35-year-old Lucille Awen Anak Jon is the only indigenous artisan selected from this region, amongst numerous applications from throughout the world to attend the conference in Geneva.
Earlier this year, she was recognised by the World Crafts Council Asia Pacific Region as the ‘Young Master in Bidayuh Traditional Beading’. Her work in revitalising the craftsmanship of the Bidayuh community has seen her travel across Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and now to Geneva, Switzerland.
Lucille Awen will be involved as a speaker in the programme on intellectual property (IP) for Women Entrepreneurs from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation. The objective of this programme is to strengthen the capacity of women entrepreneurs to make strategic and effective use of IP rights and in support of projects based on traditional knowledge and cultural expression.
At the recent, Festival Kraf Borneo Sarawak 2019 held at the Kuching Waterfront, we were able to have a chat at her stall under the brand ‘Pungu Borneo’ when I found out about her coming trip to the Genevan conference.
The timing of the conference could not be more apt, as the Bachelor’s Degree Holder in Communication and Media Studies (Public Relations) is planning to launch a project with the objective of ‘Preserving Heritage through Arts and Crafts’ in January 2020. It will be focusing on the protection of Sarawak indigenous motifs and product patterns, in order to prevent these from being copied, appropriated and used irresponsibly by major brands or foreign producers. A primary means will be study on how geographical indicators can be applied for indigenous products based on their locations of origin.
Before she jets off to Geneva, allow us to find out more about beading which boasts an established reputation as a traditional form of craft in our land of Sarawak. It can start off as an art before developing into a tradition or vice versa.
Having been beading and indulging in crafts since 2009, Lucille Awen turned it into a full-time business in 2014. She specialises in manifesting culturally-driven products, striving to express and develop her own interpretations of traditional designs whilst creating interest and awareness of Bidayuh crafts and customs that are at risk of being forgotten by generations to come. In fact, one of her signature pieces — ‘Pangieh Ranee’ — is interpreted as ‘The Queen Necklace’ and was named after her own mother.
“Beading has been my hobby since I was little. I enjoyed ‘disturbing’ my late grandparents while they were fixing their old Bidayuh necklaces and rattan bags. Both my grandmothers (Naid Gunyew and Nayus Nganyit), grandfather (Ebot Sumbeg) and my own mother (Rani Ebot) taught me a lot about beading and the stories behind our traditional pieces. My mother was a hardworking woman because after work, she would continue to do beading at night just to help my father with extra income to support our education. I started by helping her and later began making my own jewellery out of old, worn-out jewellery pieces and improvising them with items around me that I found useful. I remember making a necklace out of colourful paper clips and bracelets out of dried fruit seeds”, reminisces Lucille.
Beading skills were also taught in her school, SRK Grogo in Bau, where she learned how to bead on clothes. As a traditional dancer in school it was also essential to know beading, simply to be able to fix their own costumes.
Lucille also credits some of her beading skills and knowledge to having observed and worked alongside many experts, including the likes of Heidi Munan, Lipang Lawai, Nabilah Abdullah, Ramsay Ong, Angela Johiam and Hadrien Attay.
Lucille Awen Jon was involved in the Borneo International Beads Conference (BIBCO 2019). How did it benefit her?
“I have been involved with BIBCO since 2017 as a workshop contributor. Ever since then, I have had ever more confidence to conduct classes to foreigners and professionals. It has also boosted my interpersonal skills with people and knowledge about beading, different types of techniques, skills and problem solving. It was simply a great platform for me to begin reaching out to the international industry.
BIBCO 2019 organised by Crafhub gave me the opportunity to work with the runway choreographer, Vicky Fong, and collaborate with legendary fashion designer, Bill Keith, to make statement pieces which were showcased during the BIBCO Gala Dinner Show. The results were awesome. It was also a pleasure to conduct 2 workshops of ‘Bidayuh-Jagoi Traditional Necklace (Pangiah)’ and ‘Polymer Clay Beads Making’ for the international and local participants.”
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