"Palauan Artisanal Wood Carving w/ Master Carver Ling Inabo"
“Spanning over 100 years, the storyboard originated in the Bai (Chief’s meeting house)...one of the most impressive architectural traditions of Micronesia. With its powerful construction and ornate designs, the visual richness of the building is distinctive."
Decorative and symbolic motifs that tell the stories of Palau are carved into the beams and gables of the Bai, a place where traditional knowledge is passed on. In the 1930s, the narrative pictographs on the bai were adapted to a new art form: the carvers began producing the original legends onto individual planks of wood.
"Made portable, these boards could then be transported, given as a gift, or sold. Thus was born today’s storyboard, no longer attached to the Bai, yet still unique to Palau and its identity.” -Master Wood Carver Ling Inabo @ Tebang Woodcarving Shop