Gumbang Bersimpan Pua Kumbu Ceremonial Textile Art

Gumbang Bersimpan is a beautifuly woven Pua Kumbu by Ngiyah anak Asat. It measures 201 cm in length and 84 cm in width.

Pua Kumbu

In the heart of Sarawak, the Iban women wove dreams into the fabric of pua kumbu, a single warp ikat textile marking womanhood and community worth. Migrating over forty generations from Kalimantan Borneo, they carried the ancient ikat weaving technique, a precious legacy whispered by ancestors from Indo-China.

Crafted in cotton, pua kumbu, a sacred blanket-sized textile, adorned sacred ceremonies and rites of passage. The warp ikat technique, "kebat," extended beyond blankets, weaving stories into women's skirts, men's loincloths, shaman's robes, and jackets/vests, each a tapestry of cultural richness.

Dyeing and weaving, guided by rules and prohibitions, connected pua kumbu to Iban beliefs and the supernatural. Engkudu roots and Tarum leaves produced natural dyes, casting distinctive reddish-brown and black tones.

Designs on each textile, named "woven dreams," portrayed stylized figures within a potent central panel, carrying stories inspired by Iban weaving goddesses. A sacred cloth, pua kumbu whispered tales of personal journeys, mythological sagas, or the very purpose it was woven for.

In this realm of tradition, the loom became a storyteller, and each thread a whisper, echoing the feminine spirit of the Iban women in timeless tales woven into the fabric of pua kumbu.