VO LU M E 1 9 N O.

4 D e c em b e r 2 0 1 0

the journal of
the asian arts society
of australia

TAASA Review
indonesia
and
timor-leste

c o n t en t s : I N D O N E S I A A N D T I M O R - L E S T E
Volume 19 No. 4 December 2010

Editorial

TAAS A RE VI E W

Joanna Barrkman, Guest Editor

THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC.

Abn 64093697537 Vol. 19 No. 4, December 2010
ISSN 1037.6674

C ONSE R VATION A N D CARE O F C ULT URAL C OLL E CTION S : AU S TRALIA, I N DON E S IA

AN D TIMOR-LES TE PARTN ER S HI P S

Kristin Phillips and Sandra Yee

COLLECTOR AND COLLECTED: EXPLORING THE INTERCULTURAL NATURE OF A MUSEUM COLLECTION

Siobhan Campbell

10

THE R EVIVAL OF E M BROIDERE D STORY C LOT H S I N N E GARA, B ALI

publ i c at i ons c omm i t t ee

I Made Rai Artha

12

THE S AC R ED HOU S E O F TI M OR- L E STE

Eugnio Sarmento

Josefa Green (convenor) Tina Burge

Melanie Eastburn Sandra Forbes Ann MacArthur
Jim Masselos Ann Proctor Susan Scollay
Sabrina Snow Christina Sumner

14

DILI: A CIT Y IN S EARC H O F ITS SO UL

Ingo Voss, VossDesign

Jill Jolliffe

pr i n t i ng

16

THE IS LAMIC HERITAG E O F I N DON E SIA S ART

James Bennett

19

AMBASS ADOR O F I NDO N E SIA N BATIK : I wa n Ti r ta ( 1 9 3 5 - 2 0 1 0 )

Maria Wronska-Friend

20

B R EAS TCLOT HS O F J AVA A ND BALI

of The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. TAASA Review welcomes

Joanna Barrkman

submissions of articles, notes and reviews on Asian visual and

22

IN T HE PUBLIC DOM AIN: K A L A F R O M T H E A R T G A L L ERY O F S O U T H AU S T R A L I A

Russell Kelty

23

J OHN HUIE AND T H E C HI N E S E G ARDE N C H A M B ER M U S I C F E S TI VAL

Paolo Hooke

24

EXH IBITION PR E VIEW: The F i r st E mpe r or : China s E ntom b ed Wa r r iors

Ann MacArthur

26

C ONFE R ENCE R E PORT: BO R N E O I N T ER N AT I O N A L B E A D S C O N F ER E N C E 2 0 1 0

Hwei-Fen Cheah

28

Recen t TAA S A Ac t iv i t ies

29

A MESS AGE FROM TAA SA S PR E SIDE N T

29

TAAS A Membe r s D i a ry

30

W HATS ON IN AU STRALIA AND OV ERS EA S : D EC E MBE R 2 0 1 0 - F E BR UA RY 2 0 1 1

Compiled by Sabrina Snow

Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134

e d i to rIAL email: editorial@taasa.org.au

General editor, Josefa Green

Guest Editor this issue, Joanna Barrkman
Editorial assistance this issue, Sandra Forbes

des i gn / l ayout

John Fisher Printing

Published by The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc.

PO Box 996 Potts Point NSW 2011
www.taasa.org.au
Enquiries: admin@taasa.org.au
TAASA Review is published quarterly and is distributed to members

performing arts. All articles are refereed. Additional copies and

subscription to TAASA Review are available on request.
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Review as a result of material published within its pages or
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or liabilities that may arise from material published.

Ider-ider, story cloth (detail), presumed from Negara, Bali, Indonesia, 20th century.
Hand embroidered commercially woven cotton and rayon threads and glass beads,
dimensions (of complete textile) ht 350 cm x 4600 cm long. Gift of Mrs Mary Abbott,
collection Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. The current revival
of such embroidered textiles is discussed on pp. 10-11 of this issue.

