Local crafting talents on show at WAK Festival

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Erianna Daniel is a master of Lun Bawang basket weaving.

PRE-SCHOOLERS are often seen to have lots of fun learning to fold a piece of paper into the shape of a living thing — like a crane.

Their eyes glow with delight and pride as they hold a completed origami figure in their hands, turning it over and over to admire what they manage to create.

The paper crane is one of the simplest forms of handwork to create. In fact, handicrafts can be produced with any materials. Wood, textile, metal or clay are usually used for common artefacts.

There are no rules or limits as to what can or cannot be used to fashion works of art. The goal is to reflect creativity, skill, resourcefulness and patience in accomplishing the task by using the simplest of tools.

Jenny Dudu and her collection of Bidayuh tall hats.

A handicraft can either be an object of utility or beauty. In many cases, handicrafts reflect the cultural identities of the crafters.

Which is why visitors to a foreign land often spend time browsing in handicraft shops there to see what they can buy as souvenirs.

Handicrafts can, thus, be seen as synonymous with a certain region, a people, a culture or a religious affiliation.

It can also be a hallmark of traditions handed down from generation to generation by the people of a place.

Sarawak is richly endowed with handcrafting talents.

And presently, an exhibition in Kuching, themed the ‘Living Legends & Young Masters of Sarawak Crafts’, is showcasing an extensive collection of exquisite Sarawak crafts, duly recognising the dexterous ingenuity of their creators – the local craft masters – who may be regarded as custodians of the State’s cultural heritage.

The exhibition is part of an on-going programme, organised conjointly with the second ‘What About Kuching (WAK) Festival 2018’ which runs till the end of this month at Pullman Kuching.

 

World Craft City status

According to Heidi Munan, the person in charge, the exhibition is also held in conjunction with the visit by a panel of jurors from the World Craft Council City of Crafts to assess the State Capital’s bid to become a World Craft City.

Bangie Embol and Heidi Munan (right) at the former’s exhibition booth.

Heidi, who has authored many books on Sarawak’s cultures, said Society Atelier Sarawak president Edric Ong hoped the exhibition could impress the jurors and earn their nod to accord Kuching World Craft City status.

She noted that an exhibition of such a nature could show people what a city and its local crafts and craft makers had to offer, pointing out that a display of craftworks could also encourage more of the younger generation to develop an interest in authentic handicrafts, including taking up craft-making as a hobby or even as a business.

She added that although many monumental or decorative art pieces were machine-made, there was still that inherent affection in people for items created intricately by human hands.

“We hope this exhibition can draw people’s attention to Kuching — raise an awareness or a fondness in them for local handicrafts. We have 30 plus exhibitors who are crafters from the city with most coming from the outskirts.”

Heidi said the crafts exhibition was very well received when it was launched by Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah on Oct 8, judging from the crowd packing the venue.

She called on the public to continue visiting the exhibition, saying they could come and see for themselves the splendid array of handicrafts made by local crafters.

“Sarawak’s handicrafts have, in fact, been receiving overwhelming demand from overseas markets because of their uniqueness,” she said.

Ramsay Ong with his collection of exquisite artworks.

Unesco excellence awards

At a press conference in February last year, Edric Ong announced seven types of Sarawak handicrafts had won the prestigious Unesco World Crafts Council Award of Excellence 2016.

The award-winners were Sarawak Kabo (bead necklace) by Livan Handicrafts; Sarawak ‘Livan’ (bead necklace) by Livan Handcrafts; bamboo pattern basket by Bengkel Pembuatan Beg; Penan ‘Ajat’ sling bag by Barefoot Mercy; Tanoti ‘Sampin’ in shimmery gold, featuring traditional Malay motifs, by Tanoti Sdn Bhd; rattan coil platters of Long Lamai Community by Institute of Social Informatics and Technological Innovations, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and Indigo ‘Pua Kumbu’ silk ‘Ikat’ stole by Nancy Ngali.

Heidi said anyone could try and do a bit of handcrafting themselves.

“I think everybody should try some kind of craft-making, painting or even beading. For example, beading is very easy and beads are easily available in most shops. You never know, you may discover a hidden talent in yourself.”

She herself loves to knit and, has, in fact, been knitting all her life. She believes everyone has the capacity to master a skill.

“Initially, they might find it hard and make mistakes but with practice, they will become increasingly skilled.”

She said there were cases where people started doing things as a hobby but as they developed greater interest and became adept at what they were doing, the hobby turned into businesses for them.

According to Heidi, talents can actually be marketed and this certainly applies to making handicrafts or any kind of art works. All what it takes are the willingness to learn, some creativity, perseverance, resourcefulness and knowledge.

Dayang Tigur and her impressive array Orang Ulu bead necklaces, baskets and other crafts.

She said an art community could always come up with new artistic expressions that were modern and exciting —- art forms capable of capturing the attention of the millennial generation.

She hoped schools would recognise the importance of arts and crafts and include them as a school subject early in education.

The various handicrafts on display at the Living Legends & Young Masters of Sarawak Crafts.

Meet the crafters

Apart from viewing handicrafts at the exhibition, visitors could also meet and talk to some of the crafters.

Jenny Dudu is a self-taught Bidayuh tall hat maker from Annah Rais longhouse on the outskirts of Kuching.

The tall beaded hats are mostly made on commission and used during festivals like Gawai Dayak.

According to Jenny, black, yellow, red and blue are the main colours used. It takes up to a month to make a tall hat.

Bangie Embol is the leader of the weaving community at Rumah Garie longhouse along Sungai Kain in Kapit District.

Her mother, Karama Dampa, now 85, has passed to her the mantel known as ‘InduNakar or InduNgar’ meaning ‘she who knows the secret ingredients of the mordanting’.

Bangie’s weavers, comprising about 50 women, are the only group of Iban ‘pua kumbu’ or warp-ikat weavers who have accomplished the technique of using silk yarns for weaving in natural dyes.

Nancy Ngali is also one of the weaving experts. She comes from a family of notable weavers, learning the skills from her mother and grandmother.

She is an accomplished Iban ‘ngajat’ dancer and has performed at functions where she has been invited to demonstrate her weaving art.

Handicraft works created with aluminium cans.

Ramsey Ong developed his interest in art from a very early age. He draws inspiration for his creativity from nature, making his artworks unique and distinctive.

An award-winning batik artist in his early career, Ramsay started his unique bark-cloth painting in the late seventies, inspired by his fellow artists in Hawaii and Australia.

His unique creations are included in the collections of numerous museums, art galleries, private and public institutions, homes of dignitaries, art collectors and appreciators worldwide.

Salbiah Muhi began taking an interest in keringkam embroidery at a young age of 17, learning from her mother Rajemahbt Amin. Together with her sister Zainap, she became a full-time keringkam embroiderer in 1986.

Michael Lim began his career as a professional artist in the early sixties and has been creating wonderful ‘batik’ images textiles from silk to cotton.

He applies the traditional approach to his batik paintings and also devotes much time to other creative areas such as the development of natural dying techniques, copper tooling woodcarving, basketry and fibre crafts.