Contents 2 Editorial 3 a Word from the Scc 4 the Kelarai Art of Weaving 6
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Contents 2 editorial 3 A Word from the sCC 4 the Kelarai Art of Weaving 6 Crafthub Cultural talk in sarawak Museum 7 RWCB 2011 8 Abushan 10 Indian Textiles 12 Bamboo Baskets 14 It’s a small World 16 BIBA entry Form 18 Page of History 19 What’s on 19 shopping with De Gayantina thamrin MAts anD BAsKets t here was a time, not so very long ago, when mats were about this is used to be the problem of town-based artisans, but as the only furniture found in our homes, and baskets the means of the population spreads and land use changes, even our best storage and transport. A family sat and slept on mats. They kept their craftworkers in the villages and longhouses find it more difficult valuables in baskets, they carried anything that needed moving – to get good materials. Provident mat-makers tend little plots of harvested grain to the house, farm produce to market, personal bemban, the reed that’s used for making sleeping mats; rattan belongings like sireh, tobacco and flint – in baskets specially made needs tall trees to grow up on, and it matures very slowly. for each purpose. We feel that it is high time Sarawak started growing craft materials the terrace house dwellers in sarawak’s towns still use baskets. seriously. Sabah has a start on us there; they are harvesting rattan on the utilitarian side there’s the laundry basket, the waste-paper which was planted twenty, thirty years ago. An entrepreneur in basket and the vegetable-washing basket. These are found in the the Bau-Lundu are has made a start with the fastest-growing of kitchen; in the drawing room there’s a tissue box cover made of material, bamboo; there are a few rattan plantations here and fancy basket-work, there are decorative baskets to hold flower there but the market needs more! Many of our best craftworkers pots or dry-flower arrangements, there are lampshades and wind- are elderly; they aren’t going to tramp six hours into the jungle agitated mobiles in fancy shapes. just to get an armful of canes. If natural fibres are easily available, many craftswomen who now don’t do basketry at all, or work with Ladies no longer carry their chewing and smoking utensils in a plastic, will go back to emulating the high standards set by their basket, but many use dainty knitting and sewing baskets for their mothers and grandmothers. needlework. Until superman on a vinyl backpack took over, children used to carry their books to school in a basket too. Multi-coloured school-bags with cartoon characters are not the only change in the world of basketry. Plastic packaging strips are used to make baskets; the rough variety may be seen in any market, full of vegetables, fish, or whatever the small business- woman is hoping to sell. The whole-seller has moved away from loosely woven bamboo baskets, too. Wet market produce arrive in large square plastic baskets nowadays; ‘easier to stack on a lorry’ we’re told. the women in the farmers’ market don’t buy such plastic baskets, they make their own containers. The technique of working plastic strips is the same as any other basketry – anyam satu being the most common – and the craftswomen quite like using colourful materials. Some have the artistic taste to make plaids and patterns. A few have started using finer plastic strips to make more elegant basketry. They have the skill, but, so many of them lament: ‘it’s either plastic or nothing. You can’t get good rattan any more.’ Finger ornament, seen at Ahbushan. CRAFts is published by Crafthub Sdn. Bhd. for the Sarawak Craft Council (sCC). Opinions expressed by contributors to CRAFts are not necessarily those of the SCC or Crafthub. the contents of CRAFts may not be reproduced in any medium without prior written permission. Feedback is always welcome, write to us at the address below, email: [email protected] or visit our website: www.crafthub.com.my Would you like your craft event to appear in our What’s On… free listing? Would you like to advertise at very reasonable rates? Then email the Editor with details to: [email protected] editor: Heidi Munan Publication Manager: Rosenah Ahmad Contributors: Lucy Ang-Abey, Donald Tan, Rosmarie Wong, Kamaldeep Kaur, Victor Wong, Heidi Munan, Pabriyah Bachik, De Gayantina Thamrin, Reynold Ahviet Printed by Bahagia Press sdn Bhd, Lot 225 section 49, Jln Padungan Utara, 93100 Kuching Published by Crafthub sdn Bhd, 1st Floor, 96 Main Bazaar, 93000 Kuching Issn 1985-7357 Cover image: Tattooed Iban Craftsman, © copyright maridontreks 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 : sarawakhandicraft.com Published for sCC 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] website: www.crafthub.com.my 2 A word from... The Sarawak Craft Council by Reynold Ahviet Hello folks, also big Hi to all our regular CRAFTS readers who have been following us since our first print, way back in 2008. It has been quite a thrill ride for us (fun as well!). We share stories and informative topics for the newsletter, honestly we are learning some new things as well! Being human, we cannot have the ability to know everything. Learning and sharing new things everyday is a great way of contributing to society as a whole. With this issue our team says ‘selamat Hari Gawai’ to all our Dayak readers, and Selamat Hari Raya (coming next month!) to our Muslim friends. SCC Activities In February-March the sCC took part in the annual Hari Kraf Kebangsaan (national Craft Day) at Kompleks Kraf Kuala Lumpur. The 2-week event was filled with exciting programs. With participation from every state in Malaysia, there was a lot of interesting stuff, from the kind of handicrafts we come across everyday to really bizarre stuff! interesting enough eh? sCC Chairman Datuk Gramong Juna honour a veteran artisan. sCC featured Mr. sahat Akip from Kampung sileng Melayu and marine products. Wow! Such diverse products! It was an Lundu at Hari Kraft Kebangsaan. He is known for wood carving exciting exhibition that our team was proud to be a part of. and did live demos during the exhibition. the objective of our team was to create market awareness of Less than a week later, we headed to Kota Kinabalu for the the handicrafts scene. Much like other industries, handicraft BIMP-eAGA (Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Philippines East Asean products keep on changing, evolving in terms of design. Young Growth Area) Expo 12 – 15 March, at the Sabah Trade Centre. minds are brave enough to re-shape the way people look at this showcased the best of EAGA products, including a wide crafts. range of food, agriculture, industrial crops, livestock and poultry Almost a month after our Sabah trip, SCC headed north again, not to Miri or Sabah but to Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei). SCC participated in Sarawak Travel Fair which took place at Times square Shopping Mall 1 – 4 April. This fair was coordinated by the sarawak tourism Board. We tagged along Lawas’s bead producer, Mr Marthin sara, and painter Mr Awang nikaszahar @ Niki. Plenty of people surrounded them as the one was making live paintings and the other produced beads -- something to “wow” to crowd!! Our only complaint was the currency…everything costs double in Brunei. Promosi Kraf Malaysia was held at Miri Heritage Centre on 20 – 25 May, organized by Kraftangan Malaysia. We showcased our talented craftspeople from Miri itself for this Promotion. Outlook there you go people, it was quite a packed schedule for the sCC team. It was fun too, there’s a yin and yang that makes things worthwhile. Ahhh --- do not forget the coming Rainforest World Craft Bazaar, 8 – 10 July, you can’t miss that one! With participation from art students from various local universities interpreting the theme “recycle”, something interesting is bound to happen. We know you are going for this, and you will see the sCC there! Left: sCC at the sarawak Travel Fair in Brunei. 3 the kelarai art of weaving by PARBIYAH BACHIK Corporate Communications Department,Kraftangan Malaysia Weaving is the process of interlacing yarns or threads of leaves, siti Zainon Ismail in the book Rekabentuk Kraftangan Melayu ‘lidi’, rattan, roots, bamboo and several other types of plants in (1986) [Malay Handicraft Designs], there are 45 types of and out of itself to form a threaded surface. ‘kelarai’ designs that have been identified and used by weavers from areas in the Malaysian eastcoast states of terengganu, the art of weaving is inseparable from the traditional way of Pahang and Kelantan. life of communities in the Indo-Malay Archipelago, including Malaysia. From mats to wall coverings, weaving works fill the e.F. Allen and J.H. Greig in their book Art & Craft – the Pandan living environment everywhere. This is unsurprising as many Weaving Industry of Terengganu explained that : naturally-growing tropical plants are suitable as weaving materials. “The basic pattern or ‘kelarai’ requires only two colours and it is easier to study in this form than where a complex of colours Generally, the basic method of weaving does not differ much interwoven in strips to produce the ‘corak’ (pattern) which is but it depends on the type of plant used for weaving.