Yulia la donna dei batik mi è stata presentata da mia sorella due anni fa. La madre di Yulia è un’anziana produttrice artigiana di batik da Palangkaraya, cresciuta affrontando vari problemi economici. Arrivò persino a partecipare al concorso per il ‘ batik più lungo al mondo’ ma dovette ritirarsi: i crescenti problemi economici non si risolvevano di certo con la sola vendita di batik, così la mamma di Yulia dovette imparare ad arrangiarsi e trovare altre fonti d’entrata. Mentre cresceva, il maggior desiderio di Yulia era quello di poter creare una comunità di artigiani del batik a Palangkaraya. Nonostante le numerose sfide che ha affrontato al fine di realizzare il suo sogno, incluso quella di dover chiedere un prestito alla banca per potere acquistare strumenti da lavoro e materie prime, è riuscita a fondare la ‘Komunitas Pecinta Benang bintik’ – ‘Comunità degli amanti del Batik’. Gli appassionati di batik di Palangkaraya entrarono immediatamente a far parte del gruppo e la missione di Yulia di promuovere il patrimonio culturale della produzione del batik nel Kalimantan centrale è andata ben oltre: come servizio per la comunita locale, Yulia ora produce ora vestiti in tessuto di batik che la gente del posto può prendere in prestito gratuitamente. Uno degli ostacoli principali fu quello di trovare clienti disposti ad acquistare i suoi batik. Yulia passò interi mesi senza fare una singola vendita, e faticò molto per rimborsare il prestito bancario. Tuttavia, il suo spirito rimase alto e presto Yulia riuscì a mettere in pratica un’idea di successo: aprire il workshop dei batik al pubblico e far pagare ai visitatori che desiderano imparare la tecnica per la produzione dei batik nel Kalimantan centrale. Questa fu la vera chiave della svolta: uno ad uno, i clienti iniziarono ad arrivare. Adoro il talento di Yulia per l’arte dei batik, e vi posso assicurare che non sono in tanti a fare i batik in stile Dayak come lei. Sostenere e finanziare una piccola azienda come questa, una che può aiutare la gente locale e sostenere i loro prodotti e l’arte Dayak nel Kalimantan centrale, che è quasi estinta in quest’epoca moderna, è estremamente soddisfacente. Yulia ha un enorme potenziale che a mio parere non deve andare sprecato. Una volta che abbiamo deciso di includere la scuola di batik di Yulia nel nostro tour, abbiamo fatto una campagna di marketing. I miei clienti sono davvero soddisfatti di trascorrere parte del loro tour con Yulia la donna dei batik, e la sua scuola è diventata una delle attività principali che turistiche di Palangkaraya. Central Borneo Guide appoggia le piccole imprese della comunità locale di Palangkaraya. Visionate Central Borneo Guide per prenotare un tour: http://centralborneoguide.com 

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Following 2014 exciting dance performances and colourful costumes by the Dayaks Dancers from Borneo, in 2015 Bali Spirit Festival  hosted a Borneo tent. It was there that I met David Metcalf, a masterclass photographer and author of the book “Looking for Borneo”, exhibiting 250 spectacular colour photos of Borneo. David is passionate about the Dayak people and has spent years exploring the outer reaches of one of the most ecologically diverse landscapes on the planet. He introduced me to a group of Dayak dancers directly from the jungles of Kalimantan: the Spirit of the Hornbill dance academy, 19 Dayak dancers flown in directly from the jungles of Kalimantan, Borneo. Spirit of the Hornbill perform Dayak dance and music, and have prepared a workshop that is part of a program in tour to lift the Dayak cultural traditions through dance. I learned that the academy had been formed just over one year before by Siti Habibah from the Dayak Ngaju tribe, Central Kalimantan. They teach young children from the age of seven years about Dayak dance and culture and perform in regional competitions. In 2014 they represented Central Kalimantan against many dance groups from around Indonesia in Semerang, and the older members of the group have performed in Jakarta on two occasions and at the Bali Writers festival. The spirit of the Hornbills dance academy was about to enter a new stage. The team of dance teachers will be heading out to the villages in Central Kalimantan to provide teaching to the Dayak children who currently receive no dance teaching at all. The idea is to give those kids some hope and to preserve their culture through dance. Borneo’s forests and culture is fast disappearing. One way to raise awareness is through cultural expression and dance, and communicating to people the importance of developing this art form. Siti, the leader of the dance studio, is a very talented dancer and teacher and needs support to take her studio from its humble beginnings to the next level. They do not have any musical equipment so the children mostly aged between 6 and 12 have to dance to a CD. When they perform they have to hire a traditional musical instrument if they can afford it. Siti started her studio by saving for many months to raise the $500 required to pay for the rent on the studio for the following 12 months. The objective is to buy the musical instrument they need, then dance uniforms, and other Dayak accessories to demonstrate and express their culture. You can read about Siti in David’s website: http://www.davidmetcalfphotography.com/siti-dayak-dancer/ . David’s objective is to help Siti achieve her dream, raise awareness about Dayak culture and pass on this aspect of Dayak culture to the younger generation, encouraging more young Dayaks to dance. If you wish to help, you can support Siti through Gofundme: https://www.gofundme.com/Sitis-Dream  Spirit of the Hornbill dance academy performance at the Bali Spirit Festival was great; they designed a special dance for the opening night, and were the chosen band to close the festival. You can watch them on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlFFZaFaMlc  Read about David Metcalf movie, Long Sa’an, raising awareness about the plight of the forests and wildlife. For great adventures in the Indonesian Kalimantan, check Central Borneo Guide by Yun, Siri’s sister. 

