The Sarawak Craft Council (SCC)

CONTENTS

2 Editorial Sarawak Craft Council

3 Welcome to the Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar

4 Meet the RWCB Exhibitors

6 A Centre for Handicrafts

8 Sarawak Storage

10 The Best of Sarawak Crafts

15 What’s On

1 Editorial INTERNATIONAL LINKS

The skill and lore of handicrafts is rooted in each people’s past. The type of craft is suited to their needs and lifestyle. Decorations, or the absence of decorations, tell the observer something about the creative imagination of the maker and the user of each artefact, from humble household utensils to sacred religious paraphernalia.

It should be easy to distinguish the crafts of one group from another at a glance. Careful examination, however, shows that even within sub-groups of closely related people there are variations. Designs and motifs overlap community and international boundaries. Historical study confirms this: wherever human groups came into peaceful contact, they borrowed from each other’s cultures.

Many examples of cultural borrowing can be found within our own area. A finely plaited bamboo hat, now made by the Melanau of the Matu region, is called by them seraong Sambas. Why? “Some traders who sailed to the west coast of Borneo brought back wives from there,” the elders relate, “these ladies introduced this type of hat.” A book about Borneo’s cultures, compiled at the end of the 19th century, confirms this seemingly far-fetched explanation, complete with an illustration of the hat in question – the author had collected it in Sambas (Ling Roth, H: The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, Truslove and Harrison, London 1896, vol. II, p. 61).

The delicate patterns of Malay gold brocade cloth (songket) are used throughout the Insulindies, obviously borrowed, copied, carried from one place to another. Royal brides brought an entourage of skilled craftspeople with them if they married into another country, but ordinary traders and travellers also helped. The floral designs on imported calicos and muslins are surely one source of tulips and carnations which are seen in many Indonesian batik motifs?

Popular imagination sees a ‘traditional craftsperson’ quietly sitting at work in a village, knowing nothing of the outside world. There are some such, but they are becoming rare. The young generation of craftspeople has been to school; there are specific crafts training institutions (see p. 6) where skills and techniques are taught, and where the trainees absorb cultural influences well beyond their own village. Artisans travel; they may bring their products to international fairs and bazaars, they may attend professional training courses. Designers in turn travel to the supposedly ‘isolated’ villages, to learn and to teach, and to gather ideas.

This is not to say that artistic and crafts traditions should be abandoned for anything new that comes along! Every culture needs its roots. But no man is an island, even if he lives on one. In the CRAFTS is published by Crafthub Sdn. Bhd. for the Sarawak Craft Council (SCC). Opinions old days, people got new inspiration, or found things to adopt expressed by contributors to CRAFTS are not necessarily those of the SCC or Crafthub. All information is correct at the time of printing. The contents of CRAFTS may not be reproduced in and adapt, as they roamed the land in search of new farmland. any medium without prior written permission. Feedback is welcome, write to us at Today, they roam in search of education; they read books, [email protected] If you would like to advertise, please email [email protected] they glimpse other people’s cultures, crafts and countries on Editor: Heidi Munan TV. An event like the Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar, short Publication Managers: Donald Tan and Freya Martin Contributors: Annette Bessant, Lucy Ang-Abey though it is, will allow artisans from very different parts of Published by Crafthub Sdn. Bhd., 1st Floor, 96 Main Bazaar, 93000 Kuching. the world to meet, look at each other’s output, and surely learn Printed by Bahagia Press Sdn. Bhd., Lot 225, Section 49, Jln Padungan Utara, 93100 Kuching. something new. Cover Illustration: Susanne Kampp, Denmark with examples of her willow fugelfoderhuse (bird-feeding house).

The Sarawak Craft Council The SCC promotes the State’s ethnic handicrafts, both to preserve a priceless artistic heritage and to improve the artisans’ livelihood. The predominantly rural craftworkers now have a realistic option to augment their income from agriculture. The Craft Council coordinates the activities of government and private entities involved in handicraft development in Sarawak.

Mission Statement The Sarawak Craft Council provides leadership in the development and enhancement of the handicaft industry in Sarawak.

Objective To develop the handicraft industry into a more coordinated and progressive enterprise that will complement the needs of the tourism industry.

2 The Rainforest World Music Festival, an event that has been gaining popularity with every year, opens its doors for the 11th time this July. The whole of Sarawak Cultural Village is taken over by a festive throng of world music fans for three days just as usual.

Or is it?

The Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar is making its debut this year, and Sarawak welcomes all participants and visitors to this first-ever event of its kind.

The venue of the Crafts Bazaar, inside the Cultural Village, puts a very special stamp on the occasion. There will be no shortage of food and entertainment, as the village is geared to cater for thousands. The exhibitors, vendors and crafts demonstrators taking part in the Bazaar will have the unique chance of enjoying three days and nights of music, too!

The Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar committee is doing everything possible to make our friends from other parts of Malaysia and from overseas feel at home. We hope they will take a stroll or two around the historical parts of the city of Kuching, where their hotel is situated; and on the way from Kuching to the Crafts Bazaar venue, they will catch a few glimpses of Sarawak s countryside.

The Crafts Bazaar is, true to its name, a marketplace for the products of skilled hands from every part of the world. Yet it is more than that — it is a place where craftspeople can admire each other s handiwork, where they can discuss techniques and where they can exchange ideas.

Every participant is sure to bring something, not only goods but skills and ideas. It is our hope that every participant will take something home too: happy memories of Kuching, of the Cultural Village, of the Music Festival, and of the Crafts Scene in Sarawak.

So, welcome to the Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar, and a special welcome to our cover girl , Susanne Kampp, who comes all the way from Denmark to share her basketry skills.

We hope to see you all again at the Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar 2009!

Datuk Gramong Juna Chairman, Sarawak Craft Council

Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar Programme at Sarawak Cultural Village (details correct at time of printing)

July 8 Arrival of participants from overseas and outstations , and setting up July 9 Setting up; Bazaar open from 9 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. July 10 Official opening of Bazaar at SCV at 10 a.m. Bazaar open from 9 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Official Welcome Dinner for RWCB participants in Kuching July 11 Rainforest World Music Festival & Crafts Bazaar open 12 noon to 12 midnight July 12 Rainforest World Music Festival & Crafts Bazaar open 12 noon to 12 midnight July 13 Rainforest World Music Festival & Crafts Bazaar open 12 noon to 2 a.m. July 14 Bazaar continues from 9 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Appreciation Dinner for RWCB participants in Kuching July 15 Bazaar open until noon; dismantling and clearing stalls until 5.00 p.m. July 16 Clearing complete. Participants depart for their home countries or undertake excursions in Sarawak

3 Here’s a glimpse into the lives and work of some of the talented craftspeople exhibiting at the first-ever Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar.

SUSANNE KAMPP, DENMARK Susanne Kampp has been making willow baskets for some 15 years. Willow is a tall, long-branched shrub that grows in damp places, especially along rivers, in most parts of Europe. Like the majority of basket-makers in Denmark, she only practises her craft part time, after she has finished work as a pre- school teacher and during weekends.

Susanne explains,

“I like the strong traditional baskets, which are made for use. The first year I used to learn the techniques myself, but then I started to teach other people to make the baskets. I did start to experiment with the baskets’ shapes, and to use the techniques another way.”

Susanne Kampp is Vice-President of the Basket-Makers Association of Denmark. She has visited Sarawak with members of her association and visited Nanga Sumpa, where the visitors were most interested to exchange ideas and techniques with their Iban hosts. Baskets at an exhibition The Basket-Makers Association of Denmark has 1,500 members. They publish a magazine, and organize annual festivals, where they meet and showcase their productions both traditional and modern to the general public.

KAMALDEEP KAUR, INDIA Kamaldeep Kaur is a textile designer with a lifelong passion for neelgar, the name she chose for her business because “there is no other colour that represents natural dyes so beautifully as Indigo.”

This textile artist from Gujarat province designs and produces saris, shawls, stoles, beautifully crafted pieces for every use. She is often called in to consult and design for official functions, such as costuming traditional folk festivals.

Kamaldeep’s particular interest in natural dyes makes her a sought-after lecturer at conferences and seminars, both in her own country and abroad.

Photo: Hans Hazebroek

ASANO CHISATO, JAPAN Chisato is a talented, young Japanese artist. After a stint at the Kyoto-Survival Academy, she graduated from the Kyoto-Saga University of Arts.

Her working career commenced in design and print media, where she produced material for cartoon strips among other things. These two-dimensional characters interested her immensely, but in the long run they were not enough to satisfy her creative imagination. Asano decided to try them in three dimensions – the result is a set of quirky human, animal and fantasy puppets.

Chisato still produces drawings, etchings and prints, all conceived in the same individualistic style. This is an artist who does not see the world as others do, but through her own very personal focus. Chisato regularly exhibits in art galleries around Japan, but her special love is for hand-made puppets; her matchbox-sized miniatures are something like her signature product. She gives puppet shows at art galleries, shrines and community festivals.

This is her first foray into Malaysia – the first time her puppets will be seen in the rainforest!

ZOIA MAMBETALIEVA, KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

Zoia Mambetalieva from Kyrgyzstan brings the cultures of Central Asia to the rainforest with her toy animals, dolls, birds, jewellery, hats, bags, silk scarves, embroidered jackets, painted chess sets, musical instruments and small felt mattings.

