Please note:The Borneo Project no longer sells crafts online. We buy items directly from artisans and sell them only at San Francisco Bay Area events. If interested in upcoming events with crafts for sale, please contact us.
See the links in the sidebar for examples of Bornean crafts.
For generations, indigenous Dayak subsistence farmers and hunter-gatherers sustainably managed Borneo's rainforests as their primary source of livelihood. Under their stewardship, the forests were able to maintain the highest species diversity of any terrestrial ecosystem, supplying food, medicines, and building materials.
In recent decades however, forest destruction and the depletion of forest resources have disrupted the traditional economy of Borneo's indigenous peoples. Forest dependent peoples can no longer fulfill their needs with local forest resources. Communities are increasingly reliant on cash for food, medical care, school fees, taxes and other necessities of daily living.
An artisan displays her crafts
in a workshop sponsored by the Borneo Project .
One of the few opportunities to generate cash income is through handicraft sales in local, regional, and international markets. Crafts have traditionally been an integral component of Borneo culture, and there is renewed interest among younger generations in revitalizing traditional arts. Cash generated through handicraft sales has helped to support community projects such as micro-credit lending and rattan reforestation.
As Bornean art uses no patterns or formulas, no two items are identical. Each relies on ancient designs and techniques as well as individual artistry and skill. Most of the crafts pictured here are made of rattan, an essential resource used in many items required for forest living.
The crafts are produced in the longhouses of Kayan, Iban, Kenyah, Penan, Kadazan, Dusun, and Murut tribes. Borneo Project staff or volunteers purchase the crafts directly from the artisans at international market prices, ensuring significant benefit to the artisans and their families rather than to intermediaries.
The women and men producing these unique items are all subsistence farmers, hunters and gatherers. Making crafts is something done intermittently, while relaxing with friends and family. It is not a primary industry or income. As such, the volumes produced are quite small and prices are higher than those of factory-produced crafts. Purchasing native handicrafts benefits indigenous communities in their interactions with cash economies and helps ensure the survival of indigenous cultural knowledge.
The Borneo Project is sponsored by Earth Island Institute, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization.
The Borneo Project, Earth Island Institute, 2150 Allston Way, Suite 460, Berkeley, CA 94704
borneo [at] borneoproject.org, Voicemail: 1-510-859-9100 ext. 212
