Brunei's Traditional Arts: A Cultural Legacy

Brunei has a rich artistic heritage that is supported by several public institutions, including the Royal Regalia Building, Brunei History Centre, and the Arts and Handicraft Centre. The nation was once renowned for its boat-making, weaving, basketry, silversmithing, and bronze tooling skills. The Malay influence is evident in the country's traditional musical instruments, weaponry, decorative items, and games. The introduction of Islam also significantly impacted the cultural landscape, adding distinct Islamic art forms to the nation's indigenous heritage. Brunei's mosques, for example, are known for their intricate mosaics and gilded copies of the Koran. The country's arts and crafts scene today showcases a unique fusion of Islamic and Asian cultures, with dozens of handicraft shops offering a wide range of traditional items.

Silversmithing

The process of silversmithing has been passed down from generation to generation within families, with knowledge of the craft being closely guarded and shared only between fathers and sons. In the early 1950s, the government gave silversmiths a building to display and sell their products. In 1975, the government built the Brunei Arts and Handicrafts Training Center (BAHTC) to ensure the survival and proliferation of silversmithing and other traditional crafts. The BAHTC provided formal instruction in silversmithing to young men and women for the first time.

The process of silversmithing begins with measuring, cutting, and shaping a sheet of silver. The silversmith then draws an intricate design on the silver, usually based on local plants and flowers, before filling every cavity with hot liquid resin. Once the resin has hardened, the silversmith uses a tiny hammer and chisel to chip away at the design.

Local silversmiths have created a range of silver articles for royalty and common folk, including smoking pipes, vases, fans, jars with covers, bowls with covers, spears, cannon replicas, dinner gongs, flower vases, and ornamental items worn by Malay brides and grooms. Silversmiths also crafted the two giant incense burners that stand at over 1.4 metres tall in the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in the Bruneian capital. Silversmithing has also been a profitable cottage industry in Brunei, with high demand for silverware among locals and tourists.

Wood carvings

Wood carving is an ancient art form in Brunei, with early examples dating back to the height of the Brunei Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries. The art form is believed to have been introduced to Brunei through its rich trading history, with traders from other lands connecting the nation to a larger trading network that extended to China and India.

The designs and motifs used in Brunei's wood carvings are deeply rooted in the nation's Malay origins and Islamic influences. The motifs often include intricate patterns and designs inspired by local plants and flowers, such as the Bunga Air Mulih, which depicts a creeping flowering plant in an unbroken chain.

The process of wood carving in Brunei involves transforming a simple lump of wood into a work of art. Artisans use a variety of tools, such as chisels and hammers, to carefully chip away at the wood, creating intricate designs and patterns. The level of craftsmanship and attention to detail is remarkable, with carvers able to produce high-quality works of art from a single piece of wood.

One notable example of wood carving in Brunei can be found in the Istana Nurul Iman palace, the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei. Agrell Architectural Carving, a British firm, was commissioned to carve and gild a number of coats of arms for one of the palace's 1,788 rooms. The intricate carvings beautifully capture the country's Islamic and Malay influences, showcasing the unique blend of cultures that defines Brunei.

Basketry

As time passed, housewives became more skillful and creative, turning out beautiful finished products that others were eager to buy. Thus, what originally began as a pastime became a sideline income earner for diligent housewives. Basketry skills, like other crafts, were closely guarded and only passed on to family members.

Some of the more popular items still plaited today are tudung dulang (dish covers) and bakul (baskets). Basket-weaving is believed to have originated from Sengkurong and Tanjung Nangka, two villages about 17 km southwest of the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. Dish cover-making had its roots in the Kampong Ayer or Water Village half of the capital.

Basket and other related containers come in many sizes, shapes, and colours. They include the ordinary baskets with or without covers; takiding, which is taller and wider at the top and is borne piggy-back fashion for carrying fruits, vegetables, and harvested rice; nyiru, which is tray-shaped and used for drying foodstuffs and winnowing paddy, among other things; takung, a square sieve-like container used in the kitchen mainly for washing things like vegetables and fish; and tapisan, another strainer but smaller and finer than the takung.

To make a basket or any related containers, bubuh liat or flexible young bamboos are used. Each stalk is cut to the required length and split into eight equal parts. These are then scraped until smooth and painted in different colours according to the kind of design the weaver has in mind. The process of weaving begins as soon as the paint is dry. The rim and the framework, which are made from rattan dahanan, are double-layered to act as a grip for the edges and other parts of the plaited bamboo strips. The grip is further secured with rattan paladas or rattan manuk. Nowadays, some weavers break with tradition by using strong strings like tangsi or catgut.