Felt, a dense, warm textile made of the compressed wool of sheep, goats or other domestic animals, is one of the trademark products of her region, and should create considerable interest at the Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar.

Zoia is supported by CACSA, the Central Asian Crafts Support Association. CACSA is a non- governmental organization founded in 2000 with the support of Aid to Artisans (a US-based crafts support organization). CACSA represents 7,000 artisans from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Its mission is the revival and development of crafts and the consolidation of artisans’ efforts for the mutual cultural enrichment of Central Asian people, and the promotion of these products on the world market. CACSA provides its members with training and workshops on technical and marketing topics, organizes fairs, exhibitions and festivals and lobbies in the artisans’ interest at public and legislative levels.

4 JEN RICHARDSON, INDONESIA In Bahasa Indonesia, balok is the main beam that holds a house together. To Jen Richardson and her partner, it is a combination of ‘Bali’ and ‘Lombok’. They named their company after the famed mother-of-pearl of Lombok, set in silver by skilled Balinese artisans.

Balok Healing Jewellery designs are based on sacred geometry images, traditionally considered to have healing properties. Each piece is unique because no two pearl shells are exactly the same. The mother-of-pearl used in the Balok collection is hand-selected for quality and colour from farmed, renewable sources in tropical Indonesia; it is finished to exacting standards with Sterling Silver 208.

DONNA NOVA, USA Donna Nova creates things of beauty with a blowtorch.

She is a glass artist with many years of experience who now specializes in making individually crafted beads and fragile glass leaves.

A master of her craft, Donna also conducts lessons at her studio in the Santa Fe in the New Mexico area, and she makes studio time available for lampworkers who do not have their own facilities.

Donna Nova Designs lampworked beads are sold at several local and international bead shops including the Bead Museum in Glendale, AZ and Beadazzled in Washington, D.C. Examples of her finished jewellery are available at the Corning Glass Center, Corning, New York and Tesuque Glassworks, Santa Fe, NM. Spring Leaves

A select sampling of her work will be showcased at the Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar – don’t miss it!

SERGIO LUB, USA Born to Russian parents in Buenos Aires, Sergio began making jewellery at the age 12, sold his first piece at 16, obtained an inventor’s patent for kinetic pendants at 19, and became an architect at 22 and is now based in the USA.

Sergio has travelled from the Andes to the Himalayas learning from master craftsmen the ancient metal working techniques he employs in designing and crafting his bracelets. These elegant and yet classic designs are made principally of copper. Some also incorporate magnets at acupressure points. Sergio’s masterpieces are worn by both men and women. Couples frequently choose matching designs.

EMILY CHAK, SARAWAK Emily initially worked in the high technology and corporate services sectors, but her grandmother’s jade and gemstones collection and stories had inspired her passion in jewellery at early age.

Emily started Emilée at the turn of the millennium and has created the exclusive range and limited edition ‘The Sparkles of Ming’. Her style is based on unique and contemporary lines with combinations of antiques and rare gemstones and this has become her forté.

Her custom designs are sassy and stylish, inspired by the colours and cuts of gemstones, to enhance the individuality and independence of women.

NABILA ABDULLAH, SARAWAK Maridontreks Sarawak has a long history of pottery tradition; Nabila Abdullah represents the new generation.

After taking professional courses, Nabila started to experiment with her own ideas. She processes her own clay and glazes from the raw materials. While skilled at the wheel, this potter also creates vessels by the freehand anvil-and-paddle method which had been used by generations of Sarawak women to make cooking pots.

Nabila now runs her own workshop, turning out ceramics that incorporate traditional designs and techniques, adapted to the needs of the 21st century. Among her various products, ceramic beads enjoy great popularity. Photo: Annette Bessant

VON JOLLY, SARAWAK Raymond Jolly is a Sarawakian fashion designer who has made the grade both on the national and the international scene. Together with his nephew Aaron George, he now dresses Malaysia’s elite in swathes of silk, organza, and pineapple fibre enhanced with original textile art.

Since they set up their partnership three years ago, Von Jolly have won the grand prize in the fashion category of the Piala Seri Indon Batik design competition and have dressed celebrities like Sazzy Falak, Wan Zaleha Radzi and Asha Gill. Batik is a theme that is present in each of their creations, but each piece is a unique work of art executed by Aaron, a UiTM graduate in art and design.

Von Jolly also designed the eye-catching costumes for the Malaysian stage show M - The Opera, which debuted in 2006.

Raymond (left) and Aaron (right) at the WEFT fashion show

Photos courtesy of exhibitors unless otherwise accredited. 5 A CENTRE FOR HANDICRAFTS by Lucy Ang-Abey

Along Jalan Stadium in Kuching sits a single-storey building in a big compound full of greenery. That’s the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation, or Kraftangan. It opens Monday – Friday, 8.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m.

