Sarawak! - Borneo Talk

PINK JAMBU Songtik Fables 2011 collection; Anticipation. A collaboration projectbetween Royal Terengganu Songket and Pink Jambu.TextileAnother strategy was to create thefinest quality lightweight songketavailable for today’s discerningconsumer. Dr. Ngo experimentedwith various types of threads, loomadjustments and weaving techniquesto improve the aesthetics, qualityand speed of production.Just as the study was completed, Dr.Ngo was approached by YayasanTuanku Nur Zahirah (YTNZ) tohelp create a brand of high qualityhandmade songket for a broad rangeof uses. Dr. Ngo was appointedthe Textile Design and ProductionDirector at Yayasan Tuanku NurZahirah in 2008.She was tasked to ensuresmooth production of highquality contemporary songket forbroader usage (fashion, interiorand corporate gifts) with the aimof penetrating the internationalmarket. The Foundation under thepatronage of her Majesty Tuanku NurZahirah, the reigning Raja PermaisuriAgong of Malaysia, uses the brandRoyal Terengganu Songket (RTS)to improve the lives of artisans in asustainable way.this sustain the life of the craft, it alsoprovides young women from KualaTerengganu and Kuching with fulltime employment and valuable skills.To date, RTS have customisedcollaborative pieces with renownedMalaysian designers such as DatoTom Abang Saufi, Melinda Looi,Jovian Mandagie, Tangoo , PinkJambu and Datuk Radzuan Radziwill.Each designer worked very closelywith Dr. Ngo to create truly uniquemasterpieces and the beautifulmasterpieces are published in abook entitled “Songket Revolution”.“Songket Revolution” is a coffeetable book on songket publishedby YTNZ in March 2009 to raiseawareness on songket, its historyand evolution, nation-wide andinternationally.Dr. Ngo was also involved in the PINKJAMBU Songtik, a collaborationproject between Royal TerengganuSongket and Pink Jambu. PINKJAMBU Songtik came to life in2010 with a debut collection of 42shawls that represented the firststep towards marrying the twoquintessential Malay high crafts ofMarina Ibrahim (CEO and DesignDirector of Pink Jambu) and Dr. Ngoembarked on the next chapter oftheir collaboration to produce thelatest collection of Songtik shawls,showcasing the technical innovationto merge the two techniques ofbatik-painting and songket-weavingon a single surface. Stories of love,relationship and wellbeing takecentre-stage in the PINK JAMBUSongtik Fables 2011 collection. Fromanticipation to trust, tales of life’sjourney illustrate the twelve exclusiveshawls that form the core of thisinnovative and exciting collectionmade possible by a collaborationbetween Pink Jambu and RoyalTerengganu Songket. The result oftheir collaboration is the perfectunion of the two ancient crafts tocreate unprecedented designs thatare set to stir excitement in the worldof Asian heritage textiles.Dr. June Ngo continues to spreadher knowledge and expertise to theyounger generation of designersthrough her teachings at UNIMASand the brand Royal TerengganuSongket, continues to evolve in theFoundation’s effort to provide betterlivelihoods to artisans.Dr. June Ngo in discussion with RamsukmawatiBinti Ramlee, Yayasan Tuanku Nur Zahirah’sweaver in Kuching, Sarawak.The Foundation supported Dr. Ngo’swork with songket weavers, textiledesigners, marketing, PR, equipmentand funds to carry on her researchwhile the fine songket created wasbeing sold under the brand RoyalTerengganu Songket.Changing the demographic, theFoundation hired young weavers tobe trained from scratch by Dr. Ngoand master weavers. Not only doessongket and batik. In this collection,the designers experimented withcontemporary yarns, colour palettes,prints and motifs to create soft andplush shawls. The Songtik 2010collection is distinctive in that theshawls are reversible to showcase thebeauty of wearing batik and songketinterchangeably.Following the success of the2010 collection, designers TengkuOct-Dec2011BorneoTalk | 27