Sinumandak & Agigimpong

Two patterns in Rattan Plaitworks of Agabag Dayak Women
Sembakung River, North Kalimantan, Indonesia

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While working as a consultant and documentarist in North Kalimantan from 2010 to 2012 for a handicraft development program of the women's department of the native Church GKPI (Gereja Kristen Pemancar Injil) and mission21, I discovered that some of the beautifully patterns of the Agabag woven mats tell a stories about them.
In the evenings, after a hard day’s work in the forest, fields and around the house, the Agabag Dayak women still find time and energy to practice their special art: the plaiting of unique, large and lavishly decorated mats, baskets and other objects from rattan vines. Countless traditional plaited motifs tell stories about Agabag women’s lives in the past. Two of them are called Sinumandak and Agigimpong.