The sign SKIM INKUBATOR KRAF leads you to rooms of craftspeople at work. They’re participants of the incubator scheme, starting businesses with strong support from Kraftangan. Among the many benefits, a pleasant work place at a low rental gives these participants a good head start.

Doris Hilda Reji does sulaman keringkam, hand embroidery with flat silver and gold plated threads on cotton voile, cotton lawn, and other light, transparent fabrics. No motifs are drawn on the fabric. Stitches are executed free hand. Doris picked up the skills from two teachers for two weeks each in 2002. Being a self-motivated person, she independently honed her skills until she was ready for the incubator scheme in 2003. Doris is assisted by Siti Rosnani Abu Bakar and Norhafiza Umar. Constant orders make every day a busy day embroidering lovely scarves and shawls. Doris (front left) and team doing sulaman keringkam on a shawl Depending on the size of the fabric and the details of the motifs, a piece takes 15 to 40 working Finished pieces days to complete. Photo: Heidi Munan

In the same block is Jojo Aznie at the loom, weaving songket. Jojo, who joined the incubator scheme in 2005, is assisted by Anis Hasban. Besides producing exquisite songket, Jojo and Anis also take in trainees whose attachment lasts six months. A weaver produces 6 to 7 inches of songket work a day. At present, Jojo produces songket exclusively under Kraftangan’s commission.

The next block houses ceramic work and woodwork.

Ceramics is three-times award winner Florence Sujang’s domain. She joined the incubator scheme in 2004. Many of her ceramic products have been used as corporate gifts. Florence is assisted by Leo, Siti and Swena, who are stationed in Kraftangan. Besides selling her products all over Malaysia and abroad, Florence has her own retail outlets in Carpenter Street, the Civic Centre, and at the Waterfront (Friday – Sunday nights (see page 15)). In her retail outlets, Florence expands her product line beyond ceramics. That’s where she shows her multi-skills and displays the products of her multi-talents.

The carpentry work and carving of Tihie Enterprise and Khasmanira Enterprise make up the woodwork section. They produce quality, made-to-order fine furniture, decorative objects, and household items.

Jamal Mawi, a woodwork graduate from the Institut Kemahiran MARA, owns Tihie Enterprise. He joined the incubator scheme in 2004. Besides making furniture, he does carving. Kertini Bedi, who holds a Diploma in Woodcarving from the Institut Kraf Negara, started working with Jamal in February. She’s often seen chiselling away wood blocks and planks, producing intricate, decorative designs for a wide Kertini displays great patience carving out ‘feathers’ of a kenyalang-shaped congkat tray (an indoor game) variety of items. 6 Khalis Abdullah, or Kinel, owns Khasmanira Enterprise.

Woodwork training under Kraftangan for Kinel started in 1978 in

Kapit, then in 1982 in Pahang. He worked with a West German company in Kuching from 1984 to 1988. For 12 years, Kinel worked in MNN Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of Sarawak Timber

Industries Development Corporation. In 2007, Kinel decided to join the Kraftangan incubator scheme. He’s assisted by four workers, one of them is a son, another a nephew. Kinel’s fine work on nibong (a palm timber) is exceptional.

The next block houses the batik section. Titek Sandora Apit, who joined the incubator scheme in 2003, owns the Sandora Craft

Collection. She’s assisted by her sister Mordiah and Rosmidah who owns Surosmir Craft. Sandora had seven years of apprenticeship and work experience in batik textile production before starting her own business. All of Sandora’s batik pieces are hand drawn and hand painted. Although she uses a wide Kinel gets the machine ready to start his woodwork range of textiles, cotton and silk remain her favourites.

The three ladies are busy at work every day to produce articles

for sale and to meet the orders constantly pouring in. Sandora’s

collection offers a wide range of finished batik products, which

are sold at the workshop and at the Waterfront (Friday – Sunday

nights).

Next door is Catherine Senia Jugi’s Bengkel Pembuatan Beg

(Produk Kemasan). Senia joined the incubator scheme in 2003. Rosmidah starting the batik process by using the djanting to apply wax on the fabric She’s assisted by Jamalia, Elizabeth and Cindy. Senia specializes

in bag making. She is very skilful in handling different industrial Senia making a lantern from dyed bark cloth sewing machines. Although her main product lines are bags of all

shapes and sizes, of different materials and functions, she

practically does everything else. Senia and her team produce many

items wholly by hand or with machine assistance. Senia’s workshop

produces some of the most expertly handled and most beautifully

made bark cloth products. Most of the items produced are made

to order. Occasionally, one may be able to buy a bemban bag, a

mengkuang box, a rattan tray, or something else off the shelf at

the workshop.

