No single standardized term documented
Vessels, translucent wall panels, lamps, table surfaces and framed images made from plant fibers formed in water (banana, waru and gamal, chosen according to the piece), related in principle to the Asian practice of forming a sheet from wet plant fiber. As described publicly by its leading practitioner, images are created 'on Banana Fibre Paper, formed in water, with raw pigments and bare hands', the image made in the fiber itself rather than painted on afterward. Images of finished work show vessels with deeply ribbed, folded or stone-like surfaces in browns, grays and ochres; large panels that glow amber when backlit, with layered landscape-like forms; and framed sheets in which a fibrous line is embedded in the paper. The exact forming method is not disclosed: the practitioner has asked that it remain private. The studio also weaves baskets from cord made of its own fibers, a different process with a different effect; by the practitioner's account the innovation lies in the non-traditional materials rather than in the weave. Pieces are placed in interiors in Japan, among them a suite at Aman Tokyo shown in 2024, and were exhibited in Singapore in 'Nature Waves' (GalleryBE, 2024).
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not inscribed
Hand-drawn wax-resist batik made not on imported cloth but on silk that is hand-spun and hand-woven in Indonesia for the purpose, so that one workshop controls the whole chain from yarn to finished design.
Makassar goldsmithing and silverwork is the hereditary jewelry tradition of the Makassarese people — the other major ethnic group of South Sulawesi alongside the Bugis — producing filigree, granulation, and repoussé work for ceremonial…
The Pinisi is the traditional two-masted sailing vessel of the Bugis and Makassarese people — one of the most iconic watercraft in Southeast Asia and the primary vehicle of the Bugis maritime trading network that connected Sulawesi to…
Donggala silk is the traditional handwoven silk cloth of Donggala district on the Gulf of Tomini, Central Sulawesi — producing supplementary weft patterned silk in a palette and motif vocabulary reflecting the area's blend of Bugis, Kaili,…
Karawo is the traditional drawn-thread embroidery tradition of Gorontalo province — a technique in which specific warp and weft threads are withdrawn from a woven ground cloth to create an open grid of remaining threads, into which colored…
Batik Tulis is the most refined form of Indonesian batik — a wax-resist dyeing technique in which hot liquid wax is applied freehand to cloth using a canting (a small copper-spouted tool) to draw fine lines and dots that resist the dye.
The making of marbled paper — patterns formed by floating oil-based or water-based inks on a size (carrageenan or gum tragacanth solution) and manipulating them with combs and styluses before transferring to paper.
A contemporary practice of Arabic calligraphy that moves from the manuscript, the building and the hand-lettered sign into painting: words rendered in many colors against a white ground, blending calligraphy and painting into one form.
The cutting of paper into intricate decorative designs, a popular Jewish folk art practiced for hundreds of years.
Suminagashi ("floating ink") is a Japanese paper-marbling technique in which sumi ink and a surfactant are alternately touched to the surface of plain, unsized water to form concentric rings, which are gently manipulated by breath or fan…
Shan paper making (ရှမ်းစာ shan sa) is the handmade bark paper tradition of Shan State — using mulberry (sa tree, Broussonetia papyrifera) and local plant fiber to produce paper for Buddhist manuscript copying, folded book (parabaik)…
Pathein hti (ထီး — 'umbrella/parasol') is the traditional paper umbrella making tradition of Pathein (Bassein) in Ayeyarwady Region — Myanmar's primary umbrella-making center for over 200 years.