CREATIVE: Ong (second left) together with Zuraid Mokhtar (third right) of the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation and members of the SAS posing with various ethnic and tribal textiles at the press conference.
KUCHING: The International Symposium and Exhibition on Natural Dyes (ISEND) and the World Eco-Fibre and Textile (WEFT) Forum 2012 will be hosted here from Sept 27 to Oct 1 and is set to gather experts from 33 countries.
With the theme ‘Waste to Wealth’, the five-day event to be held at the Hilton Hotel will provide a platform for discussing crucial issues facing the cultural and economic revival of natural dyes and colourants.
The forum is also a venue for industry players to present success stories of practitioners and formulate ideas to assist in the effort to convert, recycle, re-use waste plant materials to useable dyes, crafts, textiles and fashion.
Society Atelier Sarawak (SAS) president Edric Ong revealed this at a press conference yesterday.
Among the highlights of the programme will be lectures, dyeing demonstrations, expos and marketing of textiles and craft products.
“More than 40 papers will be presented during the five-day event by experts from countries such as the US, Britian, China, Russia, Poland, France, Sweden, Greece, India, Japan, Brazil, to name a few,” said Ong.
He said the climax of the forum will be a Gala International Fashion Show and Dinner featuring 25 top designers and over 40 models to be held at the Colosseum Ballroom, Pullman Hotel, on Sept 29.
“Other events would include curated exhibition at the Sarawak Museum Art Gallery entitled ‘Sacred Ikat-Iban and Sumba Textiles’ and also the launching of the book ‘Plaited Arts of the Borneo Rainforest’,” he said.
He elaborated that a post forum tour will be organised where delegates will be brought to Rumah Garie, Ulu Kapit to witness the traditional ‘Ngar’ mordanting ceremony, apart from to select weaving and craft centres.
The event is jointly organised by Kraftangan Malaysia and Society Atelier Sarawak and is endorsed by Unesco, World Crafts Council, World Crafts Council Asia-Pacific, ASEAN Handicraft Promotion and Development Association with the support from both federal and state government.
Other supporting partners include the National Textile Museum, Sarawak Museum, Sarawak Convention Bureau, Sarawak Tourism Board, Tourism Malaysia, Crafts Council of Malaysia, Sarawak Crafts Council, Unimas, and Sarawak Biodiversity Centre.
Minister of Information, Communication and Culture Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim is scheduled to officiate at the launch of the event on Sept 27 and Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and wife Puan Sri Ragad Alkurdi Taib will be the guests- of-honour at the Gala International Fashion Show and Dinner on Sept 29.