HaNdiCrAft

MENGKUANG AND PANDANUS 

mengkuang bag

pandans mats

Mengkuang and pandanus is a kind of plant grow wildly in the woods. Mengkuang weaving has started long before the history of modern Malaysia till today. Before the weaving takes place, mengkuang leaves will be dyed into desired colour and dry under the sun. weaving always done as cottage industry in rural area and then sold in the market. The end products range from baskets, food vovers, mats to some souvenir item such as coin porch, hand-holding fan, slipper etc.

WOOD CARVING

wooden craft

Wood carving was originally found in houses of sulatans or Malay nobility as part of their interior decoration and the craftsmen were commissioned for their services. Because human depiction is prohibited in Islam, Malay wood carving gets its inspiration from flora, animal motif and Islamic art but this has never influence its finest artistically designs. Terengganu wood carving not only found in the beams, doorways, window shutters of a house, but also in the traditional boat making industry and some furniture items such as sofa, bed frame and mirror frame and as small as a jewelry box.

songket

SONGKET

Songket or cloth of gold is originally from a mix of cotton and silk that was inter-woven with supplementary gold or silver thread. It is said to have evolved when the Malay sultanates began trading with China and India where the silk, gold and silver came from. Today the imitation thread is generally used to replace the gold and silver which is much expensive. Because of its unique material and weaving method, Songket was once exclusive to royalty, but today it is used during formal occasion, such as weddings.