One of the interesting cultural events in West Sumatra is the Sawahlunto International Songket Silungkang Carnival (SISSCa) parade. This carnival, which was held on 5–11 September 2022, dislpayed the splendor of the Silungkang originated songket (traditional weave). Songket Silungkang has been designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture in 2019. Songket Silungkang traditional weave is a cultural icon of the city of Sawahlunto and a “trademark” of West Sumatra.
At the SISSCa 2022, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, through a video conveyed that the community should continue to explore local wisdoms that can improve the welfare of the local people. SISSCa 2022’s theme of the history of the Indonesian archipelago, drew the attendance of the community, business people, and government agencies. An opening speech was directly given by the Mayor of Sawahlunto, Deri Asta S.H.
SISCA Breaks the Indonesian Record
The carnival was originally called SISCA (Sawahlunto International Songket Carnival) and was first held in 2015. The event, which was organized by the Sawahlunto Government, featured 1,500 participants wearing the Silungkang songket. The first SISCA event broke a record for having the most people wearing a songket at an event. On August 28, 2015, it was recorded by the Indonesian Record Museum (MURi) that it had the largest songket wearers, which was around 17,290 people.
SISCA succeeded as a platform for the Sawahlunto community to introduce one of its best quality products to a wide audience. Besides being known as a tourist destination, Sawahlunto is also known as one of the producers of high quality Songket Silungkang weave.
Increasing Tourism
SISCA events ran smoothly each year and had also encouraged the flow of tourists to Sawahlunto. In 2019, the name of the carnival was changed and distinctively became SISSCa (Sawahlunto International Songket Silungkang Carnival). Since 2019, SISSCa has been part of the 100 Wonderful Indonesian Tourism category.
With the success of SISSCa, every year leading up to the carnival, homestays in Sawahlunto prepare themselves to tend to a larger number of tourists. In Sawahlunto, there are a number of comfortable homestays that are collectively under the Sawahlunto Homestay Association chaired by Ms. Kamsri Benty.
The Central Government highly appreciates the contribution of the SISSCa and in 2021 included SISSCa in the Kharisma Event Nusantara (KEN) program of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.
Origin of the Name “Songket Silungkang”
Long before SISSCa, other countries have seen the songket of Silungkang. In fact, the songket has made its international debut in the European Economic Fair in Brussels in 1910. But where does the name “Silungkang Songket” come from?
Songket comes from the term sungkit, which in Malay and Indonesian means “hooking” or “gouging”. It is called songket because it uses a method of hooking and taking a certain number of threads and by inserting the weft transversely over and under the warp.
Meanwhile, Silungkang is part of the West Sumatra region that produces this type of songket, hence the name. The Songket Silungkang motif, which is rich in philosophical meaning and bright colors, has become a cultural identity inseparable from the local community.
Songket in Minangkabau Tradition
West Sumatra is known for its Minangkabau culture, which adheres to a matrilineal kinship system or based on maternal lineage. In the Minangkabau tradition, weaving is work assigned to women and at the same time it symbolizes their social status. The number of songket owned by a woman reflects her social status, the more songket she has, the higher her social status. Therefore, in the past, if a woman in Silungkang was not good at weaving, it would be considered “shameful”.
The songket is still crafted in the conventional way by women in West Sumatra, so craft of Songket Silungkang maintains the cultural tradition of Sawahlunto, West Sumatra.
A Craft maker-friendly Tourism City
The SISSCa promotes tourism and songket craft makers in Sawahlunto. The songket tradition has also become an icon of the city of Sawahlunto, previously more well-known as a historic mining town, dubbed “the Cultural Mining Tourism City”. The songket carnivals, help increase the sales turnover of songket craft makers and expand the marketing of the songket in Silungkang and Sawahlunto.
Therefore, SISSCa can improve the income of songket craft makers. The Government of Sawahlunto has made SISSCa one of the annual events of the Sawahlunto government aimed to support the Songket Silungkang craft makers and Sawahlunto tourism business.
In the past, songket was just a simple fabric that was sewn into clothes or scarves, now there are many variations of songket products. Creative people have produced bags and hats, in addition to other accessories made from songket. This of course expands the market for songket.
Sawahlunto, the Songket Icon City
The innovative ways of producing the songket can be observed at the SISSCa Fashion on the Street event, which was a new event extending from SiSSCa 2022. SISSCa Fashion on the Street was held in front of the Ombilin Khas Hotel in Sawahlunto on Saturday night after the SISSca 2022 in the afternoon. On the main road, next to the Sawahlunto City Cultural Center Building (GPK), models on the catwalk showcased clothing and accessories made from songket.
The city of Sawahlunto is not only a historic mining town, but has developed into the songket icon city of West Sumatra.
Co-written by Vino Hadiz
Translated by Liza Hadiz
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Sources:
Ditwtb (2019) ‘Songket Silungkang.’ Indonesiana https://kebudayaan.kemdikbud.go.id/ditwdb/songket-silungkang/ Diakses 5 October 2022.
Kabar Daerah Sumbar (2022) ‘Inovasi SiSSCa 2022, Fashion on Street Berlangsung Meriah dan Diminati Penonton.’ Kabardaerah.com. https://sumbar.kabardaerah.com/2022/09/inovasi-sissca-2022-fashion-on-street-berlangsung-meriah-dan-diminati-penonton/ Accessed 5 October 2022.
Kabar Daerah Sumbar (2021) ‘Perjalanan SiSCa, Menjadi SiSSCa (Sawahlunto International Songket Silungkang Carnival) dan 100 Wonderful Pariwisata Indonesia.’ Kabardaerah.com. https://sumbar.kabardaerah.com/2021/11/perjalanan-sisca-menjadi-sissca-sawahlunto-international-songket-silungkang-carnival-dan-100-wonderful-pariwisata-indonesia Accessed 4 October 2022.
MJNews,id (2022) ‘Melalui SiSSCa, Pemko Sawahlunto Lestarikan Songket Silungkang.’ https://www.mjnews.id/2022/09/melalui-sissca-pemko-sawahlunto.html Accessed 5 October 2022.
Pasbana.com (2022) Kaba Minangkabau: Sawahlunto Kembali Gelar SISSCA 2022 https://www.pasbana.com/2022/09/sawahlunto-kembali-gelar-sissca-2022.html Accessed 6 October 2022.
Wahyudi, Prima (2021) ‘Tenun Songket Silungkang, Kain Khas Sumatera Barat Yang Masuk Museum Rekor Indonesia.’ GENPI. https://genpi.id/tenun-songket-silungkang-kain-endemik-sumatra-barat-yang-masuk-museum-rekor-indonesia/ Accessed 4 October 2022.
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