KUCHING, Jan 8 — Prolific local author Heidi Munan has unveiled her latest book titled The Sartorial Heritage of Sarawak yesterday that traces the development of new styles and fashions as they were adopted and adapted over the ages.
Ample scope is given to the traditional costumes of Sarawak’s indigenous people in the book, but the town dwellers are also included in the study.
During the book launch and talk at Telang Usan Hotel, Heidi said while the book could not cover the whole clothing history in Sarawak, she hoped it will help people on the topic.
“I hope it will encourage people to look at clothing, not as something they bought, but to think: Why am I wearing this? Why does my grandmother has something quite different from what I’m wearing? What are the reasons? What do people express with the clothing they wear?
“If I could encourage people to think about that while they are reading my book, I will be very happy. But fashion will keep on changing. Ten years from now someone will write the next book on the same topic of what happened from 2023 to 2030,” she said.
Heidi said she had a great time writing the book and thanked all who had supported her in the project, which she has been working on for seven or eight years, with some delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The book is available for purchase from Mucow Books Company. To get a copy, contact Philippa Munan on 011-16053616 or email to mucowbookscompany@gmail.com.
The Swiss-born and New Zealand-educated Heidi has spent more than fifty years researching the material culture, folklore and history of Sarawak, making her one of Sarawak’s most successful authors who has published several books on these topics.
Among some of her published books are Beads of Borneo, Sarawak Historical Landmarks, Food Heritage of Sarawak and Sarawak Folk Tales.
She is also the honorary curator of Beads for the Sarawak Museum. — Borneo Post