Ikat (from the Indonesian/Malay mengikat, ‘to tie up’) is a very elaborate way of decorating cotton and silk textiles by resist-dyeing the yarns before weaving. Designs are reserved by tying the yarns in such a way that the untied sections will absorb dye when immersed in a colour bath. For subsequent colours, new bindings will have to be applied, and, depending on the design, earlier ones removed.

Skilled craftspeople can work with amazing precision in preparing the yarns before dyeing and weaving. Ikat textiles can be recognised from a slightly jagged appearance in the patterns. The technique, of which Ikat Patterns contains some hundred outstanding samples, has been used for centuries in various parts of the world, and it is still widely practised in India and Southeast Asia.