Traditional Sape Performance | Alena Murang | TEDxKL

Alena sings traditional folks songs and plays the sape.

Alena Murang has learnt the traditional art forms of the Kelabit, Kenyah and Penan people since the age of six, including dancing, weaving, design, singing and playing music instruments. Presently she is a full-time practitioner and pioneer of art forms from Borneo, seeking to learn from tribal elders in the Ulu Baram (the upper Baram river near the Malaysian – Indonesian border) villages.

Some of the songs she learns are remembered by only a handful of elders from her grandparents’ generation.

Her artwork is also inspired by the indigenous communities and the natural environment of Borneo, where she grew up in. Using paint and music as her main mediums, she seeks to tell the stories of her ancestors, who hold the knowledge of the rainforests, age-old myths, and a simple and honest way of life, as well as the stories of the hardships they face today.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx