This craft of weaving that once flourished was nearly lost to Pahang as the number of weavers dwindled to a handful of just 12 in the late ’90s. It was then that HM Queen Azizah took it upon herself to revive this dying craft. A multi-pronged revival strategy was then set in motion, one that has taken over two decades to bear fruit. Today, a total of 313 weavers live in Pahang, including skilled prison inmates.  

The Royal Pahang Weave exhibition, curated by Judith Clark, runs from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 May. It highlights the prison weaving programme, a display of a traditional floor-loom with a weaver at task, archival fabrics from the Museum of Pahang and a selection of HM Queen Azizah’s own garments and private Tenun collection.