Ep 22: Alena Murang - Sarawakian Sape Player, Visual Artist & Heritage Advocate

Alena Ose’ Murang is a Sarawakian sape player singer, teacher, speaker, social entrepreneur, visual artist & heritage advocate. Born in Kuching, Sarawak, to a Kelabit father, Ose Murang and English-Italian mother Valerie Mashman, Alena and her older brother were immersed in their local heritage from young including dance and the local lute instrument, the sape. While Alena has never formally studied music, she answered her calling to be a keeper of stories for her people and in 2016, released her first EP, Flight - a collection of traditional Kenyah & Kelabit songs.Since then, Alena has performed at many renowned world music festivals including the SXSW (USA), Colors of Ostrava (Czech Republic), Paris Fashion Week (France), Rudolstadt Festival (Germany), OzAsia Festival (Australia), and Rainforest World Music Festival (Malaysia). She was a youth representative at the UNESCO Youth Forum in Paris, and UNESCO Asia-Pacific for her work in intangible cultural heritage.Some of the things we talked about include:3.20: What is was like growing up in Kuching & being immersed in the local culture including visiting villages, studying rituals like basket weaving & hiking6:08: How at the age of 6, Alena & her cousins began to learn the arang kadang (long dance) & solo Hornbill dance from her aunties, before half of them decided to pick up the sape7:26: Getting Uncle Mathew Ngau to teach them the sape & why that was such a contentious issue because of their gender 8:46: The difference between the “spirit” & “human” sape17:45: Identity & heritage20:13: Her love of art21:35: Studying fine arts at the Lasalle College of the Arts22:37: Why Alena’s fine arts teacher did not encourage her to pursue art as a career23:59: How she ended up on a US tour with the Diplomats of Drum as a sape player25:58: Her discovery of how the sape could move people26:31: Why she became a fellow with Teach for Malaysia28:28: How she started her social enterprise, ART4 Studio (now known as Kanid Studio)30:35: What led Alena to pursuing world music as a full-time career31:53: How Alena produced & released her first EP, Flight33:45: Working with life coaches 35:15: If Alena was ever plagued with imposter syndrom 35:44: When Alena knew that she was doing exactly what she was meant to be doing36:44: How Alena ended up participating in the Norway Fjord Festival (Scandinavia’s largest traditional music festival) & Paris Fashion Week38:47: Whether Alena ever felt she had to get out of Malaysia to grow her musical career41:48: Working with her village elders 43:09: Being a part of the Small Island Big Song Austronesian production44:53: Why beads are so important to Alena’s indigenous heritage46:56: How COVID-19 has impacted Alena & her career49:14: What listeners can do to help Alena & any other world musician Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/22