A fu ll Ind ex o f arti c les publ ished in TA A S A R e v i e w s ince i t s beg i nni ngs

i n 1991 is availab le on the TAASA w eb si te , w w w. ta asa . o rg. au

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TAA S A c o mm i t t ee

E DITORIAL : I N D O N E S I A A N D T I M O R - L E S T E :
PR E S E R V I N G C U L T U R A L H E R I T A G E

Gill Gr een Pr esident

Art historian specialising in Cambodian culture

CHRI STIN A SUMNE R V ic e Pr esident

Principal Curator, Design and Society,

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
A NN GU ILD TREASU RE R

Former Director of the Embroiders Guild (UK)

KATE JOHNS TON SECR ETA RY

Intellectual property lawyer with

an interest in Asian textiles
Hwe i-fe n cheah

Lecturer, Art History, Australian National University,

with an interest in needlework
JO CE LYN CHEY

Visiting Professor, Department of Chinese Studies,

University of Sydney; former diplomat
Matt Cox

Study Room Co-ordinator, Art Gallery of New South

Wales, with a particular interest in Islamic Art of
Southeast Asia
Phili p Co urt enay

Former Professor and Rector of the Cairns Campus,

James Cook University, with a special interest in
Southeast Asian ceramics
LUC I E FOLAN

Assistant Curator, Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia

San dra Forbes

Editorial consultant with long-standing interest

in South and Southeast Asian art
Jo sefa Gr een

General editor of TAASA Review. Collector of Chinese

ceramics, with long-standing interest in East Asian
art as student and traveller

Joanna Barrkman, Guest Editor

I recall inviting Mrs Inez Casimiro, a
senior member of Darwins Timor-Leste
community, into the Southeast Asian
storeroom at the Museum and Art Gallery of
the Northern Territory after she had agreed
to co-curate a display of Timorese objects.
Viewing the collection, she was drawn to earrings, hairpins and bracelets similar to those
which shed worn as a young woman in her
homeland, before fleeing to Australia as a
refugee in 1975.
A woven fibre food cover lou metin
immediately caught Mrs Casimiros eye. She
explained that as a girl she had watched her
aunt make similar food covers in her home
village of Same. She had never expected to see
one again - especially not in Darwin, Australia!
This anecdote illustrates the good fortune
of Australian cultural institutions that have
developed Indonesian and Timor-Leste
collections and the obligations of custodianship
resulting from this boon. These collections
have important roles to play in fostering
bi-lateral research, training and exhibitions.
They are also resources for the revitalisation
of cultural practices, heritage preservation and
the documentation of intangible heritage in
Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

GE RALDI NE HARD MAN

Collector of Chinese furniture and Burmese lacquerware

MIN-JUNG KIM

Curator of Asian Arts & Design at the Powerhouse Museum

A NN P RO CTOR

Art historian with a particular interest in Vietnam

SABRI NA SN OW

Has a long association with the Art Gallery of New South

Wales and a particular interest in the arts of China
Ho n. Au ditor

Rosenfeld Kant and Co

s t a t e r ep r esen t a t i ves
Australian Capital Territory
Ro byn Maxwell

Visiting Fellow in Art History, ANU;

Senior Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia

Because it is they who physically care and treat

the items, it is conservators who often develop
the most intimate relationship with collection
objects. First in this issue of TAASA Review,
the observations of international exchange
training programs in museology practice by
Sandra Yee and Kristin Phillips remind us
that neighbouring nations such as TimorLeste and Indonesia often enjoy only limited
access to collection care resources enjoyed by
Australian institutions. Valuable collections
remain vulnerable to natural disasters, civil
unrest and economic pressures. The exchange
of skills and techniques between Australian
museum conservators and Timorese and
Indonesian counterparts have supported
improved care for Southeast Asia collections.

Northern Territory
Joanna Barr kma n

Curator of Southeast Asian Art and Material Culture,

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Queensland
Russell Stor er

Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art,

Queensland Art Gallery
South Australia
Ja mes B enne tt

Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia

Victoria
Carol Cains

Curator Asian Art, National Gallery of Victoria International

Siobhan Campbell writes about her

investigations in Kamasan village, Bali, into
the significance of the Australian Museums
collection of Balinese paintings compiled
by renowned Australian anthropologist Dr
Anthony Forge in the 1970s. Through the
impressions of villagers, a body of information
is being amassed which narrates the dynamics
of exchange and encounter between Kamasan
artists and Forge: timely research, as Forges
incursions remain in living memory. In
Negara, Bali, another timely intervention is
under way; here the embroidering of story

