The music and dance genre is still performed by the Kayan and Kenyah tribes of Central Borneo, Justine Jarop, a professional sape player, told The Vibes.
Sape' are carved from a single bole of wood, with many modern instruments reaching over a metre in length.
NextLing Yah: How did you transition from all that to deciding to go to Manchester, to study business management? And my mother she's half English, half Italian, and she's an anthropologist and an English teacher.
I did a foundation course, so my course mates were fresh out of high school. I said that it really helped.
NextI really love painting and I just wasn't good enough to apply to the art schools in England.
I mean, number one, I think a lot of us were looking forward to leaving Kuching because it was a bit small.
NextAnd I just started crying.
Ling Yah: So do you mind sharing, the thought process? Today, three to five strings are used, with a range of more than three octaves, and it has become a social instrument for entertainment and accompanying dances. Could you share with us why beads are sowing integral to you in your culture? Sapa is a lute instrument from Malaysian Borneo, and also Indonesian Borneo and it's played by the orang ulu people.
NextSo back in 2006, we had a cousin band called Kanid that played at Rainforest Music Festival.
Like if they saw a certain bird flying a certain way across the path all activity had to be stopped or these other things, I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to mention. So it's a very different style. Because sape is something that was only introduced to females in your father's generation, right? In a dream, the healer was told to carve out a piece of tree and string it with pineapple fibres.
So it involves the indigenous of Taiwan, Malaysia, Madagascar, Polynesia, Hawaii, Tahiti is an Island.
So I was really kind of stuck, like, what is my next move? It was something that was there.
NextI didn't have any dependents luckily.