This pua kumbu is an exceptionally fine early example of Dayak Iban ceremonial cloths made for headhunting and shamanic purposes.

There are many sources of inspiration for motifs and designs on the pua kumbu. Dreams are an important source, and motifs often represent elements from a person's dreams. Dreams can be the source of inspiration, or they can let a weaver know that the gods have given her permission to weave a potent design. There is, however, no way of proving that you have had a dream, but a weaver is warned that she treads a dangerous path if she attempts to make a powerful cloth without permission from the gods. The consequences are largely unspecified, but they include being cast into a state of stupor. Weaving a potent design therefore is evidence of blessings and a good relationship with the gods.

Combined with images from real life events and encounters, the pua kumbu expresses a person's fears, hopes or aspirations. The vast canon of Iban mythology and oral history is another rewarding source of inspiration. Many pua kumbus depict episodes from mythology, as well as the adventures of heroes and goddesses, demons, giants and gods.

Motifs on the pua kumbu have intrigued researchers, and a few have tried to analyse them. A systematic analysis of the motifs, however, has proved difficult. This is because, contrary to perception, the motifs are not a form of hieroglyphics nor are they symbols - they do not have universal or stable meanings (Gavin, 2004). The motifs are, instead, whatever the weaver says they are.

A cloth is a very personalized expression of creativity, and although some motifs appear similar, and a few individual motifs may even have specific names, (like deer, clouds, spider or demon), it is impossible for people to guess, with any degree of accuracy, the true meaning of a particular pua. Designs are like people's names - you cannot guess a name just by looking, you have to ask someone who knows (Gavin, 2004).

Innovation is highly valued by the weavers and the Iban community, and this quality is transferred to the pua kumbu. Consequently, the hallmark of an excellent pua is one that demonstrates creativity and ingenuity. Pua kumbu motifs were not simply passed down, unchanged, through the generations. Some motifs may, in fact, be the copyright of an individual weaver, and she can pass those on to her heirs. In a few cases, some particularly fine antique pua kumbus have been copied, for learning purposes and to preserve their designs. However, rather than simply copying designs from existing puas, a weaver would generally attempt to find new ways to put her unique interpretations and expressions into each pua.

The Ibans have a vast canon of oral literature and these stories form the inspiration for motifs and designs. An ingenious weaver would weave her own biography and her dreams into established stories derived from the canon. By demonstrating her expertise in manipulating stories and metaphors from the canon, in combination with details from her personal life, the weaver expresses her personality, including her ambition, yearning, or her fears onto each cloth she makes.

Relatively safe designs depict jungle vegetation, like vines, creepers, trees and bamboo. They were historically, the first motifs a novice weaver made. Potent and dangerous designs depicted human, demon and animal totem figures, like crocodiles and serpents. The human-like figures are called engkaramba. Some motifs, like centipedes, form a protective barrier. They keep malevolent and powerful motifs within the enclosure of the barrier. This enclosure prevents their power from spilling over the barriers on the cloth and in turn harming the weaver and her family.

Historically, puas depicting figures were made only once a weaver had achieved a high status. Today however, because these designs are in greater demand by collectors, the previous taboos are not as strictly adhered to. Consequently, pua kumbus with figures are more common.

Four hundred years ago, the Ibans began migrating from the Kalimantan hinterlands, over the central mountain ranges that divide Borneo, into what is now known as Sarawak. Their movement followed the main arterial rivers, and fanned out in a general direction from the west to the east. Their violent expansion through the landscape displaced other tribes already resident there, namely the Kayans and Kenyahs. Today, the Ibans form the biggest racial group in Sarawak. The Dayak Ibans continue to associate themselves with the river systems they originate from as a way of differentiating the various branches of Iban identity. For example, it is common for an Iban to be called a Saribas river Iban or a Balleh river Iban.

In the past, the pua kumbu was interconnected with headhunting. This interconnection between the parallel activities of headhunting and pua kumbu weaving, is demonstrated by the fact that a significant part of the process of weaving, (the mordanting of the yarns, prior to dyeing), is called women's headhunting. The chain of events, triggered by the cloth, began with inciting the men to venture out and prove their bravery by going out on headhunting expeditions. When the men returned with trophy heads, the women would greet the triumphant warriors, using the pua kumbu as a central prop in an elaborate welcoming ceremony that would last for days.

Another important historical use for the pua kumbu was to act as shamans' 'wings' in healing ceremonies. An Iban shaman was a medicine man and a spiritual guide. In Iban religion, it was believed that a person's soul could become disembodied and lost in the otherworld Â? an alternative realm to earth. In order to capture and return the soul safely back to the patient, a shaman had to leave the earthly realm and traverse the gap between earth and the otherworld. The means of travel to the spiritual world was the pua kumbu cloth. The shaman would drape the cloth over his body, and it would be 'fastened' to his shoulders using the 'hooks' that were tattooed on his shoulders specifically for this symbolic purpose.

In recent years, these old practices, namely headhunting and shamanism, have diminished, but the cloth continues to be made. Only now the cloth carries different meanings and is used for other purposes. For example, some Iban elites have begun using the cloth to symbolize a distinct indigenous identity, separate from the majority Muslim Malay citizens in Malaysia. The cloth signals a personal and cultural connection to the history of Sarawak. The pua kumbu, which circulates in the international art market, now also demonstrates wealth, taste and refinement. Today, some women artisans are able to earn an income from selling their artwork overseas. For these weavers, the cloth can symbolize fame, status, renown and the ability to participate in the global art market. At the state and national level, the pua kumbu has been used to represent tribal cultures and to promote a message of a harmonious multicultural Malaysian society, by the Sarawak State and national Malaysian tourism boards.

