Tapis, ceremonial skirt with squid pattern (cumi-cumi) iconography Probably 19th century Lampung people Womens initiation textiles feature in tribal and courtly culture across the islands of Indonesia, but few can rival those of the peoples of Lampung in Sumatra, whose tapis include ritual cloths that rank among the highest accomplishments of Indonesian textile art. The Lampung region was long renowned for the stature of its ancient Austronesian megaliths, the decorative influence of its Bronze Age and for the cultural impulse of the Srivijaya, a Buddhist-Hindu state that reached its apogee one thousand years ago. In later centuries extreme cosmopolitanism became a significant feature of the region, borne of its location as a maritime crossroads. Ideas and trade goods from China, India, Arabia, and Europe, were exchanged for the regions prized commodity, Lampung pepper and this extraordinary range of cultural and aesthetic influences created some of the most dynamic and compelling ex