The Depository · Browse · Asia-Pacific
The Depository documents 65 techniques in Malaysia; by risk level: 30 critically endangered, 27 endangered, 6 vulnerable, 2 thriving. Each record opens with a public summary; the full research record is free to view once registered.
The Bidayuh ('Land Dayak') people of southern Sarawak and western Sabah are recognized as among the finest bamboo and rattan craftspeople in Borneo — producing baskets, mats, hats (terendak), rice storage containers (tumbok), and…
Jebak Puyuh is a Kelantan Malay functional-object craft combining woven ribu-ribu roots and rattan with pierced (tebuk tembus) wood carving in cengal hardwood, to build ornamented quail traps and cages.
Anyaman Rotan is a Peninsular Malaysian rattan basketry tradition centered in Melaka, built on two named construction techniques — lingkaran (coiling) and susup weaving — worked over a rattan round-core (rotan pulur) wrapped in rattan skin…
The Melanau people of the Rajang River delta and Sarawak's northwest coast have developed an intimate material relationship with the sago palm (Metroxylon sagu) — their primary food, building material, and craft source.
Mengkuang mat weaving is the traditional pandanus and pandan leaf plaiting tradition of the Malaysian East Coast — practiced in Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang by Malay women.
The Penan are one of the last semi-nomadic forest peoples of Borneo — an estimated 10,000–12,000 people in Sarawak's interior, most now settled but some still practicing nomadic forest life.
The hand-weaving of commercially sourced rattan and bamboo into furniture, baskets, birdcages, and household goods associated with Seang Hin Leong, a Chinese-Malaysian family shophouse business at 393 Lebuh Pantai (Beach Street), George…
Ribu-ribu is a Rungus openwork weaving technique from Kudat, Sabah, producing baskets, tiered food containers, table mats, vases, and bags in a distinctive pierced lattice structure.
Anyaman Tikar Bergerang is a Sarawak Malay pandan-leaf weaving tradition producing mats and containers in two named techniques: anyaman berduri ("thorn weaving") for smaller lidded vessels such as the ketupat lanyek beranak container, and…
Anyaman Serdang is a Sabah basketry technique that weaves serdang palm leaves, often combined with nipah palm leaves, into boxes, tiered kuih (cake) containers, and tissue boxes using cross-weaving (anyaman silang) construction finished…
This is the Dusun Lotud community's named tradition of linangkit embroidery, decorating the gonob (skirt) and kuluwu (scarf) sections of traditional Dusun Lotud dress using a knotting technique that alternates thread colors to build the…
The Kelabit people of the Sarawak-Kalimantan highland plateau — one of the most remote communities in Borneo, centered in the Bario highlands — produce beadwork and weaving traditions that reflect their highland isolation and their…
Kasut Manek are the hand-beaded slippers of the Baba-Nyonya (Peranakan Chinese) communities of Penang, Melaka, and the Straits Settlements — produced by stitching thousands of tiny glass seed beads onto a canvas base in intricate floral…
The hand embroidery (sulam) that decorates the Nyonya (Peranakan) kebaya, a sheer voile or organdie blouse hand-sewn from five panels.
The Orang Ulu ('upriver people') of Sarawak — comprising Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, Lun Bawang, and other smaller groups — produce two technically distinct traditions: an extraordinary beadwork tradition using glass seed beads in dense…
The Rungus people of the Kudat peninsula in northern Sabah are celebrated for two distinct craft traditions of equal sophistication: the vinusak — a multi-strand coiled beaded neckpiece that can weigh several kilograms and takes years to…
Sulaman Pis is a Rungus embroidery technique from Kudat, Sabah, producing the sigal headgear traditionally worn by Rungus men.
Sulaman Keringkam is a Sarawak Malay embroidery tradition working fine gold or silver metallic thread onto rubia gauze fabric, built on a thread-count technique (kiraan urat benang), a piercing stitch (tikam tembus), and joneh lace…
A Malay metallic-thread embroidery technique using flattened gold- or silver-coated metal strip (not round wire), stitched directly onto fabric -- typically voile, silk, or velvet -- with a specialized flat needle.
Tekat is the traditional Malay gold thread embroidery — produced by couching gold or silver metallic thread onto velvet or silk in intricate floral and geometric patterns.
The Jah Hut are one of the Orang Asli (indigenous people) groups of Peninsular Malaysia — living in the highland forests of Pahang and Kelantan.
