Advocate for traditional textiles and co-owner of Threads of Life

It’s important that people can come to Bali today and see that traditional textiles made by grandmothers – with the same love and quality – are still alive in cultures today.
Tell us your story – how did you get here?
In 1987, I arrived like so many others who came to Bali before me, with a small backpack full of a few clothes and books. I took a bemo to Ubud and after wandering around I met a man on a small side street near the Pura Desa. His name was Darta and said he had a room. I followed him up a tree-lined street that became a dirt path to #24 Jalan Kajeng and entered his home to the sound of priest bells and incense as they were blessing a new gate.
At that time there was very little electricity in Ubud. I used a small kerosene lamp to read my three books. No one asked me what I did, which was disquieting and a relief. I was just Jean. The streets were quiet then and the nights were still as the few bemos and motorbikes that were in Ubud stopped operating at dusk, or as I learned to call it, sandikala, which is the time when humans retreat indoors, and the spirits can wander the world.
In 1992 I married my husband William Ingram and together we began to lead cultural trips exploring local communities and the weaving arts on the islands east of Bali. These 12-day trips, with a small handful of enthusiastic guests aboard the Perintis, a six-cabin Phinisi sailing boat, were some of the most memorable times in my 36 years living in Indonesia.
In 1998, during the Southeast Asian financial collapse, the rupiah went from IDR 2,500 to IDR 18,000 to the US dollar. The remote eastern islands were primarily still barter societies, but with this fall, people were desperate for cash to pay for their children’s education and hence were selling their heirloom textiles.
We asked the question, “What is replacing these heirlooms?” and with the stunning answer of “Nothing – we can’t afford to do the natural dye process,” the idea of Threads of Life was born.
We started with 12 weavers in Lembata, and today work with more than 1,200 weavers on 10 islands: Java, Bali, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Savu, Rai Jua, Lembata, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
That Threads of Life survived the pandemic during which Bali was closed for two years. We kept our small organisation of 40 staff of Balinese, Timorese and Dayak employed and stayed in touch with our weaver groups, mutually offering encouragement that there would be better times ahead. The passion and dedication of our staff in their commitment to the communities we work with is such a lesson of trust for me.
One other thing that stands out as most important in the work of Threads of Life and our sister foundation – the Bebali Foundation – is the recovery of dye plants and their use in traditional recipes. Every ethnic group we work with has its own recipes and different ecosystems that produce different dye colours. We are also privileged to work with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in plant identification, along with botanists and chemists to recover traditional recipes.
What impact have you made in Bali?
Threads of Life Gallery is a small store located on Jalan Kajeng in Ubud and has had tens of thousands of people come through its doors over the 22 years we have been open. It gives a window into the rich cultures of Bali and the larger archipelago of Indonesia. I think it’s important that people can come to Bali today and see that traditional textiles made by grandmothers – with the same love and quality – are still alive in cultures today.
What does the future look like for you?
We are excited to be opening a second gallery for Threads of Life outside Ubud in Lungsiakan near the Sayan Ridge. It will open at the end of November 2023 to showcase traditional textiles and crafts from our weaver groups, along with Balinese arts which are being threatened. So many artists are moving to other sources of income, such as hospitality or in the construction world with this current building boom.
What do you love most about Bali?
I love the Balinese people and their commitment to continuing their traditions alongside jobs on cruise ships, hotels, restaurants, road work and farming. I love their unswerving sense of identity as Balinese. I love seeing both young and old Balinese people’s commitment to the importance of rituals and ceremonies and the accompanying architecture, pageantry, dance and music within ceremonies that mark the life cycles of humans, nature, and the divine.
What do you do whenever you're struggling for inspiration?
Beautiful new textiles arriving from the weaver and basket-making communities inspire me, especially when pieces are woven by younger women who are carrying on the traditions of their grandmothers. I love feeling the connection to nature in handspun threads using natural dyes, knowing the impact our organisation has had in sustaining these resources, guiding management of dye plant stock, and encouraging the older weavers to share their dye tips with the younger weavers.
Who is your Local Legend and why?
Mila and Daniela of Elami and Co. They have held editions of Ubud Open Studio where guests can visit over 70 artists and craftspeople in their own studios/homes over two days. It’s a wonderful change from bringing artists to a centralised festival setting. Ubud Open Studio allows visitors to interact in a more personal experience – much as it was 20 years ago when we could walk into a painter or mask maker’s home off the street and create a rapport with the makers. Their mission to support Ubud’s artists is inspiring.
They also have a wonderful tiny gift shop filled with local arts just down the street from Threads of Life on Jalan Kajeng. I feel we both hold similar values of showcasing handmade art forms in the midst of a street that’s now a sea of street market stalls featuring non-handmade and imported goods.