SINGAPORE: How are Kak Julitah Kulinting and Kak Roziah Jalalid doing in Sabah? Their faces often appear in this writer’s mind whenever Covid-19 related data is announced.
When the Malaysian national tally broke the four-digit barrier with 1,228 cases on Oct 24 and 72.4 per cent was from Sabah, this writer waited no longer and immediately contacted both of them.
In the distance, they could be heard saying there was nothing to worry about them.
Kak Julitah, however, expressed her concerns for her two children who are nurses in Keningau and Kota Kinabalu Hospital, respectively.
“Do pray for my children,” said Kak Julitah, who lives in Kampung Batu Lunguyan, Keningau with her extended family.
As for Kak Roziah, she and her friends from the Omadal Island Women’s Association are quite preoccupied in helping non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and health team from the hospitals.
Despite her busy schedule, she managed to send to this writer two pictures of herself and her friends wearing special clothes in one of the association’s efforts to distribute food around Omadal Island, Semporna.
Who are these two special ladies?
This writer met them in November last year at the National Gallery Singapore for the launch of “Tikar-A-Gagah” – a collaboration between artist Yee I-Lann and 25 women weavers from the land and sea indigenous communities in Sabah, a northern Borneo state in Malaysia.
It was Kak Julitah who led the weavers from the Dusun and Murut communities of Keningau district, while Kak Roziah led a team of weaver for the Bajau Sama DiLaut community from Semporna.
The giant double-sided mat is now proudly hanging at the Former Supreme Court Wing of the Gallery.
“Tikar-A-Gagah” features both traditional and contemporary motifs, revealing the process of co-invention involved in the 18-month long collaboration between them.
The traditional weave motifs are passed down orally from one generation of weavers to the next, and include the abstract, maritime-inspired patterns of the Bajau sea communities as well as the graphical motifs of landscapes, fauna, and communal gatherings of the Dusun and Murut land communities.
The front side of the mat is made the Bajau Sama DiLaut weavers and includes bright-coloured motifs related to their seaborne way of life such as Nekiutan (lobster) and Sambulayang (houseboat sail).
On the reverse side is a natural bamboo weave by the Dusun and Murut weavers which includes motifs such as Nantuapan (people coming together) and Pinungoh Nandayunan (hill ridges without end).
The contemporary motif called Mansau Ansau (to travel without knowing where you are going) emphasises the co-invention between Yee, who hailed from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and the weavers.
“Tikar-A-Gagah” is one of the Gallery’s outbound series of unique artwork commissions by leading artists from around the world.
Each commission of the outbound series will be displayed for at least three years.
It is hoped that Kak Julitah, Kak Roziah and all Dusun, Murut and Bajau Sama DiLaut weavers, well and stay safe throughout this untoward virus situation in Sabah.
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