Kelantan Islamic architectural woodcarving is the oldest continuously practiced woodcarving tradition in Peninsular Malaysia — applied to the facades, window screens, doors, and interior panels of traditional Malay houses (rumah Melayu),…
The Mah Meri are an Orang Asli (indigenous) community of Carey Island and the surrounding coastal mangrove areas of Selangor — and their woodcarving tradition produces figures of extraordinary expressive power from the roots and wood of…
Melaka's architectural woodcarving tradition reflects the city's extraordinary multicultural history — the oldest Malay Sultanate port in Southeast Asia, subsequently colonized by Portuguese, Dutch, and British — producing a hybrid…
Negeri Sembilan state preserves the most intact Minangkabau cultural transplant outside of West Sumatra — brought by Minangkabau settlers from 15th century onward and maintained under the adat perpatih matrilineal social system.
Pahang contemporary woodcarving is a Malay woodcarving practice built on the same core technique vocabulary as other Peninsular Malaysian carving traditions — pierced (tebuk tembus), layang, half-pierced (separuh tembus), and fretwork…
The carving of Chinese calligraphic characters and auspicious motifs into wooden plaques and signboards, historically finished by one of several possible methods — painted lettering, gold-paint lettering, or gold-leaf gilding, per…
Terengganu palace and fine woodcarving is a Malay woodcarving tradition built on the tebuk tembus (pierced/openwork) technique alongside layang, separuh tembus (half-pierced), and kerawang (fretwork) carving styles, worked into flora,…
Gasing is the traditional Malay spinning top — a precision-turned hardwood object that achieves extraordinary spin duration through the combination of material selection, lathe work, lead ballast placement, and surface finishing.
The Kadazan-Dusun — the largest indigenous group in Sabah — produce a distinctive black velvet and gold brocade textile tradition for ceremonial dress during Kaamatan (harvest festival) and other occasions.
Kelantan Songket is the supplementary weft gold and silk thread weaving tradition of Kelantan state — distinct from Terengganu Songket in its pattern vocabulary, color preferences, and weaving community.
Menggerus is a Malay textile finishing technique that burnishes woven cloth — most often songket, batik, or tenun — to a smooth, lustrous surface using cowrie shell (siput gerus), soap-nut (buah lerak), starch (kanji), damar resin, and…
Bespoke songkok making: a shaped paper or cardboard inner frame is covered with fitted velvet or other cloth, lined, machine-stitched and finished by hand, each cap adjusted to the wearer's head.
Tenunan Dastar is a Sabah weaving tradition believed to originate from Kota Batu (Cotabato) in the Philippines and brought into Kampung Merabau, Kota Belud, Sabah.
Pua Kumbu is the sacred warp ikat weaving tradition of the Iban people — the largest indigenous group in Sarawak — producing ceremonial cloths of extraordinary spiritual and technical complexity.
Telepuk is one of the rarest and most technically complex textile traditions in the Malay world — a four-stage process producing silk cloth decorated with 24-karat gold leaf applied through carved wooden stamps after the fabric has been…
Tenun Pahang Diraja is a Pahang handloom weaving tradition believed to have originated in Riau or Sulawesi and been brought into Pahang in the 16th century, woven from silk or cotton thread.
Terengganu Songket is widely regarded as the finest songket tradition in Malaysia — a handwoven silk and gold thread brocade produced in villages along the Terengganu River, particularly Losong and Chendering, using the menyongket…
Kelantan Silversmithing is the most celebrated silverwork tradition in Malaysia — producing repoussé, filigree, and granulation work for ceremonial jewelry, royal regalia, household objects, and architectural fittings.
The forging of the keris, the wavy or straight-bladed dagger central to Malay cultural identity, made by master blacksmiths known as Empu or pandai besi through repeated cycles of heating, hammering, folding, quenching, tempering, and…
Malaysian pewterware is the tin-antimony alloy craft tradition of Selangor — most prominently represented by Royal Selangor, founded by Yong Koon in 1885 during the British colonial tin-mining era.
