Songket and “Light”: From Philosophy to Practice

The motifs of songket function as vehicles that can bring forward the awareness of the relationships among the divine and spiritual realms with the physical world. The Malay community has translated this appreciation of God's beautiful creations in songket through the weavers’ minds and souls. This research will analyse the songket motifs that can be seen as the “light” that symbolically represents the Supreme Creator of the universe. It is equally important to the function of light as a physical entity. The research methods used are qualitative in nature, including visual data documentation as well as interviews with the scholars and experts on the songket motifs and lighting designers. Observations wer made on the cultural aspects of Malay inclusive of the religious, the social and the environmental issues, for connections to light and its meaning. This relationship with the Malay community including the aspects of culture, beliefs and divinity, opens up the minds to spiritual existence and in relating it to light and in appreciating humanity. With this acquired knowledge, the art of contemporary lighting design as an enhancement to the intellectual capability of man from philosophy, ideas to practice (science and technology) can be implemented. If beauty were the result of a creative art, then it would not be wrong to say that the Supreme One wills us to create objects of art or beauty, with contemporary lighting design falling into this category. This study of spiritual values through material culture brings a renewed perception of the study of songket within the spirit of humankind, time and space,. This can be achieved by observing the transformation of spiritual beliefs in the cultural meaning in contemporary lighting design. It is an embodiment of songket in an art form that is philosophical and rich in cultural meaning.