Ceremonial textile (pua)

Pua (ceremonial cloths) decorated with potent and charged iconography are among the most precious textiles of the Iban (‘Sea Dayak’) communities of northwest Borneo. Pua means to cover or blanket, and these large cloths were used as important wrappings to demarcate sacred spaces and mediate divine intervention. In Iban foundation stories, the deity Raja Entala created the first human by wrapping a carved statue in a pua cloth and chanting three times in order to bring the statue to life.

Weavers create the designs of pua using warp ikat, a technique in which the warp threads are tied and resist-dyed prior to the weft threads being woven across the loom. The result gives a distinct soft, or slightly blurred edge to the designs. Natural dyes are extracted from plants such as morinda and indigo to create the rich red and blue-black tones. Individual patterns are named, and some are said to appear to weavers in significant dreams.

The cloths form part of almost every major event that accompanies life-stage ceremonies and requires the activation of divine support. They are presented in large quantities as gifts during weddings. During the pining ceremony, pua are laid on the floor and small plates containing goods such as rice, tobacco, and betel chewing materials are placed on top as offerings for the gods. Newborn babies are wrapped in pua while they are carried to the river for their first ritual bath, and during funerary ceremonies, the body of the deceased is placed in an enclosure of pua to contain the dangerous ‘heat’ of the departed’s spirit.

Historically, pua were closely associated with the practice of headhunting, in which men attained status and rank through participation in ritual warfare, and the taking of heads, which they wrapped in the sacred textile during ceremonies to ensure the life essence of the defeated was channeled appropriately towards the strength and prosperity of the community. But while the cloths themselves were gendered male, the weaving of pua was the domain of women, whose powerful mastery over weaving techniques was considered a complementary prestige system or "pathway" to that of male headhunting. Like headhunting, the act of weaving pua was fraught with danger. The textile designs are bisa (venomous) and a weaver must use charms and enlist the appropriate divine support when weaving or risk the vengeful power of the cloths turning against her, causing sickness and even death. As women gained the ability to weave pua designs of greater complexity and power, their rank and status also increased. The most accomplished weavers are accorded the highest status within the community given their ability to weave pua that are highly effective within a range of complex ritual contexts

This finely woven pua comprises two similarly ikat patterned and dyed panels that feature a dramatic, classically-drawn design highly reminiscent of the upriver style. Neatly executed, vivid designs include a dynamic organizing structure that divides the central panel into three interlocking sections. Curling tendrils and motifs relating to flourishing plant-like forms populate the interstices of this space, further animating the surface of the textile and enhancing its agency for the wearer. Potent designs at each border include powerful renderings of spirit beings (whose legs shelter and shield the generation beside and beneath them) and a series of highly abstracted designs that create a protective, running design along the other edge. The designs in the center and the trio of patterned stripes at both sides are created by black, white and red warp ikat. These areas are both flanked and separated by groups of stripes (different widths) in white, green-grey, deep "blood"-red.