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It was at the Bali Spirit Festival 2015, and precisely at the opening Government and Music conference held at the ARMA (Agung Rai Museum of Art) that we were introduced by Bali based photographer David Metcalf to the touching story of a village called Long Sa’an and of its community. The conference highlighted the main theme of the BaliSpirit Festival 2015: the support for the survival of the indigenous people of Indonesia. The event was attended by ARMA owner and Bupati of the Gianyar Regency Mr. Agung Rai, as well as by the makers and protagonists of the movie Long Sa’an – The Journey Back (Indonesian talented, award-winner film-maker Erick Est, young Balinese musician Robi Navicula, who has a passion for raising awareness about the plight of the forests and wildlife, village elder Philius, and photographer David Metcalf himself) and by Ibu Siti and members of her Spirit of the Hornbill, a local Dayak dance academy from Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Dave developed the idea of a movie on Long Sa’an while visiting Setulang, a village of about 800 people situated deep in the Indonesian Borneo near the Malaysian border, on a photographic expedition with partner Rex Urwin, a master coach and workshop developer who has been involved in working with cultures and eco tourism. Dave and Rex became very attached to the Khenya Dayak tribe that live in the edge of the pristine rainforest, and listened to their stories: some of them were moved to their current village from deep inside the forest in 1969 and have never been back since, and nowadays have a deep longing to return to their original village Long Sa’an, five days by canoe up the river, but they can’t afford the cost of the journey. Since that moment they pledged to raise enough money to grant seven of these elders their dream of visiting their ancestors’ burial grounds up the Kayan river, deep in the heart of the forest. Money was raised and are still been raised since efforts to make a difference to seeing life-changing projects like this become a reality are never enough. Dave has so far donated most of his savings in order to bring people from all over the world, pay for the production of the documentary and mount the expedition, and has managed to secure the support of Jason Houston, one of USA’s foremost environmental filmmakers and photographers. You can donate money to this project by clicking https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/6kIi0/sh/23FfU8 The subsequent expedition to this ancestral village in North Kalimantan where the spirits dwell, resulted in a multimedia film-documentary blending film, still photography, music by Robi Navicula, paintings by Wolfgang Widmoser, a famous artist based in Ubud, and voices, showcasing the Dayaks’ unique culture, bringing them together with representatives of other indigenous peoples from around the world, and raising awareness of the environmental threats this pristine rainforest is facing. This movie will be a way of preserving the Dayak’s threatened way of life in the forest – much of which has already been lost – for future generations. This tribe is so connected to the forest THE DAYAK AND THE NEED TO RAISE AWARENESS The wise Dayaks are spiritually connected to the forest and consider it ‘Tala Olen’ meaning ‘Forbidden forest’. They are spiritually connected to the forest, to the rivers and to the land and have strict cultural rules about cutting down the trees or damaging them in any way. The Dayak people’s forest is not the only one ecosystem under threat. In large part of Indonesian Borneo, or Kalimantan, logging practices and dam projects regularly destroy huge swathes of the environment. Kalimantan represents only 1% of the Earth’s surface but 5% of its flora and fauna, including untold numbers of trees and plants still undiscovered by mankind, amongst these unknown species that could have huge medicinal benefits. Yet, 52% of Kalimantan’s forest has already been lost. So this documentary will be used not only to depict the Dayak’s culture but also to raise awareness about the imperative need to save the forests and the wildlife. Several artists and activists from several cultures will accompany David to tour it around Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada in the hope that by showcasing the beauty of the forest and the unique cultural beliefs of the Dayak, they will showcase the potential for eco-tourism in this area as an alternative to damaging logging and dam projects. A trailer of the documentary was played at the conference and repeated at a workshop at the Bali Spirit Festival. Here a few links that will satisfy your curiosity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmmUU9pTox0 http://www.thejourneyback.info/#!contact/c1z0x https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XK6qf4KjPQ#t=24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OwSkVFlspM#t=35 To know more about the documentary: http://www.thejourneyback.info Starring: Philius Kevin Locke David Metcalf Co-Staring: Rex Urwin, Gede Robi (Navicula), Ardi Sayuti, James Greenshields, Dave Gaffy, Martin Holland, Jerome Brookes-Metcalf, Bisin, Benyamin, Remond, Efred, Ramses, Sarang Follow the project on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LongSaanMovie?fref=photo To get in touch directly with David please contact +62 8111 331255 or email davidmetcalf3@mac.com

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