Lecture: The Future of Intangible Knowledge with Reference to Pua Kumbu by Dr Welyne Jeffrey Jehom, Head of Research, Centre for Malaysian Indigenous Studies, and Lecturer, Anthropology & Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya

Lecture: The Future of Intangible Knowledge with Reference to Pua Kumbu by Dr Welyne Jeffrey Jehom, Head of Research, Centre for Malaysian Indigenous Studies, and Lecturer, Anthropology & Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya

The importance of intangible cultural heritage is the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted from one generation to the next. Pua Kumbu, a tie- and natural resist-dye textile in Sarawak, has long been known as sacred traditional clothes woven on backstrap looms by the Iban women weavers. As an aesthetic material culture, the pua kumbu possesses a unique identity that carries the legend, stories, and rhymes that are inseparable from the traditional Iban cosmology and belief system. Once a ritualistic cloth, at present day, the pua kumbu has become only the symbol of Iban identity and cultural pride because of transformation in their belief system, a way of life and education.

The knowledge and skills in the production of pua kumbu are becoming very scarce amongst the young generation of Iban women, most of whom treat this intangible cultural heritage as the knowledge and skills of their grandmothers. It is becoming a dying art. Collective memory seems to be the only way to restore the fragments of knowledge and skills of pua kumbu production – identification of the name of design, motif, rhyme and story for each design ever produced in the past. The application of memories of pua kumbu is guarded by traditional intellectual property rights owned by families who have the recognized ownership of design; it can give both positive and negative impacts in the work of conservation and restoration of the knowledge.

This programme is part of Nature and Urbanity: Acts of Life, a critical research residency and presentation project that seeks to explore the relationship between environments and humankind in times of rapid urbanisation and digitalisation. The project is transdisciplinary in nature and lends itself to discussions between fields of art, philosophy, sociology, urbanism, and technology. Acts of Life is a collaboration of NTU CCA Singapore and MCAD Manila, commissioned by the Goethe-Institut Singapore and Manila.

2018-11-13

The importance of intangible cultural heritage is the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted from one generation to the next.

Educators

General

Offsite

No

No

No