Ikat is an Indonesian/Malay word meaning "to tie" or "to bind" and is a resist-dye weaving technique practiced by many cultures the world over. To make an ikat pattern, one ties and then dyes the warp or weft threads. To make a double ikat pattern, the same is done with both the warp and the weft. The East Indies Museum exhibits many different types of ikat textiles from numerous ethnic groups in Indonesia and Malaysia and features some intricate double ikats from India. Nevertheless, because there are so many ikat styles and ikat-producing regions, the collection has many gaps which we aspire to fill as time goes by.