Tenggak Buah Puruk / Buah Bemban

Today I completed my 2nd Iban accessory, a necklace that is made of buah puruk / buah bemban (gold/silver) buttons..

I used gold buah puruk, Burmese green jade, bloodstone and also African originated seeds...

The buah puruk is supposed to be silver though...but I still love it...

My Culture Loving Friends - Part 2

With Leonard during BHF 2011

        

My next culture loving friend is Leonard Yiu, the owner of Art House Gallery near Central Market, Kuala Lumpur. I met him for the first time when I visited his gallery in 2010 and I was amazed on how can a Chinese guy from West Malaysia has this strong interest in collecting Borneo arts particularly antiques of the Iban, Orang Ulu and also of Dayak Kalimantan, Indonesia. 

His knowledge on Borneo artifacts is very extensive and worth a chat over coffee (don't get intimidated by his reserved character). He is ever ready to tell you his adventures around Sarawak and Kalimantan and relates it to each piece of artifact that he collects along the way. 

Among the collections

Vast collection of wood carvings

His gallery may not be as big as the museum but cosy and extensive enough to explain how the artifacts are interconnected with the peoples' culture during the time. Apart from having the Borneo section of the gallery, he also has collections of Chinese artifacts that he gathered throughout his adventures.

He loves collecting masks

Cosy spot by the window

His objectives in establishing the gallery are:

TO COLLECT AND SAFEGUARD THE HERITAGE OF OUR NATIVE ART OF SARAWAK

TO UNLOCK THE MYSTERY, TO PROVIDE SCHOLASHIP AND DISTINCTION OF THE VARIOUS ANTIQUES AND ARTEFACTS BELONGING TO THE MULTI-ETHNIC GROUPS. NOT ONLY OF SARAWAK AND SABAH, BUT OF THE WHOLE ISLAND OF BORNEO

TO PROMOTE RELATIONSHIP, AND FOSTER BILATERAL UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE PEOPLES OF WEST AND EAST MALAYSIA THRU ARTS AND CULTURE

     

TO CREATE THE FIRST( AND PROBABLY THE ONLY) MINI-MUSEUM OF ETHNIC ART HERE IN MALAYSIA

TO EXPAND MY COLLECTION OF ETHNIC ARTS OF THE ENTIRE REGION, TO SHOWCASE AND MAKE COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE VARIOUS ETHNIC IDENTITY OF THE ENTIRE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

TO PRODUCE WRITINGS, CATALOGUE AND MAKE MY OWN RESEARCH ON VARIOUS NATIVE CULTURES, TO OFFER AUTHENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION TO VARIOUS ETHNOGRAPHIC OBJECTS

OFFER FOREIGN VISITORS A PLACE TO APPRECIATE AND UNDERSTAND OUR BEAUTIFUL NATIVE ART AND CULTURE.

Please visit him at:

 Art House Gallery

                                Lot 3.04, 2nd Floor, Annexe Building,

                                Central Market, Kuala Lumpur.

                                Tel: + 603 203 11468

                                Open daily: 11.00 am - 7.30pm

                                
For more information please contact 
Mr Leonard Yiu (012 - 388 6868) or
email: leonsru@hotmail.com

There you go...my culture loving friend, Leonard Yiu!

Burai Lumit

My first handmade Iban ngepan accessories is burai lumit. It is worn around the waist and very noisy because of the bells attached to the ends of the beaded strings. The materials consist of coloured beads (mine is the second smallest sized beads), frog bells (extra large and large), Burmese jade (dark green), fire agate (dark brown), nylon string, and thread.

This may not be an original Saribas accessory but for me it complements well with the whole costume. 

It took me about three months to complete this accessory to replace the one that I used to wear from my friend's gallery. I want to wear the one made by myself on my wedding day at least it will have a sentimental value attached to it apart from being made with my own hands.

This is my completed burai lumit:

Keling Borneo Hornbill Festival

It would not be fair if I do not put the Keling roll..For Borneo Hornbill Festival all the Keling contestants came from the various tribes of Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu..

 

2009 was won by the Lunbawang tribe (Under Orang Ulu category)

 

2010 was won by the Iban tribe

 

2011 was won by the Lunbawang tribe

 

Let us see who were the winners...

Kumang Bidayuh Borneo Hornbill Festival

Dayung Sangon (Perempuan cantik/Beautiful Woman in Bau dialect)

Bidayuh means "the inhabitants land" is the second largest Dayak ethnic group in Sarawak after Iban.

The final roll for the ladies, Kumang Bidayuh Borneo Hornbill Festival. For the past three years the winners have been wearing the costume which is significant in the Bau area. So let us see who were the winners of Kumang Bidayuh Borneo Hornbill Festival for the past three years....

Stay tuned for Keling Borneo Hornbill Festival!

When Keling Meets Kumang

Iban costume for your pre-wedding photoshoot, why not?
 
Ooooohhhhhaaaa......

We had our pre-wedding photoshoot on 4 March 2012 at the Sarawak Cultural Village, Kuching, Sarawak.(for more information on SCV click here) 

Petara was so kind to us that the he gave a beautiful and not so hot weather and the SCV staff was also very kind in helping us to dress and cheap rental of costume for my fiance. Our location was mainly the Iban longhouse, the waterfall behind the Penan hut and the Orang Ulu long house.

The photoshoot was done by Andy Phe (Andy's work is here), assisted by my brother Nielsen-Nikki and Johnney's brother, Homery Pungga. None would be realised if it was not for their big help. The duration of the photoshoot was roughly about 6 hours, it took quite a while as tourists were also taking our hotos in the middle of the photoshoot (could have charged them for RM1, haha).

We wanted it to be different, more meaningful and special by having it in our Iban costume surrounded with nature and all things that relates to Iban. It was a worthwhile project for both of us and I hope our children will know how Iban costume looks like and remind them of this beautiful culture. This is also a tribute to Kumang and Keling...

So these are among my favourite shots taken by my brother, Andy's photos will only be posted after my wedding...Meanwhile, enjoy our photos:

Waterfall behind the Penan hut

We were tourist attraction

At the Iban long house