KUCHING: The Borneo Jazz Festival will include the Borneo Boat Lute Revival Exhibition on June 25 and 26.
The exhibition is from 11 am to 7 pm at Coco Cabana, Miri.
Festival-goers and the public will get to see for themselves rare musical instruments and talk to experts.
“The familiarity of Borneo indigenous oral traditions to that of jazz and blues is uncanny.
“Ways of expression, which are so similar, for example, such as lamenting and celebration, just goes to show that our practices and music is truly universal.
“I commend this collaborative team for their passion on this project, having started the hard work on it since pre-pandemic, and then later for the curation of this exhibition, so more people can experience the beauty of the various boat lutes in person,” said festival artistic director Evelyn Hii.
Exhibition curator Catriona Maddocks explained that “the exhibition is the culmination of research, field trips and skill-sharing carried out throughout Sarawak, Sabah and Kalimantan by our collaborators.”
“It will be the first time some people will get to know about some of these endangered instruments and we hope that in the long-run, this exhibition will play a small role in reviving these instruments and bring them the global fame and recognition that the Sape has received over the past 20 years,” she added.
The Sundatang (Dusun), Belikan (Iban), Tapi (Lun Bawang) as well as the predecessor to the Sape – the two-string Sampe’ Bali (Kenyah) will be among the instruments showcased.
The exhibition will also feature demonstrations by McFeddy Simon, Hayree Hashim, Rining Peter and Salomon Gau.
It is initiated by Catama Borneo, Tuyang Initiative and CtrlD Studio, with illustrations by Zariq Hanif of KertasPapel.
Those interested in visiting the exhibition are encouraged to book their time slots to avoid long waiting times at https://borneoboatlute.com
