Bernard Sellato

Bernard Sellato has been involved with Borneo since 1973, first as a geologist and later as an anthropologist.

Bernard Sellato has been involved with Borneo since 1973, first as a geologist and later as an anthropologist. A former director of the Institute for Research on Southeast Asia (CNRS and Université de Provence) in Marseilles, France, he is the author of numerous books and articles on the island (including Beyond the Green Myth, published by NIAS Press in 2007, and now Plaited Art from the Borneo Rainforest, due late 2011). Until recently, he was editor of the journal Moussons: Social Science Research on Southeast Asia.

We were fortunate to record an interview with Bernard at the 2010 Euroseas conference in Gothenburg. This has just been output as 3 short films, posted here and on YouTube:

1) Bernard recounts how first he came to know and love Borneo as a geologist (in 1973), later becoming a renowned anthropologist working on this land. Click here to view this interview.

2) He then describes how modernity is changing (often destroying) the world of Borneo’s hunter-gatherers, the subject of his co-edited work, Beyond the Green Myth. Click here to view this interview.

3) Finally, he describes the incredible richness of Borneo’s material culture, not least the basketry drawn from the products of the island’s rainforest. This is the subject of Plaited Arts. Click here to view this interview.