Tenun Ulap Doyo
Ulap Doyo is one of the most unusual textiles in the database — a handwoven cloth produced entirely from the fiber of the Doyo plant (Curculigo latifolia), a wild plant of the Kalimantan rainforest floor. The Dayak Benuaq community of the Mahakam River area have developed the only known tradition of weaving with Doyo fiber in the world — making this a craft tradition with no parallel elsewhere. Doyo leaves are harvested, the fiber extracted by scraping and soaking, and the resulting coarse but strong fiber hand-spun and then woven on a body-tension loin-loom into cloth of a distinctive golden-brown color with a slightly rough, papery texture. Patterns are added through supplementary weft or ikat-resist techniques. The tradition is critically endangered and produces one of the rarest plant-fiber textiles in the world.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not inscribed
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