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A introduction by Ros de Souza at the opening of Jane's exhibition at Studio South in Fremantle, West Australia.
7 December 2003

Hello everyone….

It is my pleasure to speak today on behalf of our guest Jane Liddon, whose concept has developed and fostered THE SUMATRAN SEWING CIRCLE. When Tiffany and I first heard about Jane and the story behind the SSC and then saw the quality of the work we were captivated. The attention to detail is stunning and the joy in its execution is tangible.

The Sumatran Sewing Circle consists of a small group of women who live and work just outside of Padang, on the West Coast of Sumatra.. They are an extraordinary group of women who belong to the Minang people. The Minang have a rich and ancient history and at one time their culture was spread over the entire Malay peninsular. It is a matrilineal Muslim society with a strong commitment to education and economic independence.

Jane Liddon, herself an extraordinary woman, is crayfisher captain, pearler, businesswoman, environmentalist and artist. She has been part of the community since 1994 when she first visited the area with her sons. Being keen and accomplished surfers the boys wanted to charter a boat and what they primarily needed was a reliable (and affordable) skipper and photographer at reasonable rates…….and hey, isn’t that what mums are for?

Jane obliged, rekindled a friendship with an old friend, Rick, who is now her partner and they work and live for most of the year alongside the local community. The SSC came about because Jane and Rick built a home in the mountains south of Padang and employed people in the immediate vicinity. Jane noticed the women had no means of employment and set about to train some of them to transpose her designs onto fabric. In this society, the women buy their husbands so a well paid job is a handy thing to have!

The women take great pride in their work. Jane chooses the fabrics ( natural fibres) does all the cutting and the women sew to her specifications. Some of the bedspreads have taken 40 days to complete. Jane pays them by the hour. They keep their own accounting books and they share mutual trust and great pride in the end result.

The women are absolutely thrilled that this exhibition is happening. Rick tried to take a clandestine photograph of them whilst working for our gallery display book but they ran and hid and would only oblige if they could wash the white rice flour off their faces (sun protection) and apply their lipstick.

We hope you enjoy this exhibition, the first in Australia, ….. a world premier in fact. Jane’s aim is to train more women which will further assist the community towards economic independence. Jane shies away from public speaking, but would really enjoy speaking with you one to one this afternoon. Please approach her about her experiences .

Thank you and enjoy the exhibition.

One of the best surf breaks in the Mentawais (ranked in the top 10 in the world) is called HTs (hollow trees). It is located near the village of Katiet, home to about 200 families. Only cash revenues are from copra, cloves, petuli oil and a few lobster. Rice, sugar, kerosene, fuel, clothing, medicine, tools etc etc all have to purchase from the mainland 100 miles away.

In 1994 Jane skippered Electric Lamb with her 2 surfing sons and friends as guests. The boat stopped at HTs and Jane went ashore for a walk. She noticed that the locals used wooden bowls for food preparation and admiring the shape she asked if they could make one for her. One of the local men, Manase, offered a well worn wooden bowl to Jane as a gift and said he would make a new one ready for her return. Some malaria pills changed hands after Jane noticed one of the children running a high fever at the back of the tiny hut.

Jane decided to check the local museum for reference books describing Mentawai artifacts and found a whole range of unique carved palm wood knives, spears, bowls, drums and many other items that the locals had evidently forgotten existed. Armed with photocopies of the artifacts, Jane went back to the village and asked if Manase could make some of the items and the souvenir industry started. This was mid 1994.

Next season Jane was back. On each stop in the village she checked the progress of the locals and purchase all the pieces with merit. Soon 5 or more other local men had decided to try their hand and some showed a natural talent that was quite remarkable. Jane took the carvings back to MWB's office in Padang and put them on display so that guests could buy something even if they had been too busy surfing to think of it during their stay at HTs.

At the end of the season Manase and a group of his friends came to Padang with big rice bags full of carvings for our consideration. Jane made a point of buying the best and pointing out how the rest could be modified or improved next time round. This process continued through the off season.

In 97 the village chief, Pak Jusar, wrote MWB a letter thanking everyone involved for supporting the now thriving village industry and reporting that the total income during the surf season was averaging over Rp4 million per month. There were about 20 boats working in the area at that time. The business continued to thrive and next off season nobody came to Padang to sell product. They wanted to keep the items for the following year and sell direct!

Pak Jusar visited Padang recently and he got talking about the progress of the industry. He estimates that over 50 men and boys are now working almost full time on carving and that Manase made over Rp10 million during 2003. Pak Jusar estimates that total sales to visiting surfers will exceed Rp200 million this year. Copra production revenues are probably below Rp400million for same period due to a downturn in commodity prices over the past 2 years.

Wood carving is on the way to dominating the economy of the village!