Solihiya

ACTIVITY 5:RATTAN SOLIHIYA

According to the blogs from living DNA, rattan is the outer layer of several slender, vine-like palm plant species. It lends a rich texture, subtle woody scent, and a visually pleasing variation in its grain. Rattan is highly durable and flexible, it is a lightweight material that uses for weaving, it serves well as a mat, basket, rope, net, table, chair, and more. Among rattan’s many uses, building furniture has always been its strongest suit. In furniture-wise, rattan is one of the materials that are common in synthetic form. Building rattan furniture is the source of livelihood for many people in rural areas in Asian countries, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Bangladesh.

Solihiya Making

In making the solihiya, the first step is to tuck in the rattan fibers in the square frame, two rattan fibers were tucked together horizontally and vertically that forming square lines that are considered as a base. Then put another rattan fiber in a slant position on both left and right sides, by then the circle will slowly be formed.

While watching the demonstration video and describing the process of making it in words, feels like it was very easy to make. I remember when the first time I saw the demo video, I thought it was very easy that I finished it in 30 minutes. But as you can see in the photos, I started doing it with completely bright daylight and it was completely dark when I finished it. The reflection of the light from our living room was the only source of light that can help to show my work. I suddenly realized that I should never underestimate things. It looks and feels so easy but doing it personally never felt the same.

It was just a small square frame but I got a lot of bruises so what more for those people who created a large piece of solihiya for an item of furniture. It required a lot of effort, patient, and strength to make a single piece of solihiya. Now I understand why it was so pricey to have this kind of furniture, it needs a lot of sweat and blood in making it.