Indeed, Kraftangan’s Inkubator Kraf is a hive of activity. 7 by Annette Bessant

There was a time, not so long ago, when all the furniture found in a typical Sarawak house consisted of mats, jars, maybe a wooden chest, and baskets. Baskets were used for every conceivable purpose; storage was high on the list.

Sturdy baskets, fitted with lids as in the old days, still take pride of place among local handicrafts. Even a modern household, with built-in cupboards for everything, can use a few well-made baskets, either for storing stuff or simply as things of beauty.

Stroll down Kuching s Main Bazaar, drop in at the Sarawak Craft Council showroom in the Round Tower (opposite the General Post Office building), or take a short trip across river to the Kraftangan headquarters on Stadium Road. You ll see traditional design taken a stage further, to produce something both aesthetically pleasing and functional.

One now famous design by Edric Ong was awarded a seal of excellence by UNESCO in 2002. A traditional Lun Bawang hat is used as a lid on a circular bark cloth tray. These Ba KelalanTrays are on view upstairs in Artrageously Ramsay Ong on Kuching s Main Bazaar. The lidded trays, and cylindrical boxes worked in the same technique, make unique and pleasing gifts.

The Lun Bawang hat is worked from a root fibre. All traditional local handicrafts use natural materials. Take the swamp reed bemban, softer than rattan and stronger than pandan. The smooth outer skin is used to work intricate self- coloured patterns — the designs can be complicated as the reed is very pliable. Modern applications of an old technique include clutch purses and larger bags, which could be used as storage for delicate items or for carrying a poolside pareo or sarong. Large containers are the ideal tidy-all for clearing away the children s toys, magazines, all the stuff that clutters up a living room — and they look good in a contemporary setting.These items may be viewed at the Sarawak Craft Council.

8 Kraftangan also sells a number of different bemban baskets, some made into handbags and others into storage containers. Kraftangan s creative designers have recently come up with oval and round bemban baskets which incorporate cotton for the lining and leather decoration for the lid.

Lidded baskets made from

bamboo, traditionally made by the

Bidayuh people, can also be

found at the Sarawak Craft Council. Only the outer skin of the

bamboo cane is used, cut into thin strips and dyed to do full

justice to the satiny sheen of the material. Bamboo is a more

rigid material than bemban or pandan and therefore keeps its

shape better, but — traveller beware — sit harder to pack in a

suitcase!

Pandan or screw pine is associated mainly with cooking in Asia, as the leaves of some species are aromatic, and they are used for colouring in cakes and desserts. Pandan leaves are also used to repel cockroaches and the leaves may be powdered and kept with beans and rice to deter weevils.

The largest species, also known locally as mengkuang, is used for making mats and baskets. The leaves, dried and trimmed, can be handled much the same way as folding paper strips. The end result is a soft, flat weave, normally in the 1/1 technique to produce regular squares. The classic pandan mat is off-white, but enterprising ladies dye some of the working strips in colours of blue, pink, purple or green, to produce lively plaid patterns for baskets.

An old technique, recently revived by the efforts of Kraftangan Malaysia, is bergerang or open-work weave. Skilled fingers turn out lovely mat-worked containers with openwork lids. The interior of the boxes is lined with fabric to give a contrasting background to the filigree lattice of the top — truly a fine example of good modern design.

For a number of years, local designer Galeri

M has been working with Iban and Bidayuh

longhouse communities to produce rattan-

reinforced bamboo baskets. The fibres used

are renewable resources found in the areas

around the longhouses, tinted with

commercial dyes. They are strong, versatile

and are made in a variety of sizes; a nest of

three is a very attractive Sarawak souvenir!

They are on sale in the gallery above the Deli Caf (88 Main Bazaar) along the Kuching waterfront.

This small selection of local storage containers is only a sample of what is available in Sarawak. Enjoy your search for more, you can never have too many!

9 CRAFTHUB PRESENTS... THE BEST OF SARAWAK CRAFTS

Crafthub Sdn. Bhd. is a small local company, founded by a group of crafts enthusiasts who want to promote Sarawak handicrafts in an economically viable way, with international-standard quality control.

Crafthub cooperates with other bodies, government or private, that are devoted to encouraging the younger generation into craft-oriented careers, as a worthwhile occupation that provides a viable living for local artisans.

It is important that action be taken now, before many skills inherent in our craft heritage are lost!

WOODCARVING

The indigenous peoples of Borneo have developed woodcarving to a high level of art.

Boys learnt from their fathers – woodcarving is essentially a male occupation – from quite a young age. They might start by incising decorations in the skin of green bamboo, then graduate to making softwood toys for themselves.

The rainforest offers a wide choice of timbers for every purpose; it yields the materials for building houses and boats, for making household utensils and weapons of war, for producing the elaborate coffins and ossuaries required by the customs of some Orang Ulu groups.