Dr Audrey Low, Design and Society curatorial volunteer, August 2008

The pua kumbu is a sacred and ceremonial cotton warp ikat textile. It is woven by the women of the Dayak Iban tribe that populate the interior regions of Borneo, the largest island in Southeast Asia.

The blanket-sized cloth is made using the warp ikat method and woven on the back-strap loom. It is made up of two panels which are then stitched together. Since the cloth is more than 100 years old, it was probably made with material commonly used at the time - home-grown and hand-processed cotton, and dyed with vegetable dye. The decorative process used is ikat - or tie dyeing. In this process, individual threads are dyed before being woven.

Before the cotton yarns are dyed, they have to undergo a complex procedure, called mordanting. Mordanting is a process where the natural oils on the outer layer of the wild cotton yarns are stripped away, using a chemical bath concocted out of different vegetation sourced from the jungle. This process allows the colours to adhere to the yarns and makes the yarns colourfast. Some of the ingredients include, wild ginger, oil from the nuts of the kepayang tree, palm salt, quicklime, rice gruel and metallic salts as alum to fix dye to the fibre.

The cloth is coloured using plants that grow in the tropical rainforest of Borneo. Red is the most important colour, and it is the dominant colour in this piece. There are several sources of red from the jungle. All require elaborate processes, chief of which is engkudu (morinda citrifolis) which requires the most complicated procedure. The shade derived from morinda is the shade that the Iban women most desire. The complication with producing this shade is in the mordanting stage. Mordanting is when the oils covering the fibres of the cotton are stripped to enable the dye to adhere. The mordanting process is also known as women's war among the Ibans. Another source of red is from the bark of the sebangki tree, a third, from the leaves of the engkerabai tree. The colour blue is extracted from two kinds of indigo plants. Blue comes from two sources of indigo, a bush and a creeper (tarum and renggat). Black is produced when segments of the yarns previously dyed red, are dyed once again, this time in indigo. Today synthetic dyes are commonly used.

There are many sources of inspiration and possible interpretations for the design of pua kumbu. One cannot guess, just by looking at the cloth, what it could mean. There are clues however. A significant one is what is called the praise name. This is the name given to the cloth soon after it is completed, when it is shown publicly to the longhouse community for the first time. Unfortunately in this case, we do not have the praise name. The praise name alone, however, does not reveal the whole meaning. The name might refer to a particular hero or demon. But the praise name does not provide answers to the question of relevance to the weaver's personal life and the dream she had that inspired this cloth. To know these answers, the only reliable way is to ask the weaver herself, or to ask someone who knows the cloth and weaver personally. In the absence of such information, we can only speculate.

One interpretation is that the cloth was woven for an initiation ritual. This interpretation is plausible considering the fact that pua kumbus are sacred cloths, and historically, (which includes the period that this cloth was woven) anthropomorphic figures were only woven by the most powerful weavers. There were many levels and ranks a weaver could attain in her life. A woman who had not attained the highest rank, through receiving appropriate permission dreams, would not have attempted powerful motifs, without exposing herself to risks. These risks are not specified, but they often refer to psychological damage, like falling into a state of stupor. This cloth falls under the category of the highest rank, a cloth that depicts gerasi, or demons/giants/non-human forms.

A key feature of the human figures (or engkaramba) on this cloth is the stripes around the waist. These distinctive stripes are a significant clue. They indicate a class of design called Gerasi Belang Pinggang. This figure, Belang Pinggang is a well known character in Iban stories. He is a demon/giant who took on human form and lived among humans for a few years.

The distinguishing physical characteristic of Belang Pinggang is a white stripe around his waist. (The name Belang Pinggang means Striped Waist). He married Gupi, and had a son, Geraman, aka Ensoh. He is descended from Lang Singalang Burong, the supreme god of the Ibans. This supreme god is also known as the bird god and god of war, and is represented by the brahminy kite. Belang Pinggang was one of the many lawgivers in Iban culture, in particular, he modified marriage laws.

Historically, the cloth was commonly made by women. (Today, there is at least one man in Sarawak who weaves pua kumbus professionally). The cloth was a forum to demonstrate womenÂ?s intelligence, creativity, ingenuity and technical expertise, as well as spiritual favour. Weaving was one of the ways in which women living in remote longhouse communities could earn status. Women's status was regarded as equivalent to men's status. This parity of status was reinforced and demonstrated by the act of headhunting, which was historically the method for men to earn status. This method of war continued until the Malaysian-Indonesian confrontation in the 1960s.

Traditionally made of wild cotton, the cloth is now made with manufactured cotton and silk threads. The introduction of silk into the process was a breakthrough in innovation. This development was achieved through the cooperation of two parties, Edric Ong, a highly accomplished global cultural broker, and Karama Dampa, a master weaver from Rumah Garie longhouse in the Balleh River region.

The main technological obstacle the weavers faced when transferring to silk warp and weft was to find a way to apply the complex (and status giving) process of mordanting cotton onto the new material - silk. After many experiments, Karama, and the weavers of Rumah Garie, achieved this difficult feat.

Today, although cotton cloths continue to be made, silk pua kumbu, utilizing this specialized technical knowledge, are a distinctive feature of the pua kumbus originating from the remote Rumah Garie longhouse.

Dr Audrey Low, Design and Society curatorial volunteer, December 2008

Blanket-sized handwoven cloth woven in two halves from handspun cotton and handsewn together lengthways. The cloth is decorated with warp ikat pattern depicting two rows of six male figures on a brick red background. The male figures on one row are rather plain, with striped torsos; the outstanding feature about these figures is that they are depicted with an object called the palang, which is essentially a length of bone or metal, inserted crosswise into the genitals. The figures at the other end are more elaborate with a striped waist area. Again it is the genital area that is a feature; this time there is a scorpion poised, ready to pounce.

85/206

1270 mm

1210 mm