The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10) Catalogue

Artists The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 46 Norbaya Summalani Harunan Motol (Tangga Perahu) (Boat Ladder) 2019 Woven pandanus, commercial chemical dye / 240 x 137cm / Purchased 2021 with funds from Ashby Utting Foundation through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art The Bajau Sama Dilaut community at Omadal don’t use feet or inches to measure. Seven feet ( kaki ) means the mat weaver’s foot multiplied seven times, toe to heel. Measuring a foot’s length is more than just counting steps, it’s the life you embed in the mat. When you take the first step, you say aloud, ‘ Allom !’ (‘Life!’). When the next heel touches the previous toe, you say aloud, ‘ Amatai !’ (‘Dead!’). Then with the next foot you say, ‘ Allom !’, then ‘ Amatai !’, and onwards. You must start with allom and end with allom . And the foot used to measure must belong to the principal or collectively nominated weaver. Yee I-Lann 1 The boldly coloured tepo (mats) of the women of the Bajau Sama Dilaut community, based on the Malaysian Sulu Sea islands of Pulau Omadal and Pulau Bohean, combine motifs passed down through generations with geometric forms and imagery drawn from the communities’ maritime setting. While the women’s creations have often been destined for the tourist market, they have more recently played a significant role in collaborations initiated by Sabahan artist Yee I-Lann, who has worked to introduce their tepo to regional art institutions and collectors. All proceeds are returned to the communities, and funds are managed by the women for local development initiatives. The Sama Dilaut (also known as Bajau, Bajau Laut and Sama Bajau) are an Austronesian ethnic group who live nomadic, seafaring lifestyles throughout the Indo-Malay and Philippine archipelagos, in particular eastern Borneo, Sulawesi and the islands of the Sulu and Celebes seas. The islands of Semporna, off the east coast of Malaysian Borneo, were used as a refuge from storms for centuries, and became perennial settlements during the 1970s when political conflicts and the institution of martial law in the Philippines made sailing and making landfall in its waters a perilous affair. The Sama Dilaut communities on the islands live in littoral stilt villages, and in addition to the commercial production of mats, their economy centres largely on fishing. Rectangular in format, the mats are finely woven from pandanus leaves coloured with commercial dyes. Their chromatic range is particularly striking, with high-key pink, yellows and aquamarine set against deep greens and indigos. Bound by neutral borders, they present bold geometric patterns, featuring motifs based on everyday life. Intersecting angular waves, evoking the scintillations of light on the water surface, represent the giant lobster prawn endemic to the region. The eyes of fishing hooks appear as more subtle loops and undulations, while larger, elongated diamonds echo the flag sails raised during festive periods. Steps or ladders used to climb onto houseboats from dugouts appear as chains of alternating trapezoids in lighter or darker colours that create three-dimensional optical effects. Designs from other familiar textiles are also transposed into the weaves. These include fine, checked arrangements known bunga emas (golden flowers), drawn from handkerchiefs, and crisscrossing stripes of indigo and white from ancestral sarong patterns, in the popular South-East Asian style that inspired European gingham. Stacked flat bands of colour, meanwhile, take their inspiration from the timber planks on which the tepo are woven. There are even more patterns with more abstract sources, such as counting rhythms and oral instructions for weaving sequences of up, down, over and under. Different motifs will often be combined in single tepo to produce designs of dazzling intricacy. The six mats have been selected for APT10 for their fineness and sophistication, offering a sense of the creative range of the weavers of Semporna. As beautiful as they are, these are not simply objects of edification, but expressions of the collective life embedded in them. Reuben Keehan Endnote 1 Yee I-Lann, Borneo Heart , <https://borneoheart.yeeilann.com/ exhibition-you-and-me/>, viewed June 2021. Bajau Sama Dilaut Weavers Noraidah Jabarah, born c.1983, Malaysia Kinnuhong Binti Gundasali, born c.1973, Malaysia Makcik Lukkop Binti Belatan, born c.1951, Malaysia Norbaya Summalani, born c.1973, Malaysia Rahima Binti Jakarani, born c.1966, Malaysia Live and work in Semporna, Malaysia