Traditionally, the woodcarver’s tools were of the simplest style: a long, heavy parang (machete) and a working knife with a long handle and a short, curved blade. Rough outlines were hewn with the parang and sometimes with fire, but all the elaborate decorations were hand-carved with the small, sharp lungga. Not all woodwork is decorated. The blowpipe, essential hunting weapon until the shotgun made its way into the rainforest, is a long smooth tube of hardwood,

Maridontreks polished in the bore and on the surface.

Some of the most beautiful carved items are those made for daily use: a man’s parang sheath, a woman’s weaving tools. Carved food containers, ladles and trays were often reserved for ‘gala use’. Some communities carved the pillars of their longhouse verandah, and the doors leading to the individual family apartments.

Much skill and care was devoted to woodcarving for ritual purposes, such as funerary accessories. A healer’s paraphernalia is often stored in a specially decorated wooden container, such as the Bidayuh priestess’s bird-shaped mapu. A human figure with strangely simian features, squatting on top of a nicely carved short stick, is credited with the power of attracting game to a trap. Wooden guardian figures, placed at the access road to a longhouse or by the river jetty, were often grotesques with the proper characteristics to ward off evil spirits.

Carved masks served a similar purpose, and most of these are very grotesque indeed! Masks may be painted, or roughly worked; in some communities masked dancers join the harvest festival as part of the general horseplay and jollity, in others the masked mummers are meant to inspire fear.

The Iban carve one specialized artefact: the hornbill. To grace one of the biggest gawai (festival) known to these hard-working rice farmers, effigies of the hornbill are carved, beautifully painted and decorated, and carried in a solemn procession during the celebration. At the end of the festivities, which may take up to one week, the hornbill icons are mounted on tall poles on the longhouse verandah, for all to see. Maridontreks

The real, live hornbill used to furnish material for carving in the past; today this magnificent bird is fully protected. The beak casque of the Helmeted Hornbill, known as ‘hornbill ivory’, was much sought after by traders. At the imperial court of China, ho-ting was worth more than elephant ivory, reserved for making belt buckles, snuff bottles and other trinkets for the inner circle of the imperial household. Sarawak’s natives used it to carve elegant ear-dangles and similar small, impeccably finished ornaments.

10 CRAFTHUB PRESENTS... THE BEST OF SARAWAK CRAFTS

IKAT WEAVING

Sarawak’s Iban women weave their native rainforest into textiles of matchless beauty. The wild cotton bush yields thread. Sizes and colours are concocted from the roots, leaves and bark of forest trees. The designs trace the history of a people’s livelihood, wrested from the jungle darkness teeming with seen and unseen creatures.

Ikat means ‘to tie’. The ikat textiles of Southeast Asia are literally tie-dyed before weaving: the design is tied off on the warp threads. The whole warp is immersed in dye baths after each tying, rather like the related technique of batik. When it is finally stretched on the loom the ikat pattern can be seen, though the cloth is not yet woven.

Tying warp ikat requires great concentration. The craftswoman cannot see the whole pattern while she works, yet weavers execute intricate traditional designs, and occasionally conceive new ones, entirely from memory.

Iban weavers, particularly the ‘dye mistress’, have a thorough knowledge of applied chemistry, combined with practical botany. Tree roots and skins yield a number of reddish-brown shades. A native variety of indigo, if properly processed, produces a Photo: Heidi Munan brilliant purplish blue. Indigo is generally the last dye bath applied to the warp threads, after a brownish-red. After rinsing and drying, the warp is untied, stretched on the backstrap loom, and weaving can commence.

Unlike the cottage loom used by Malay weavers, the backstrap loom has no frame; the weaver’s own posture and body weight maintains warp tension. The threads are stretched between the warp beam – attached to an upright pillar of a longhouse – and the breast beam, which is secured around the craftswoman’s body with a wide belt. She leans back to stretch the warp, or relaxes slightly to slacken the threads. The whole apparatus can be detached, covered with cloth and rolled up to a size no bigger than a bundle of sticks. Iban weavers travel light!

Once upon a time, every Iban woman was a weaver. Girls learnt from Photo: Heidi Munan watching and assisting their elders. At the onset of puberty they were ready to try a first solo effort, usually a short skirt with very simple patterns. A young woman had to make one full-length piece, a pua kumbu, to be eligible for marriage.

Today’s Iban weavers are following in their mothers’ footsteps, preserving the old tradition. New images are joined to the time-honoured patterns of snakes and crocodiles, ferns and creepers, protective spirits and legendary heroes. Today’s heroes fight with guns and fly in airplanes – these images have found their way into Iban weaving. Jesus, Mary and St. John figure on a piece of ikat woven by a Christian. Even a peacock struts proudly across one length of textile, despite the fact that this bird does not exist in Borneo. “I saw it in my children’s school book,” the weaver explains.

