Over the years, Swiss photographer Tomas Wuthrich has visited Borneo many times to document the daily life of the Penan, a partially nomadic indigenous people living in the rainforest of Borneo. The way of life that these hunter-gatherers lead in the Sarawak state of Malaysia is critically threatened by illegal logging and oil palm plantations. The Penan people came to the world’s attention thanks to Swiss-born environmental activist Bruno Manser, who disappeared in the jungle without trace in the year 2000 while campaigning for the Penan cause. In this book, Wuthrich paints a nuanced portrait of this unique culture. A selection of Penan myths, collected by Ian Mackenzie are published for the first time alongside Wuthirch’s photographs. An essay on Bruno Manser and his mission for the Penans’ case completes the book.
Text in English, German and Penan.
AUTHORS: Tomas Wuthrich is a freelance photographer living in and working in Switzerland. His award-winning reportages and portraits are published internationaly.
Ian Mackenzie is a linguist, anthropologist, documentary filmmaker and author. Since 1991 he has been researching the language and culture of the Penan. He published the first comprehensive dictionary of the Penan language. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.
Lukas Straumann has been heading the Bruno Manser Fund in Basel since 2004.
SELLING POINTS: . A unique photographic documentation of the Penans’ way of life on the island of Borneo and an impressive visual manifesto against the politics and industrial interests that endanger them . The Penan people and their culture, endangered by illegal logging and industrial palm oil plantations on Borneo, have gained much international attention 100 colour illustrations