Baya Putih ari Tasek Merimbun by Jang Elroy Ramantan

Bornean Culture, especially Elroy Ramantan’s  Iban Culture, inspires a lot of his artwork. The use of  motifs and symbols found in the Pua Kumbu: a ceremonial cloth where the weaved fabric of patterns, animals, people and plants tell a story, heavily influenced this artwork.

The artwork portraying the environment’s ecosystem of animals, flora and fauna found at Tasek Merimbun as well as the ethnic Indigenous Brunei Dusun tribe & community present around Tasek merimbun shows that the ecosystem consists of a symbiotic relationship that is not separate but essentially one and together.

Using his Iban’s cultural motifs normally found in The Pua Kumbu as a medium of portraying Tasek Merimbun’s mythical creature the White crocodile, where legends says it dwells in the waters of Tasek Merimbun. The legend has made Tasek Merimbun unique among other wetland areas in Brunei and in turn granting itself the title of ASEAN heritage site.

Similar take of indigenous tribes of sourcing materials (both natural & contemporary materials) accessible to them when creating cultural art; the use of cotton yarn embroidered on see-through of the organza fabric slightly dyed from the tannins of the leaves found in Tasek Merimbun in portraying the significance that the environmental conservation conversely correlates to cultural longevity. 

The use of white yarn in portraying the legendary White Crocodile embroidered at the center stands out from the other characters in red signifies the integral role it plays for Tasek Merimbun.

Utilising the see-through effect of the organza fabric to denote a dual meaning that signifies the failure to see the importance of environmental conservation, cultural deterioration follows suit; and the disappearance of cultural values affects our appreciation of the wetland’s environmental value for preservation. If one goes, the other follows and vice versa. 

The duality effect of the importance of Tasek Merimbun’s environmental and cultural value are fundamental components to each other and should not be taken lightly.

"Bridging people through our Southeast Asian Cultural commonality."

- Elroy, Brunei Darussalam

Disclaimer:  The views and opinions expressed by the Young ASEAN Storytellers should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official position or opinion of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, its partners, the ASEAN Member States, and the ASEAN Secretariat.