Textiles from Borneo

Book excerpt: The textile art from northern Borneo, made by the Iban, Kantu, Ketungau, and Mualang tribes, is highly distinctive and extraordinarily rich. In this remarkable book, more than 150 full-page brilliant color photographs of textiles from one of the world’s outstanding private collections shed new light on this timeless tradition. The works are ceremonial textiles used in rites of passage—birth, marriage, death—dyed with natural colors and woven in traditional ikat techniques; many have never been published before. Clothing worn during those ceremonies is also represented. As unmistakable as it is colorful, this Southeast Asian textile tradition remains influential for contemporary textile artists and designers.