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THE SOCIETY ATELIER SARAWAK HAD ITS BEGINNING IN KUCHING, THE CAPITAL OF SARAWAK, BACK IN THE 1970S. A SMALL GROUP OF WOMEN, NUMBERING NO MORE THAN EIGHT OR NINE OF US, USED TO MEET ONCE A MONTH AS A DISCUSSION GROUP SWAPPING STORIES ABOUT THE CULTURAL CHANGES WE WERE WITNESSING BOTH IN THE CAPITAL AND THE OUT-STATIONS OF SARAWAK. IN
1965, WE COULD SEE MALAY WOMEN ATTIRED IN BEAUTIFUL EMBROIDERED BAJU KEBAYA (FITTED BLOUSES) AND SELENDANG (SCARVES). THE MALAY BANGSAWAN, A VARIETY SHOW, WAS STILL IN EVIDENCE AND A SOURCE OF GREAT ENJOYMENT FOR ALL. ORANG ULU CRAFTSMEN WERE PRODUCING FINELY CARVED DOORS, FURNITURE AND HOUSEHOLD IMPLEMENTS IN THE ULU BARAM AND BELAGA AREAS, WHILE IBAN INSTRUMENTS WERE ALL TAKEN FOR GRANTED. THERE WAS AN ABUNDANT SUPPLY OF EXQUISITE SILVER BELTS, BUCKLES, FILIGREE JEWELRY, CEREMONIAL SILVER BOLSTER PLATES WROUGHT BY ELDERLY CHINESE SILVERSMITHS WERE STILL AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, SOME FIFTEEN YEARS LATER THE BEST OF ALL THIS SEEMED TO HAVE DISAPPEARED. OUR
PURPOSE, THEN, AS A GROUP, BECAME MORE DEFINED AND WE DECIDED TO ORGANIZE OURSELVES SO AS TO HELP EXISTING BODIES WHO WERE DEDICATED TO PRESERVE THE LOCAL ARTS AND CRAFTS. THE WORD ATELIER, WHICH MEANS WORKSHOP, HAD THE RIGHT RING TO IT AND PORTRAYED THE SPIRIT OF OUR GROUP AND SO THE NAME WAS THUS ADOPTED. MARCH
1986 SAW THE OFFICIAL INAUGURATION OF OUR NEWLY REGISTERED SOCIETY ATELIER SARAWAK. OUR PATRON DATUK AMAR PUAN SRI HAJAH LAILA TAIB, THE WIFE OF SARAWAK'S CHIEF MINISTER, SUPPORTED BY OTHER DIGNITARIES IN VARIOUS CAPACITIES, GAVE US TREMENDOUS ENCOURAGEMENT. SINCE THE DATE, THE SOCIETY HAS GROWN AND HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR NUMEROUS INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL EXCHANGES, ART EXHIBITIONS, SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS ON TRIBAL ART, WEAVING, POTTERY AND POETRY AND THE PUBLICATION OF THE BOOK, SARAWAK CULTURAL LEGACY IN 1900 WHICH CAME OUT OF THE SERIES OF EXHIBITIONS AND WORKSHOPS HELD IN KUCHING IN 1988, IN CELEBRATION OF THE YEAR OF CULTURAL HERITAGE, ON WOODCARVING, WEAVING AND ANTIQUE BEADS, SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF SARAWAK CULTURAL LEGACY SOCIETY ATELIER SARAWAK HAS BEEN ACTIVELY PUTTING INTO EFFECT ITS AIM AND AMBITIONS.
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