Friday, January 9, 2009

Decorative Hornbill Head

Carved from a light hardwood species of the jelutong tree ( Dyera costulata) this decorative hornbill head is used to decorate village arches, long boats or  used in many ritual ceremonies here.  This particular craftwork is created by many ethnic groups of Sarawak and therefore can come out in many designs, patterns and colours according to the various artistic traditions of the groups concerned. The hornbill is the biggest bird found on Borneo island.  Today I saw the above hornbill head displayed outside a government office in Bintulu.  An interesting display, I thought.

4 comments:

Zuzana said...

It is so fun to visit your blog, as I like it's authenticity. You write about things from far away places that I have only seen on programs such as National Geographic or Discovery. I recall seeing these "hornbill heads" there. I have never been to Malaysia and probably never will visit it; you bring this fantastic piece of the world closer. Borneo sounds like such an exotic place.;))

Mahmud Yussop said...

Oh!your comments are very interesting and encouraging. It's one of the wonders of the Internet, you can be a virtual tourist anytime to anywhere in the world. Just like me knowing more and more about Scandinavian countries especially Denmark from your blog e.g. its people, culture and climate . Borneo is indeed exotic. For one thing if it was not for Alfred Wallace ( Darwin's contemporary) who made a parallel and independent discovery of natural selection as the main agent of evolutionary change based on his travels and wanderings in Borneo and the Far East, Darwin not have have hastened the publication of the Origin of Species in 1859.

Mahmud Yussop said...

Sorry, typing error. I meant " Darwin would not have hastened..."

Anonymous said...

Mahmud,

Nice and refreshing to read your blog. I came to know about it from a mutual friend.

Only a person with deep interest on the subject can produce as you have done here. Well done. I will certainly visit your blog occasionally.

Incidently I also have a blog under the name of DAH IKHWAN. It is easy to guess who I am. You can visit my blog through google search.