Moreover, the weaver's skills are no longer confined to producing traditional household-type articles but a host of other things as well, including hats, purses, handbags, tissue boxes, and decorative miniatures. The skills, which were once hard to acquire, have been formally made available to school leavers since 1975 at the Brunei Arts and Handicrafts Training Centre. The instructors are from Kampong Ayer, who acquired their skills the traditional way. Thus, with their help, another cultural heritage has been assured of survival in Brunei Darussalam.

Bronze tooling

One of the key techniques employed in bronze tooling is casting, where molten bronze is poured into a mould and allowed to cool and harden, resulting in a solid object. This method allows for the creation of intricate details and complex shapes. Another technique is forging, where bronze is heated and shaped using tools such as hammers and anvils. This method is often used to create bronze tools, weapons, and decorative items with sharp edges or intricate details. Yet another technique is bronze welding, which involves joining two pieces of bronze together by heating them and applying pressure. This technique is useful for creating larger objects or repairing damaged bronze items.

Additionally, bronze tooling in Brunei often incorporates the use of other materials, such as wood, stone, and precious metals. Artisans may inlay bronze into wood or stone to create decorative items or furniture. They might also use bronze in conjunction with gold or silver to create jewellery or ornate objects. The combination of bronze with other materials adds to the versatility and artistic possibilities of this traditional craft.

The government of Brunei has played an important role in preserving and promoting the country's traditional arts and crafts, including bronze tooling. The establishment of the Brunei Arts and Handicraft Training Centre in 1975 was a significant step in this direction, providing a space for artisans to create and sell their crafts while also offering training to the youth. This centre has helped to ensure the survival and proliferation of bronze tooling and other traditional crafts, keeping the rich cultural heritage of Brunei alive for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.

Malay weaponry

The kris is unlike other daggers or knives in origin and appearance. Almost all krises have an odd number of lok or waves. Another unique feature is the widening of the blade just below the hilt, and one side of this part is usually found a small ornament that may take the form of an elephant's trunk, a snake's tongue, or other objects according to the preference of the kris-maker. The blade is normally covered by a damascened pattern called pamur or kuran, which the ris maker believes strengthens the blade and makes it more lethal.

The earliest known kris dates back to the 10th century and most probably spread from the island of Java throughout South-East Asia. Kris blades are usually narrow with a wide, asymmetrical base. The sheath is often made from wood, though examples from ivory, even gold, abound. A kris’ aesthetic value covers the dhapur (the form and design of the blade, with some 40 variants), the pamor (the pattern of metal alloy decoration on the blade, with approximately 120 variants), and tangguh referring to the age and origin of a kris. A bladesmith, or empu, makes the blade in layers of different iron ores and meteorite nickel. In high-quality kris blades, the metal is folded dozens or hundreds of times and handled with the utmost precision. Empus are highly respected craftsmen with additional knowledge in literature, history, and occult sciences.

The Brunei Malay Regiment, the forerunner to the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, was formed on 31 May 1961, with British military support. The regiment faced a significant challenge during its establishment due to the Brunei revolt on the night of 7–8 December 1962. This uprising highlighted the need for stronger national security, prompting the government to expedite the development of a more robust defence force. Despite this urgency, the trained regiment members were restricted to their camp during the insurrection, missing the chance to prove their effectiveness. In response, the United Kingdom deployed its own forces, including the Gurkhas, to Brunei.

The origin of gunpowder-based weaponry in the Nusantara archipelago can be traced to the late 13th century. The Mongol invasion of Java brought gunpowder technology to the island in the form of a cannon. This resulted in the eastern-style cetbang, which is similar to a Chinese cannon. Swivel guns, however, only developed in the archipelago because of the close maritime relations of the Nusantara archipelago with the territory of west India after 1460 CE, which brought new types of gunpowder weapons to the region, likely through Arab intermediaries.

The lantaka, also known as rentaka, was a type of bronze portable cannon or swivel gun, sometimes mounted on merchant vessels and warships in Maritime Southeast Asia. It was commonly equipped by native seafaring vessels from the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia. The name may stem from the Malay word lantak, which means "hammering down" or "ramming down", referencing its loading process (muzzle-loading). Ramrod in Malay is called pelantak. The Malay word rentak means "stamping the feet in anger", "pounding the feet together".

The lantaka is the "younger sibling" of the lela; they are smaller, with a length of less than 100 cm. Typically, the bore diameters of these cannons were in the range of about 10–50 mm. Many of these guns were mounted on swivels (called cagak in Malay) and were known as swivel guns. The smaller ones could be mounted almost anywhere, including in the rigging. Medium-sized cannons were frequently used in reinforced sockets on the vessel's rails and were sometimes referred to as rail guns. The heaviest swivel guns were mounted on modified gun carriages to make them more portable.

Today, the lantaka is highly sought after by collectors, with some of the realised prices exceeding $50,000 USD for a single gun. The more common guns can be bought for under $1,000. Replicas and forgeries of lantaka are known to exist in considerable numbers.

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