Dayak Head Dress Basketry

This stunning piece of art as basketry called a ketapu laung is worn as a hat by traditional leaders among the Dayak Desa in West Kalimantan. The crown at the top of the hat is amazing in its woven complexity and the visual result is charming. 

The inner lining of the hat is woven with a flexible sedge fibre (Cyperaceae). The outer lining, which contains the motif is made with bamboo cut into thin strips. The black colour is achieved by rubbing the outer layer of the bamboo (before it is cut into stripes) with a mixture of rambutan leaves and lamp soot while the red is made by rubbing the latex of the boiled fruit (daemonorops Draco) onto the outside of the bamboo while it is still whole before slicing the bamboo into strips for weaving.

Basketry, sedge fibre and bamboo. Handsewn with material around the edge. Made in West Kalimantan, 2014. Size 18 x 16 cm / 7 x 6.5 in