This picture which I took in the early 1990s in Kapuas Hulu, the Iban stronghold in Kalimantan, is historic. It shows pretty Kantuk girls wearing intricate, heirloom ikat skirts which are now sought after by collectors. I’ve read a recently published book on Borneo textiles in which the writer says it was Indonesian dealers in Bali who introduced him to Iban ikats decades ago. I scratched my head when I learned the writer then travelled to Sarawak instead of Kapuas Hulu, the original home of the Ibans in the Malaysian state, to learn more about the textiles. Ritual textiles from Kalimantan are still little-documented and it’s hard to find pictures of old pieces on location. Kantuk is an Iban sub-group. The others are Mualang, Ketunggau and Desa tribes, which also produce distinctive ritual textiles.