Name: 80 x 64, Acrylic on canvas, XXXXXXX, 2000
Stephen met this lovely Penan girl with her family in Bario up in the highlands of Sarawak in East Malaysia in 2005. The Penan are a nomadic aboriginal people living in Sarawak and Brunei. They are one of the last such peoples remaining. The Penan are noted for their practice of ‘molong’ which basically means never taking more than necessary. Most Penan were nomadic hunter-gatherers until the post-World War II missionaries settled many of the Penan. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter.
