Borneo has been inhabited by modern man for at least the past 40,000 years, maybe even longer and may have played a yet to ascertain but crucial role in the development of modern man. As with many parts of the Austronesian world, the people of Borneo have taken the tattoo to aesthetic heights, and they played always a very important role in social and religious life.
Well preserved for thousands of years, Borneo tattoos are testimony of living traditions, proud cultures and a turbulent history intercepted by fierce tribal wars and headhunting. Though being the third largest island in the world, little was know of Borneo until the Second World War. And it is only now that certain states – Borneo is divided into Kalimantan (Indonesia, ca 73% of the island), Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo, ca 26% of the island) and Brunei Darussalam (less than one percent of the island) – undertake serious efforts to conserve its ancient and ever so rich and diverse heritage. Because even 50 years ago many tribes in the hilly and rather inhospitable terrain of Borneo lived so far away from what is called the civilised world that they could maintain, almost in self-sufficiency, their age old traditional life, centred around rice and an intricate animistic belief system. It is only with the rapid development of the jungle – the generous logging by state and private firms for short term profits dislocating entire tribes from their ancestral land and subsequently pushing them hard into a consumer society so alien to them – that many aspects of the traditional life are getting lost. Like forest, animals and so much wisdom, tattooing was certainly also about to disappear. But then, in Sarawak, undaunted artist-explorers found the most outstanding tattoos, and their designs soared to world fame. This has entailed more detailed studies in traditional tribal design, and even the local people in Sarawak are now proud of their cultural heritage and preserve it where they can. It may not be continued for the same reasons as it has been in their way of life of old, but the tradition is maintained, and time honoured. ....TO BE CONTINUED!!