Something old and something new … the modern weaver picks and chooses with care. She buys raw cotton thread to eliminate the time-consuming chore of spinning. Aniline dyes are occasionally used, especially for less important work. Silk thread is used by exceptionally talented weavers. But the solid standards of craftsmanship have not changed. New and old designs are skilfully melded into the artistic unity that characterizes the best of Iban weaving. There are no shortcuts in the preparation, execution and finish of a fine length of ikat. There’s no way of doing ikat by machine.

Each length of ikat textile is unique, each is a work of art.

11 CRAFTHUB PRESENTS... THE BEST OF SARAWAK CRAFTS

MAT-MAKING AND BASKETRY

Mat-making and basketry are skills known to every Borneo society. The rainforest Maridontreks abounds in suitable raw materials: reeds, leaves, barks or rinds. These ever- renewable fibres were fashioned into mats and baskets for everyday use; until the early 20th century few longhouse dwellers had furniture other than maybe a storage chest inside their family rooms. Sitting, eating, sleeping was done on the floor, on mats.

One fast-growing plant found mostly in the brackish coastal swamps, Pandanus spp., is a very popular mat-making material which can be processed into a soft, pliable mat.

Besides spreading them for sitting and sleeping on, pandan mats were generally used to wrap articles, to make temporary awnings or rain shelters, to quickly run up an interior wall in a house, to cover the slimy floorboards of a boat if important passengers were expected. Pandan mats were used as sails for small coastal craft too; cheaper than canvas, not nearly as durable.

One of the most versatile rainforest products, the climbing palm known as Malacca Cane or rattan (rotan, Calamus spp.), is used to make baskets of every kind: strong carrying baskets, storage containers, and elegant small containers for a lady’s personal belongings. The latter type is made of the shiny rattan skin, cut into fine working strips.

Rattan is also used to make mats. The Penan people, until recently a nomadic group roaming the hilly regions of Sarawak’s interior, made a mat that resembles the Iban product but is actually plaited of finely stripped rattan skin. To enhance the effect of the decorative patterns, part of the working material is stained black. Today other colours are used, but the classic Penan mat is intricately figured in black and white. Legend has it that some Penan mats are so densely worked that they can be used to carry water over short distances.

The Orang Ulu make a very solid mat by threading lengths of whole or halved rattan canes side by side This type of mat, the tikar lampit, is quite rigid, not really suitable for sleeping on and certainly not for wrapping things; it can only be rolled up. The ends of this tikar lampit are bruised and teased to expose some free fibre, which is plaited to make a strong edge; modern variants of this mat have plastic braiding stitched all round.

Sarawak’s mat-makers are women – almost all of them anyway. One type of sturdy floor mat, spread out to reinforce the sometimes fragile longhouse floor when large numbers of visitors are expected, is inevitably made by men.

The Bidayuh fashion a heavy-duty mat which is worked at right angles, in principle like weaving, of split rattan canes as a warp, and inch-wide strips of bark cloth as a weft. These mats are meant to be useful, not beautiful, though a neatly worked and finished tikar kelasah is a handsome floor covering in the right place.

Besides strengthening the floor in crowd situations, this mat is put to many everyday uses such as drying agricultural produce on the longhouse verandah. It is the sitting-mat of choice for outdoor ceremonies and picnics, when a finer mat might get spoiled by contact with the damp ground. Photo: Heidi Munan

Changing lifestyles make mats and baskets redundant for many Malaysians; the new status symbols are a piece of linoleum or carpet on the floor, a designer handbag, and plastic for everything. Part of the mat-maker’s craft survives thanks to the tourist market, even if full-sized sleeping mats are not suitable as souvenirs.

A number of young Sarawakian designers are pioneering new uses of an old skill: dinner mats, table runners, whole table covers, wall hangings, even pillows with mat-woven insets are new applications of the mat fabric, in new, adapted shapes. A modern taste for rattan furniture and interior decorations made of reed or cane will help to take the skill of centuries into the third millennium.

12 CRAFTHUB PRESENTS... THE BEST OF SARAWAK CRAFTS

BEADWORK

Beadwork as a craft is done with seed beads, ranging from the Photo: Simon Chee size of a mustard seed to that of a pepper-corn, available in increasingly more and brighter colours. They are strung on a network of threads, not unlike macramé, a technique well suited to make a variety of shapes.

