WORLDS COLLIDE
ART INTO FASHION SARAWAK STYLE
Rimba: one theme, ten artists, fifteen designers, 30 models all make for an exploration of Sarawak’s future potential in both fashion and art.
WORLDS COLLIDE
ART INTO FASHION SARAWAK STYLE
Rimba: one theme, ten artists, fifteen designers, 30 models all make for an exploration of Sarawak’s future potential in both fashion and art.
Is fashion art or industry? This is a question which has puzzled commentators for decades. The idea of wearable art has revolved around the reality that the more artistic the garment, the less wearable it often becomes. It pits the commercial success of Prada, Gucci and Chanel against the avant-garde oddities of Viktor & Rolf, McQueen and, let’s be honest, almost any Japanese designer on the runway. As much as art has inspired fashion, the two tend to run on parallel tracks of purpose and commercial viability against pure exploration and experimentation. But a recent event at Saradise Gallery in Kuching consciously put the two worlds head to head, or perhaps back to back, pairing local artists with local fashion designers to present a two-day fashion show and two-week exhibition fusing these two similar but yet different disciplines.
Rimba is the latest in a new series of fashion events to have struck Sarawak. Alta Moda Sarawak has made it to the published tourism calendar of events, inspiring local talents and providing them with a platform, and Borneo Fashion Week has worked to pair the unlikely reality of this island with high style over the last few years. Meanwhile, Style Series has struck a slightly different note, using the frivolity and joy of fashion to support meaningful causes as well as local designers. But in reality, here in Sarawak, despite a rich tradition in art and expression, fashion as an industry is in its infancy. Up until now, most of our luminaries have made their mark elsewhere, lone wolves like Tom Abang Saufi who have made their name and their lives in the capital and beyond.
“I would say that we should leverage on our identity
and then develop to such a level when we can start
to look at signature style.”
Ceramics artist, Gerald Goh
Angelina Bong is an interesting case in point. After many years in Kuala Lumpur working in the fashion industry, she returned home to Sarawak to focus instead on a varied career as a poet and illustrator, leaving behind her life in fashion. For Rimba, the tables were turned as she was the artist assigned a designer, fashion student Antonia Isabelle, to interpret her artwork into something wearable. Angelina admits that their pair might have enjoyed ‘a slight advantage’, and that she was able to ‘give her some tips’ on the transition. But, in the end, the outcome was pure inspiration. Angelina described it as ‘an exciting chance to go back into this world’ and now her mind is turning to the possibility of using her art to create prints for fabric. Her own two worlds might collide once again.
For Narong Dauns, Sarawak’s most famous silk painter, the parallels in fabric are apparent. But for Rimba, instead of painting direct onto the cloth, she created a new artwork from which a print was made. The designer, Neng Kho Razali, featured large in the process. Narong knew who she would be working with and she said: “I tried to put Neng inside my design, and myself, and also something about Rimba.” The result is a distinctive departure from Narong’s signature style. She describes how she decided to limit her colour palette, to make the eventual print more appealing as dress. It was a nervous experience for her, ‘more nervous because this was something new,’ but while she loves the pieces, describing each as ‘having its own value,’ she will most likely go back to her previous style, as well established as she already is. But, in the end, she said: “We learned from each other. I can paint, but I don’t know how to design.”
Ultimately, this is what Rimba is promoting – a process of education and a platform for future stars, over a fully formed product. Ceramics artist Gerald Goh has been in the Sarawak art world for 25 years and he is well aware of the challenges. “Only 10% of the members in the Sarawak Artist’s Society are full time,” he shared, and “there is no dedicated state art gallery yet.” Gerald believes that the market for art in Sarawak still relies heavily on tourists, struck for the first time by the beauty of Sarawak motifs and design. So far, he said: “Locals often don’t fully appreciate local design. We lack the passion for bringing up our local motifs.” A case of familiarity breeds contempt, perhaps.
Rimba is not your usual fashion show, packed with buyers looking for their latest line. Instead, it is part of a process, inspiring local artists to new avenues and providing young designers with a platform to find their runway feet. Artist Faizuan Mat described the excitement of watching his abstract piece on the benak (the tidal bore at Sri Aman) given movement beyond his own brushstrokes. Gerald saw an existing piece of ceramic art, an unlikely combination with fabric and fashion, transformed into avant-garde menswear by emerging superstar Emil Hamlyn. “It was not at all what I had in mind,” he said. “But I think he really did it justice. He really impressed me.”
As with many things in Sarawak, the theme is collaboration as a means to encourage experimentation. Sarawak is replete with traditional motifs and artistic forms but that has yet to transform into ‘trend’, the basis of any fashion industry. The designs on the runway drew heavily from traditional dress – baju kurung and sarong kebaya abounded. But Rimba is Sarawak identity on display and, as Gerald puts it: “I would say that we should leverage on our identity and then develop to such a level when we can start to look at signature style. Only then can we play with trend.”
Fashion is a famously cutthroat industry, but in Sarawak this element of collaboration is key. Like many events here, it is more about supporting our own than making a mark on the world. Not yet, at least! It is an exploration of identity both for the designers and the market. “Then the market can see your development as an artist,” said Gerald. “That is how the locals also develop in their appreciation.” The theme Rimba (translating to rainforest) also draws from the same spirit inspiring themes of bio-diversity for Angelina and a call to reduce hunting from Narong. Perhaps one day, we will see all these Sarawak stars on a wider stage but, in the meantime, we can all wear a bit of Sarawak style on our sleeve!