“The pandanus leaves, although processed, are alive. They soften when the air is cool and harden when it becomes warm. The leaves have a life of their own until they return to earth.”

The following are excerpts from the third and final chapter titled Crafts and People from the paper zine Solastalgia. You can purchase the full zine in paper copy directly from GERIMIS Art Project, where a portion of the funds will go to indigenous Malaysian communities.

Scroll down for larger images and text.

Read a Q&A with Wendi Sia, Sharon Yap and Sebastian Heng of the GERIMIS Art Project.

“The waterfall is a mystical place to us because there lived a princess and her maidens. Together, they make a group of seven beautiful women. They wore headdresses in the shape of buffalo horns, but the princess had the grandest of one of all.”

“Craft is about connection to Mak Cik Nora. A connection to oneself, and to the past towards the present, while looking ahead into the future.”

“When this happens, the princess and her maidens stop appearing and giving, which may suggest that the loss of respect or remembrance of one’s place on earth is diminishing nature’s bounty to the point of no return.”

“You may call it Jelai Kecil River. The maps may record it so. But the river’s original name is Relai River, and the story of how this river came to be began with a snake.”

“It started with the sound of thunder, rumbling through the quiet night air…”

“It was the month of July. It was supposed to be hot and dry. But it had been raining every evening, the sky pouring, crying.”

“We were going to harvest some cassava. Their steps were confident and collected, walking from memory and knowing the trails like the lines on their palms.”

“Crafts are living expressions of the Orang Asli’s everyday lives. They are objects fashioned and created based on function, utility, and their immediate environment.”

“Everything that Bek has done and is doing…is for his children and his community.”

“A long time ago, there was a little boy who lived in the interiors of Perak with his mother and father. They are of the Temiar tribe and have a special relationship with the forest."

“Together, they hiked to a patch of forest not far from home. It was perfect for a new farm.”

“There is a saying, ‘bagai asahan dengan beliung’, which means inseparable and undivided, just like the Orang Asli and the forest.”