cloths is experiencing a gradual revival. I Made

Rai Artha records the process of re-engaging
textiles artisans with sulaman Negara, hand
embroidered textiles such as the one on the
cover of this issue, which until recently have
teetered on the edge of disappearance.
Revival and reconstruction are themes implicit
in Eugnio Sarmentos exploration of the
significance of ceremonial houses in TimorLeste. Sarmento reminds us that material
architectural forms are embodiments of
intangible cultural values as he convincingly
illustrates how Timorese cultural identity
is inherent within the traditional ume lulik
architecture of Soibada. Alternatively, Jill
Jolliffe considers the changing city of Dili
and reflects on whether, as development
and construction proliferate, Dilis culturally
varied architectural heritage has a place in
this citys future.
Issues of Indonesian art and Islamic cultural
heritage are examined by James Bennett,
who considers the role of Islam as a source
of artistic inspiration in Javanese art during
the early modern era. He argues, using the
example of a stunning pair of 18th century
loro blonyo sculptures, that the widely
propagated notion of a syncretic layering
of indigenous, Buddhist-Hindu and Islamic
aesthetics is inadequate for the appreciation
of its iconography, which is pervaded with
references to contemporary Muslim beliefs.
We sadly mark the passing of Iwan Tirta on
31 July 2010. A celebrated Indonesian batik
artist and fashion-designer, Tirta successfully
reconstituted batik into a vibrant modern artform and fashion. Dr Maria Wronska-Friend
documents Tirtas legacy to shaping Indonesias
cultural identity on the international stage
during the late 20th century. Still on the
Indonesian focus, Russell Kelty discusses a rare
terracotta mid 9th century Buddhist-Hindu
sculpture of Kala in the collection of the Art
Gallery of South Australia.
Keeping us up to date on recent and coming
events, Ann Macarthur previews the
forthcoming exhibition The First Emperor: Chinas
Entombed Warriors at the Art Gallery of NSW,
Paolo Hooke writes about John Huie and the
2011 Chinese Garden Chamber Music Festival,
while Hwei-fen Cheah reports on the recent
2010 Borneo International Beads Conference.
Thanks to all the contributors and to James
Bennett, Sue Bassett and Josefa Green for
their support in developing this issue of
TAASA Review.

C O N S E R V ATIO N A N D C AR E O F C U LT U RAL C OLL E C TIO N S :

A U S TRALIA , I N DO N E S IA A N D TI M OR - L E S T E P ART N E R S H I P S
Kristin Phillips (centre) and workshop participants work as a disaster response team

Kristin Phillips and Sandra Yee

to recover a wet textile, as part of the Disaster Preparedness Workshop held at the
Sonobudoyo Museum in Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, in 2009. Photo Joanna Barrkman

he day-to-day challenges facing museum

conservation departments in Indonesia
and Timor-Leste are often unimaginable for
their Australian peers sitting in the climatecontrolled comfort of laboratories fullyequipped with state-of-the-art computer
technology, professional-grade materials and
generous operational budgets. This is a world
apart from the Indonesian and Timor-Leste
reality where there is no formal training
available in either conservation or collection
management practices and museum staff
continuously grapple with limited access to
relevant expertise and resources.
Altruism can lie behind the sharing of skills
and knowledge by Australian museum staff
with colleagues in Indonesia and Timor-Leste.
Certainly, through neighbourly relations
fostered over several decades, Southeast
Asian museums have facilitated access for
Australian curators and academic researchers
to investigate and document regional heritage
collections. It has also ensured the success
of major exhibitions in Australia such as
Indonesian Gold: Treasures from the National
Museum, Jakarta (1999), Crescent Moon: Islamic
art and civilisation of Southeast Asia (2004), Husi
Bei Ala Timor Sira Nia Liman - From the Hands
of Our Ancestors: The art and craft of TimorLeste (2008) and Life, death and magic: Two
thousand years of ancestral art from Southeast
Asia (2010). When recognising this history
of Indonesia and Timor-Leste support for
Australian exhibition programs, the question
also needs to be asked: what have Australian
institutions offered as a reciprocal gesture for
such professional generosity?
The Museum and Art Gallery of the
Northern Territory (MAGNT), together with
Artlab Australia, have recently facilitated
three significant exchange projects in
museum collection care and conservation
with Yogyakarta Museum Association
(Yogyakarta), Museum of Batik (Pekalongan)
and Timor-Leste Directorate of Culture (Dili).
The projects provide a positive example
of ways in which Australia, Indonesia and
Timor-Leste can more effectively share
knowledge, especially in the area of preventive
conservation skills. The outcome has been
a stronger working relationship between
the participating institutions. Possibly most
importantly, the projects have nurtured a
deeper mutual appreciation of identities
and histories through direct exposure to the

