Home

Awards

Pictures

Art Gallery

Membership

Guest Book

Email Us

 

 

Introduction

Preface

Forward

Message

History

Society

Who's Who

 

Activities

Exhibitions

Publications

Courses

Exchanges

Competitions

Tusau Padan

 

Craft

Kain Songket

Weaving

Musical

Beads

Pottery

Wood Carving

TUSAU PADAN

A RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION

Forward

Biography

Tusau Padan Fund

"Quotation"

Pictures

Art Gallery

Page 1

Page 2

TUSAU PADAN (1930 - 1996) Page 3

THERE HE SAT OR SQUATTED, HAPPILY CHATTING TO A VISITOR WHILE HE WORKED. PENCIL SKETCHING...RULERS...COMPASSES? "MY HAND KNOWS!! " SAID TUSAU AND PAINTED SCROLL WITHIN SCROLL, SPIRAL UNPON SPIRAL, BRANCH HARMONIOUSLY AND NATURALLY, NO PATCHED INTERSECTIONS, NO MISSING LINKS. FROM THE SMALL "FLOWER" ON A SAPE (KENYAH GUITAR) TO A FOUR-BY-FIVE-FOOT WALL PANEL, THE MAN FROM LONG NAWAN NEVER FALTERED. ASKED ABOUT THE HOW AND THE WHAT ANDD THE WHY OF HIS ART, HE HAD A STANDARD ANSWER: "I SIMPLY FOLLOW WHAT THE OLD PEOPLE TAUGHT ME."

YET THERE IS DIRECTION IN HIS WORK; IT CAN BE SEEN IN RETROSPECTIVE. HIS FRIENDS CAN EASILY DISTINGUISHED A "NEW" FROM AN "OLD" PAINTING. A RECENTLY COMPLETED SET OF PAINTINGS, TRADITIONAL ENOUGH IN CONCEPTION, IS EXECUTED ON TREE BARK, BUT THAT WAS WELL BEFORE TUSAU'S TIME; FOR A MAN WHO'D PAINTED ON PAPER OR BOARD MOST OF HIS LIFE, BARK PRESENTS A NEW CHALLENGE. SOME OF THE BARK PANELS HE PRIMED, OTHER HE USED RAW, FASCINATED WITH THE WAY THE COARSE FIBRE REACTS TO THE PAINTER'S STROKES, HOW HE CAN USE ITS ORGANIC STRUCTURE TO BUILD UP THE DESIGN. HE STILL USES THE TRADITIONAL MOTIFS, BUT HE STYLIZES THEM TO THEIR BAREST ESSENTIALS "MAN AND HORNBILL" ANDD THE CANOPIED "HORNBILL" PAINTING IN THIS SERIES POINT TO A NEW, DEEPLY PERSONAL VISION OF HUMAN, ANIMAL AND CELESTIAL LIFE.

TUSAU SPENT MOST OF HIS ADULT LIFE IN SARAWAK. THIS IS WHERE HE PASSED AWAY THIS SEPTEMBER. THIS WHERE HE WAS LAID TO REST, FIVE HUNDRED MILES FROM HIS MOUNTAIN HOME. OF THE BEREAVED FAMILY'S GRIEF IT WOULD BE PRESUMPTUOUS TO WRITE; HIS MANY FRIENDS WILL MISS HIM. TUSAU WAS ALWAYS AROUND, READY WITH A CHEERFUL WORD, A BRILLIANT SMILE - A WONDERFUL SET OF GOLD TEETH EARNED HIM MUCH ADMIRATION OF THE SUPERFICIAL KIND, AS DID HIS "APAI HAIRSTYLE". TUSAU WAS THE HERO OF MANY A CULTURAL MISSION SENT OVERSEAS TO PROMOTE SARAWAK OR MALAYSIA.

BUT WHENEVER HE MANAGED TO OBTAIN A GOOD BOLE OF TEBULOH HE MADE IT INTO A PAIR OF SAPE. HE MADE MANY OF THESE INDIGENEOUS GUITARS IN HIS LIFETIME; HE WAS A SKILLED PERFORMER AND A PATIENT TEACHER OF THE INSTRUMENT. HE COULD PLAY HAPPY SONGS OR SAD ONES. HE CHOSE THE RIGHT MODDE FOR THE GIRLS' DANCING SONG AS WELL AS THE SOLEMN STRAINS FOR CALLING THE SPIRITS TO A CEREMONY; HE EVEN KNEW A TUNE THAT MAKES THE FRUIT TREE BLOOM AFTER THE RAINS! TODAY THE SAPE, ELECTRICALLY AMPLIFIED, TAKES PRIDE OF PLACE IN CULTURAL SHOWS. THERE AREN'T MANY OF THE YOUNGER PLAYERS WHO WON'T GRATEFULLY ADMIT, AS THEY PLUCK THEIR PENTATONIC DDITTIES: "YES, TUSAU TAUGHT ME. TUSAU WAS MY TEACHER. I SIMPLY FOLLOW WHAT HE DID!"

HEIDI MUNAN

Page 1

Page 2