Tamil hand-goldsmithing as practiced in George Town, Penang: crucible melting, casting, hand forging, carving, stone setting and precision finishing, with machines used only where heavier mechanical work is useful, to make bespoke jewelry,…
Perak state has a distinct silversmithing tradition — separate from the Kelantan court tradition (CRAFT-0226) — shaped by Perak's position as the tin-rich state that attracted Chinese, Indian, and Malay artisans during the colonial…
Kerongsang is the traditional three-piece brooch set worn by Nyonya women to pin the lapels of the baju kebaya blouse — a set comprising one large brooch (ibu — mother) and two smaller ones (anak — children).
Terengganu Brassware is the royal court brassworking tradition of Terengganu — producing ceremonial vessels, household objects, and architectural fittings from brass (tembaga) using casting, hammering, and engraving techniques.
Johor Batik is the southern Malaysian batik tradition shaped by the large Javanese and Sumatran immigrant communities who settled in Johor during the 19th–20th century colonial period.
Malaysian Batik is the wax-resist dyeing tradition of the East Coast — practiced primarily in Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang — and is distinct from Javanese batik (CRAFT-0133) in several fundamental ways.
Wax-resist batik drawn with a canting: the design is traced in hot wax, and the wax-resisted cloth is then colored by hand.
Hand-drawn (canting) and hand-block-printed (carved stamp) batik practiced side by side and sometimes combined on the same piece, with pattern and color carried through to both sides of the cloth, according to the producer's own materials…
Gambus is a plucked, oud-derived stringed instrument central to Johor's traditional Malay music, built by joining and pierced-carving (ukiran tebuk tembus) select hardwoods — sesenduk, seraya, and acacia — into a resonant lute body.
Rebana ubi is a large traditional Malay bass drum from Kelantan, built by stretching animal hide — buffalo, goat, or cow — over a hardwood shell, most often cengal or meranti, and historically used to signal important community events.
Sabah's brass and bronze gong tradition — producing the canang (small flat gong), the kulintangan (set of small pot gongs), and the agung (large hanging gong) — supports the gong ensemble music that is central to ceremonial life across…
The Sompoton is the traditional mouth organ of Sabah — a free-reed bamboo instrument played by the Kadazan-Dusun, Murut, and Rungus communities.
The Bajau Laut ('sea nomads') of eastern Sabah — specifically centered around Semporna and the Tun Sakaran Marine Park area — build the lepa: a traditional wooden houseboat that serves simultaneously as dwelling, fishing vessel, and…
The Perahu Payang is the traditional Malay fishing vessel of the Terengganu coast — a double-ended wooden boat with a distinctive high prow and stern, decorated with carved and painted geometric patterns, built entirely by hand using adze…
Pulau Duyung traditional boat building is a Terengganu wooden shipbuilding tradition centered on Pulau Duyung Besar, Kuala Terengganu, producing sekuci, bedar, and gelibat boats alongside the pinas (also called pinis) — an east-coast Malay…
Kelantan Wayang Kulit is the shadow puppet tradition of the Malaysian East Coast — distinct from Javanese Wayang Kulit (CRAFT-0136) in both puppet form and performance tradition.
Malaysian Chinese lion head doll making is a self-taught craft tradition producing the ornamented lion heads used in Chinese lion dance performance for Malaysia's Chinese community, distinguished by its named practitioner's use of batik…
Labu Sayong is the traditional black-glazed gourd-shaped water pitcher of Sayong village in Kuala Kangsar district, Perak — practiced for over 300 years by women potters using a hand-forming technique without a wheel.
Multiple indigenous communities of Sarawak produce a hand-formed, unglazed earthenware tradition — distinct from Peninsular Malaysian pottery and reflecting Borneo's geological and cultural specificity.
Kaca Kristal is a contemporary Malaysian crystal-glass craft centered on Langkawi Island, Kedah, built on pull-and-pinch hand-shaping and free-blown glassblowing technique.
The construction of ritual paper effigies and paper sculptures over lightweight bamboo or wire frameworks for Chinese funerals, temples, ancestor observances, and traditional festivals in Penang.
The hand-kneading, rolling and sun-drying of fragrant wood-powder paste onto bamboo rod cores to make joss sticks.
Penang's traditional sign painting is the freehand lettering tradition that produced the hand-painted shop signs of George Town's historic streets — letters painted in Chinese, Tamil, Jawi, and Roman scripts with custom styles,…
Wau Bulan is the traditional crescent moon-shaped kite of Kelantan — the most celebrated kite form in Malaysia and the country's national symbol, depicted on the Malaysian 50-sen coin.