Two badek makara hilts. Drawing by Nik Rashiddin Nik Hussein;
Spirit of Wood
Ceiling panel from a mosque pulpit (see page 25);
This book was inspired by the knowledge of
the late master carver, Nik Rashiddin Nik Hussein,
and his dream of reviving the art of
Malay woodcarving.
Detail of a panel (AR019g) from the mosque pulpit at Surau Langgar (see pages 64—6);
Spirit of Wood
The Art of Malay Woodcarving
Works by master carvers from
Kelantan, Terengganu and Pattani
Farish A. Noor and Eddin Khoo
photographs by David Lok
This book would not have been possible without the generous support of the following:
YTM Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
YBg Tan Sri Wan Azmi Hamzah
Encik Hijjas Kasturi
HE Ambassador Kiyohiko Arafune
KAF Discounts Berhad
Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad
The General Boumeester Trust
The Ministry of Culture, Arts & Tourism, Malaysia
Published by Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd
Copyright © 2003 Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd Text and photographs © 2003 Kandis Resource Centre Sdn Bhd
ISBN: 978-1-4629-0677-2 (ebook)
Printed in Singapore
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, storied in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
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Ceremonial keris hilt and sheath (KW106) carved by Nik Rashiddin shortly before his death in 2002.
Foreword
Like most Kelantanese of my generation, I grew up with an intimate understanding of the arts and traditions that are unique to the east coast states of Peninsular Malaysia. Batik printing, songket (gold thread) weaving and wood-carving were not regarded as handicrafts or mere decorative items during our childhood but were an integral part of our daily lives. These traditional arts were imbued with the essence of our cultural identity. Every family possessed a keris, for instance, not as a weapon but as a symbol of its ancestry, to be passed down to future generations. For many families on the east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu, this ancestry is believed to have its roots in Langkasuka, the legendary kingdom that purportedly flourished in Southeast Asia from the second to the sixteenth centuries.
It is deeply heartening to know that there are young men and women from Kelantan and Terengganu who share my pride in our cultural traditions, and that the impetus towards modernization which has swept through Malaysia since Independence in 1957 has not erased our unique cultural identity. Young artists such as Nik Rashiddin Nik Hussein (who tragically died after a short illness in 2002) and Norhaiza Noordin hold the key to the future as they are striving not just to perpetuate their art but also to preserve the traditions that gave birth to the art in the first place.
This book is the first step in what I see as a movement to restore the prestige of traditional east coast Malay arts. It is not only important as a record of an ancient art form that has survived through the centuries, but as a platform for key ideas about traditional east coast Malay culture and history. Even to the untrained eye, it will be evident that the artefacts featured in this book were produced not by craftsmen but by artists who were expressing not just their artistic vision but also the cultural vision of a highly developed civilization. While I am certain that Spirit of Wood will revive interest in traditional Malay arts and crafts, it is my hope that it will also serve as a springboard for further scholarship in the various traditional art forms that recall similar origins in Langkasuka.
YTM TENGKU RAZALEIGH HAMZAH
A late 19th-century quail trap (FL046);
Contents
Foreword 5 YTM Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
A Craftsman Speaks 9 A conversation with master carver Nik Rashiddin Nik Hussein, as recorded by Eddin Khoo
The Cult of Wood 15 Farish A. Noor
References and Works 55 Inspiration and artefacts of Nik Rashiddin Nik Hussein
