MAGIC BORNEO BEADS AT ENSERA GALLERY

BY ANA JONESSY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2016

Gallery hours: Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. 
Location: Lorong Dewan, next to the flight of stairs up Signal Hill

Our good friends at Ensera have just opened their gallery doors and are currently exhibiting Eleanor Goroh’s collection of precious heirlooms, Magic Borneo Beads. Each of her beads carries its own story and has traversed through time and space; mountains, valleys, seas, and rivers before they came to her safekeeping, and next, to its rightful new owners… Could that person be you?

Inspired by local folklore, tales from faraway lands, and Borneo’s ethnic beadworks, Eleanor works with a variety of beads; seeds, glass, wood and shells, and observes the use of heritage beads for fashion and ornamental purposes, which in ancient times were used as symbols of power and wealth, traded goods and sacred objects for religious ceremonies and healing rituals.

Anyone who knows Eleanor personally will tell you that she’s well endowed with the gift of storytelling, a warm personality and a fluent power of narration, and as such, is always at the ready to illuminate the processes of beadmaking and beadworking, as well as many other artworks that lived in the foregone worlds of Borneo. So if there’s a particular bead or artifacts at Ensera that you’re interested in, come on over with a pot of hot blooming tea and Eleanor will be more than happy to tell you what she knows.

Besides crafting unique bead creations (necklaces, bracelets, anklets and earrings) for her clientele, Eleanor also hosts beading workshops where students are given the freedom to explore their own interpretation, personal stories and ingenuity, bringing forth new meanings to complement the genesis of the beads they’re working on.

Beading is prepossessing creative work, one that has stood the test of time and will continue inspire us for many generations to come. We’re so stoked for everyone to visit and explore the time-honored wonders, stories, cultural heritage, time-honored art and ancient civilizations from far flung Borneo at Ensera! See you there!

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