, volcanic landscape pop up. The town, the second largest on Indonesia’s Flores island, is lauded as a “best-kept secret” and a “hidden paradise” on many travel websites.
Hongkonger Mandy Ma Wing-man lived in this paradise for seven weeks earlier this year while on an unusual art exchange. On the island, she learned the fading art of hand-weaving Ikat fabric from an indigenous craftswoman known simply as Mama Lin.
Ma was one of a group of artists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia who went on residencies far afield for this exhibition, instigated by Chat’s executive director Takahashi Mizuki and Indonesian curator Ade Darmawan.
Every day in Maumere, 29-year-old Ma went by motorbike from where she stayed to Mama Lin’s home, where they weaved and cooked together, often with no translator, no internet and frequent power brownouts. Ma learned the ancient craft from scratch: from spinning cotton into yarn to dyeing to weaving intricate motifs.