KUCHING: The Friends of Sarawak Museum (FoSM) is organising a series of talks at the Borneo Cultures Museum (BCM) until December this year, with one of them focusing on ancient Bornean lutes.
As part of the Sarawak Snapshots Museum Talks, newly elected FoSM president Datuk Ose Murang said that Catriona Maddocks, a British-born curator and researcher of Borneo Boat Lute Revival (BBLR), would present a talk titled ‘Lost Instruments: Reviving Borneo’s Indigenous Boat Lutes’ on Aug 20.
The talk would cover indigenous instruments like the ancient sape’ Bali, the Iban belikan, the Lun Bawang tapi, and the Sabahan sundatang.
Ose pointed out that preserving these traditional musical instruments is crucial to keeping the associated cultures alive.
“The talk aims to raise awareness about these instruments and will include live demonstrations by cultural practitioners such as Ezra Tekola, a renowned sape’ maker and musician in the local band At Adau.
“In addition to Catriona Maddocks’ presentation, five representatives from BBLR will participate in a public sharing session, shedding light on their efforts in instrument revival.”
Hayree Hashim is focused on reviving the Iban belikan; Rining Peter Paris, a Lun Bawang musician specialises in the tapi instrument; and Gindung Mc Feddy Simon, a musician, researcher, and instrument maker is leading the revival of the sundatang lute in Sabah.
On Sept 17, Dr Ida Nicolaisen, an anthropology expert, will present a talk titled ‘Documenting the Visible and Invisible Culture of The Punan Bah – A 50-Year Endeavour’. Nicolaisen was a researcher with the Punan Bah community in the 1970s.
Further talks in the series include historical researcher Dr Jennifer R Morris discussing ‘Charles Hose Collecting For Museum’ on Oct 29.
“This is going to be a very important subject to follow through because Charles Hose, who used to be Marudi Resident during the 1880s, became very interested in the communities in the Baram region and he collected a lot of their artefacts and many of them have been found in the museum overseas now,” Ose said.
Additionally, conservator and archaeologist Dr Franca Cole will give a presentation on the Niah Caves on Nov 19.
On Dec 3, experienced researcher Jayl Langub will talk about the Taman Tepung Tuloi’s double-chambered klirieng (burial poles) and its special history.
“FoSM has organised numerous talks over the past decade, and this series aims to further promote the appreciation of BCM’s role and attract more people to the museum.”
Admission to the talks is free, and those interested can visit FoSM’s Facebook page for registration and additional details.
