Documentary Shooting: Part 2

Click this link for Part 1 of my East Coast Adventure.

Part 2 of my journey begins on the second day in Kelantan when Abang Mahzan and I went back to Kota Bharu to shoot video footage of songket as this is a part of the art of the Malays in the East Coast of Malaysia. We went back to Bazar Buluh Kubu searching for exquisite design of songket made locally in Kelantan. 

A songket is made up beautifully of floral motives embedded with careful weave(tenunan) in silk or cotton and intricately patterned with gold or silver thread. In the weaving process that can take up to more than 6 months per piece, the metallic threads are inserted in between the silk or cotton so that the threads stand out against the background to create a shimmering effect. 

A songket is worn during ceremonial occasion such as royal weddings and also as an important part of the Sultan's royal dress. This is because, the process of songket-making is very delicate and the price of a piece of a songket can exceed to more than RM 1000 according to its delicateness. Nowadays, there are quite few numbers of songket-makers that made large scale songket production and this results in a generally lower price of a songket. 

Can you guys and girls guess the price of these two songket? These pieces of songket in those photos will cost you for about RM 900-RM 1000 each if I am not mistaken and I am lucky enough to have touched such luxurious songket! Yes, these songket are expensive because of the time taken to finish each piece and the materials used. These kinds of songket is usually purchased by royalties in Kelantan and according to the owner of this boutique, there are visitors from outside of Kelantan who will come here every two months just to get the latest design of songket, unbelievable!

According to the boutique owner, there are two basic steps in preserving the beauty of the songket. First of all, songket owners SHOULD NOT wash their songket at all. This is important so that the colour of the songket will not fade. Then, you should hang (gantung) the songket inside out (menterbalikkan) and keep it in a closed cupboard or wardrobe as sun-rays can affect the color of the songket too.  

I guess that is all for Part Two of my East Coast Adventure with Galaxy Features Network Sdn. Bhd. shooting a documentary for http://dtubes.tv/. According to the producer, the documentary will also be aired on our national television soon insyaallah. Take care and God bless, watch out for Part 3 of my East Coast Adventure!

http://dtubes.tv/