Welcome To
Borneo Boat Lute Revival
A family of plucked, string instruments carved from one piece of wood, with a neck, frets and boat-like round body found throughout Borneo such as:
the Orang Ulu sapé, Sabahan sundatang, Brunein kasapi, the sensapi in Kalimantan, the tapi of the Lun Bawang and the Iban belikan amongst many more varieties.
What’s this about?
A collective of researchers, fieldworkers, and creatives telling the stories of boat lutes and their practitioners from across Borneo Island.
This is the first ever interactive website and virtual archive to document, archive and represent this instrument digitally.
Welcome To
Borneo Boat Lute Revival
What are boat lutes?
Found throughout the island of Borneo, boat lutes are a family of plucked string instruments, generally carved from one piece of wood, with a neck, frets and boat-like rounded body.
Instruments include the famous Sapé, the Sundatang of Sabah, the Bruneian Kasapi, the Kecapi in Kalimantan, the Tapi of the Lun Bawang, the Iban Belikan and many more.
What’s this about?
We are a collective of researchers, cultural practitioners and creatives telling the stories of boat lutes and their traditional custodians from across Borneo island.
This is the first ever interactive website and virtual archive created to document, archive and share these incredible indigenous instruments.