Kak Budi
Bajau Laminusa people
Sulu/Celebes Seas, c.1983

Kak Kinnuhong
Bajau Sama Dilaut people
Sulu/Celebes Seas, c.1973

Makcik Lukkop 
Bajau Sama Dilaut people
Sulu/Celebes Seas, c.1951

Kak Sanah Belasani
Bajau Sama Dilaut people
Sulu/Celebes Seas, c.1979

Kak Rahima
Bajau Sama Dilaut people
Sulu/Celebes Seas, c.1966

Live and work in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia

The boldly coloured tepo (mats) of the women of the Bajau Sama Dilaut community, based on the islands of Semporna off the east coast of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, combine motifs passed down through generations with geometric forms and imagery drawn from the communities’ maritime setting. The Bajau people are an Austronesian ethnic group known for their nomadic, seafaring lifestyles, living throughout the Indo-Malay and Philippine archipelagos. The Sama Dilaut community in Semporna lives in tidal stilt villages and their economy centres largely on fishing.

This lifestyle features prominently in the designs of their finely woven pandanus mats, incorporating undulating waves, intricate textile patterns, and rhythms, textures and structures drawn from everyday life. Their chromatic range is particularly striking, with high-key pink, yellows and aquamarine set against deep greens and indigos. The tepo are not simply beautiful objects, but also expressions of the collective life embedded in them.