Given sufficient beads and leisure, there is nothing Sarawak’s Orang Ulu ladies can’t decorate with beads. Jackets and skirts are lavishly embellished with beadwork, as are the ends of loin cloths. Armbands, necklaces, ear hangings and belts may be enriched with beads or entirely composed of them. Sun hats with beautifully worked bead tops are much sought after by local and foreign buyers alike. Bead headbands are still worn, especially for a semi-formal festive occasion, but they were originally designed to hold the wearer’s long hair in place.

Traditionally, Orang Ulu refrained from using symbols above a person’s social stratum. Inappropriate ornaments and symbols bring disaster: illness, bad harvests, unseasonable weather and resulting famine. A baby carrier embellished with a human figure sheltered a tiny sprig of the aristocracy. Larger beads, hawks’ bells and animal teeth were attached to the upper rim of the carrier, partly to soothe the baby with their tinkling, partly to document his or her status – the use of leopard teeth was restricted too.

In most Orang Ulu societies the full-figure human motif was reserved for the aristocracy. The human figure on beadwork may be standing or squatting, arms and legs forming part of a zig-zag pattern to which others are linked. The human motif’s eyes are always open, the mouth occasionally shows teeth. The ear-lobes are long, often incorporated into the pattern formed by other decorative elements; arms may stretch through them. A frieze of squatting females on a bead jacket reinforced its wearer’s status – they were his or her ‘slaves’.

A middle-class baby peeped at the world from a basket decorated with a human face, stylized animals and beautifully involuted scroll designs. The family might be wealthy enough to cover the whole object edge-to-edge in beadwork, but they still couldn’t use the ‘reserved’ designs. Down the social scale came the baby carrier of fine basketry with just a panel of bead embroidery down the centre, or simply a softly lined basket of split rattan or bark. Baby carriers are considered very precious. Part of the child’s still tender soul adheres to it. After a child no longer needs to be carried, the basket is carefully stored away for the next baby in the family. The bulk of very pretty beaded baby carriers now available in the bazaars of Sarawak are brand new, made for the tourist market. No infant nestled in them, and the ’leopard teeth’ dangling from the rim are carved of deer horn or – since the 1980s – pressed from fibreglass.

Today, many beadworkers produce souvenir items for the tourist trade. Besides the traditional bracelets and necklaces, headbands, loin cloth tails, baby carriers and baskets, there are purses, handbags, fashion accessories and a number of truly startling innovations: pencil covers, cigarette lighter holders, neckties, handphone pouches…

The old problem of status-linked motifs is no longer an issue. To quote an expert beadworker: “We don’t really mind about these taboo things any more. We produce the designs local or foreign people like to buy. They themselves know whether they are strong enough to wear them.” If the spirits take umbrage, their wrath won’t hit the Photo: Kent Walters Collection producer, but the buyer and wearer. Caveat emptor!

13 14 WHAT S ON IN THE WORLD OF CRAFTS

Permanent Craft Mart: Handicraft Centre, Brooke Road, MIRI

Regular weekly Craft Mart at the waterfront, Friday – Sunday, KUCHING

September 8 –14: NATIONAL QUILT FESTIVAL, Gauteng, South Africa Exhibition of quilts, wall hangings and wearable art; workshops for historically disadvantaged and unskilled people; textile shopping mall Contact: Jeanette Botha, Tel: 011 902 6997, 083 964 4553, www.quiltjoburg.co.za

October 15 –18: INDIAN HANDICRAFTS AND GIFTS FAIR, India Expo Centre, Greater Noida Expressway, New Delhi, India Hand-crafted gifts and housewares of all kinds Contact: Vasant Kunj, Tel: +(91)-(11)-26135256, Fax: +(91) -(11)-26135518/26135519

November 6 – 9: ADELAIDE CRAFTS AND QUILTS FAIR, Royal Adelaide Showground, South Australia Information from Expertise Events, Tel: + 61 9452 7575, [email protected], www.adelaideshow.com.au

April 2009: MEGA MACAO Gifts, housewares and handicraft fair, April 2009, exact dates to be confirmed; organized by Kenfair International, www.kenfair.com

The Craft in America Project (which also includes a TV documentary series and book) is displaying crafts made of clay, wood, metal, glass, fibre, metal at various venues: June 8 – September 14, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan October 11 – January 18, 2009, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma February 21 – May 25, 2009, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts For more information visit www.craftinamerica.org

15 Sarawak Craft Council, Sarawak Handicraft Centre, Round Tower, Lot 32 Sect 25 KTLD, Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg, 93100 Kuching, Sarawak tel 60 82 245 652, 252 241, fax 60 82 420 253 e-mail : [email protected] website : www.sarawakhandicraft.com

Published by: Crafthub Sdn.Bhd, First Floor, No.96 Main Bazaar, 93000 Kuching Sarawak Malaysia. tel: 60 82 421 346 fax: 60 82 614 622 email: [email protected]

16 CONTENTS