20 Dec 2024: Double D at Traxx FM of RTM speaks to Siti Kamariah Ahmad Subki, Trustee and Managing Director of Yayasan Hasanah and Abdul Razak Aziz, Founder of Langkasuka Movement and Telepuk Artisan about “UNVEILING TELEPUK EMAS.”
In the interview, Razak recalls his university days when the art of Telepuk was generally heard of, but no official documentation was found to learn more about the elusive heritage textile art. It was not until 8 years ago that Razak met with the late National Craft Icon and Master Wood Carver, Adiguru Norhaiza Noordin, that the idea to revive Telepuk was conceived and eventually led to a fruitful collaboration.
“Once an art is forgotten, there’s no connection at all with the people. We realised that the first thing we needed to do is to make that connection with our history. If there’s none, who are we?” added Razak.
Supported by Yayasan Hasanah, the collaboration has since led to a series of research, workshops, exhibitions and research book publication on the heritage art of Telepuk in Bahasa Malaysia and English.
The art of Telepuk is a textile technique of stamping gold dust with a carved wooden stamp with various motifs, on the surface of a fabric that has been gilded.
“We’ve been championing heritage textile preservation for quite a while now. With the support of good partners like Encik Razak from Langkasuka Movement, we’ve been able to move forward to make sure that we have artisans – people who can make them (heritage textiles); otherwise these will be forgotten,” shared Siti Kamariah.