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Ikat

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A complex weaving technique giving rise to multicolored warp-faced silk textiles ascribed to the Bukhara area in Uzbekistan. The term ikat, which is used in the west, is taken from an Indonesian word describing the same weaving technique. In Central Asia, the term that is used to describ these textiles is abr. Ikat fabrics are created from a complex process of resist-dye technique in which unwoven warps threads are first dyed in a multi-step process with complex designs. The more colors, the more steps are involved in wrapping threads, dyeing one color, unwrapping and repeating. Only after the design is applied through the dyeing process is the weaving completed by weaving in the weft threads. This laborious process which requires the expertise of master dyers and master weavers produces distinctly beautiful textiles.

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