Textiles Museum

The Textiles Museum is a great stop off for those interested in, you've guessed it, textiles.

Set over the second and third floors of the Pavilion, it showcases the diversity of Sarawak through the medium of textiles. Even if you aren't that interested in textiles, the building is worth a visit in itself as it's a great example of colonial architecture.

The second floor houses different examples of indigenous textiles, such as the Iban ikat and the Ulu people's fabric made from tree bark. It also houses some of the finest indigenous weaving we've ever seen, not to mention beautiful antique Iban headdresses. Other ethnic groups are not missed out here either; gossamer-light Chinese embroidery sits alongside handwoven Malay cloth. While all this is rather beautiful, the fridge-cold air-con, inadequate lighting and stone-faced wax human models can lend itself to creating an atmosphere of a bad Asian horror film set.

Rather more cheery, but still with waxworks featuring, the third floor shows wedding ceremony tableaux from all the major ethnic groups in Sarawak. We were struck by how similar many of these outfits were, thus demonstrating the symbiotic nature of cultural evolution in Sarawak.