Man's sleeveless jacket

The island of Borneo is divided among three nations: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. According to oral history the Iban people migrated about five hundred years ago from what is now Kalimantan, Indonesia, west into Sarawak, a state in the modern country of Malaysia. Today there are many subgroups of Ibanic people; they are defined by anthropologists largely by regional settlement and language. Weaving is important for all of these groups, and it features prominently in the mythology of the region.

In the past, Iban men gained status through their skill as headhunters, while women were admired for their expertise in weaving.

Textiles were used in a wide variety of ritual circumstances and were considered spiritually powerful objects. The primary technique used by Iban weavers is a kind of tie-dyeing known as ikat. The weft threads (the fibers running across the width of the fabric) or, as in this case, the warp threads (the fibers running lengthwise on the loom) are dyed in patterns—often elaborate—before the textile is woven. Occasionally Iban weavers used other techniques, such as the twine and tapestry work seen on the geometric strip at the lower edge of the back of this jacket.

Jackets like this one were made both with and without sleeves, and were worn by both men and women. This type of garment is known as a bird jacket (kalambi burung) because of the stylized bird motifs in its design. Iban folklore tells of many types of "omen birds," who carry messages from the spirit world.