Arts & Crafts of Sabah: Beadwork, Music & Galleries

Sabah's arts and crafts at a glance

Sabah's craft heritage is rooted in its 80-plus ethnic communities, each with its own materials, motifs and techniques. The Rungus of the north are renowned bead weavers; the Kadazan-Dusun adorn their festival costumes with silver; coastal Bajau and Suluk communities and interior peoples share a sophisticated bronze gong music; and weavers across the state turn pandanus leaves into mats, baskets and hats.

Alongside these living traditions, Sabah has a growing contemporary art scene, with the award-winning Sabah Art Gallery and internationally collected artists. This hub links detailed guides to each craft and to the best places to see and buy them.

Beadwork and adornment

Two of Sabah's signature traditions are worn rather than displayed. Rungus pinakol beadwork uses off-loom weaving to build geometric patterns — human figures, flowers, spears and river creatures — into necklaces, headdresses and belts. The Kadazan-Dusun himpogot is a belt of real silver coins worn by women over traditional costume, especially at the Kaamatan harvest festival, signalling wealth and status.

Music and woven crafts

Sabah's most celebrated musical tradition is kulintangan, played on rows of bronze gongs in interlocking rhythms shared across the Sulu Archipelago and Borneo. In the home and the market, mengkuang weaving turns dried, dyed pandanus leaves into more than 70 documented products — mats, baskets, hats and bags — through herringbone and diamond plaiting, sustaining a cottage industry across coastal communities.

Galleries and markets

The Sabah Art Gallery in Kota Kinabalu — the first green-rated building in Borneo — holds more than 3,000 works and stages a dozen exhibitions a year, championing Sabahan artists including the internationally collected Yee I-Lann. For traditional crafts, the Gaya Street Sunday Market is the state's largest weekly showcase, where beadwork, brassware, bamboo goods and textiles sit alongside food and produce.

Explore the arts and crafts guide

Buying Sabah crafts responsibly

Buying directly from artisans and recognised craft outlets keeps these traditions alive and ensures makers are fairly paid. Ask about provenance — genuine antique himpogot coins, for example, command very different prices from silver-plated reproductions — and treat ceremonial pieces with respect for their cultural meaning.

Frequently asked questions