material objects that represent each others

cultural heritage.
In January 2009 MAGNT and the Yogyakarta
Museum Association, with funding from
Australia International Cultural Council,
jointly facilitated the Disaster Preparedness
and Collections Management Workshop in
Yogyakarta, Central Java. This renowned city
is regarded as the cultural heart of Java.
It is home to approximately 40 museums,
documenting Hindu-Buddhist archaeological
sites, Muslim court culture, traditional
craft practices, visual and performance arts
collections, as well as supporting an active
museums association known as Badan
Musyawarah Musea (BARAHMUS). There
is frequent tectonic instability in the region.
The catastrophic Bantul earthquake in 2006
resulted in more than 5000 fatalities and
caused irreparable damage to many historical
monuments and collections.
The two-week workshop was developed and
led by Joanna Barrkman, Curator of Southeast
Asian Art at MAGNT, with conservators
Kristin Phillips of Artlab SA and Sandra Yee of
MAGNT, and conducted at the Sonobudoyo
State Museum (Museum Negeri Sonobudoyo)
whose important collection was founded
in 1935. It was attended by 30 participants
from Yogyakartas local museums as well
as staff from Gadjah Mada University and
Jakartas National Museum of Indonesia.

Kristin Phillips delivered the first week of

the training on disaster preparedness. Risk
assessment strategies were developed for
reducing the impact of disasters ranging from
sudden earthquake, flood, fire and accidents
to more subtle processes of deterioration that
can be equally as disastrous in the long-term
on museum displays and collection storage.
During the workshop, the participants
enthusiastically formed disaster response
teams with specific roles and functions, and
staged practical recovery exercises for a small
mock disaster.
The second week of the workshop focused
on the preventive care of ceramics and was
facilitated by Sandra Yee. Sonobudoyo State
Museum has an extensive collection of Javanese
art and material culture, including a noteworthy
collection of 13th-16th century Majapahit era
terracotta figurines from Trowulan, East Java.
The vulnerability of the museums terracotta
collection was demonstrated by the damage
to a number of its pieces during the 2006
Bantul earthquake. The workshop provided an
excellent opportunity to review the museums
method of housing ceramics in display cabinets
fitted with long, narrow glass shelves which
were in imminent danger of toppling with even
the slightest tremor. Given limited time and
resources, risk mitigation became an important
focus, with prioritisation given to rehousing a
small number of the most historically significant
items. Polyethylene foam sheets were used

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

Fatchiyah A Kadir from Tobal Batik prepares a fabric sample

for conservation treatment at the Textile Conservation
Sonobudoyo Museum staff improve the storage conditions of the museums ceramic collection as part

Workshop held at the Museum of Batik, Pekalongan,

of the Disaster Preparedness Workshop at the Sonobudoyo Museum, 2009. Photo Joanna Barrkman

Central Java in 2008. Photo Kristin Phillips

to individually wrap the Majapahit terracotta

figurines and the collections large ceramic
storage jars (guci) to prevent direct contact
with adjacent ceramics. Stacked stoneware
and porcelain plates were interleaved with
polyethylene sheet foam and then restacked, as
lack of space did not permit individual storage.
The more fragile or rare examples of the trade
ware ceramics were boxed with foam padding.
Among the most enthusiastic participants
of the workshop was Yuli Astuti, Collection
Manager of the collection of Sultan
Hamengkubuwono X which is housed in
Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat. Sandra
Yee and the workshop participants visited
the kraton palace to view the royal collection
which consisted of Chinese and European
ceramics, as well as glassware, acquired
since its establishment in 1755. Large
numbers of the ceramics were displayed in
glass cabinets, or hung on public display
with a single uncoated metal wire against
masonry wall directly accessible to the
public. The hanging devices were assessed
for their earthquake resistance strength, and
safer measures introduced. One important
practical contribution of the workshop to local
conservation practice was the introduction of
a reversible microcrystalline wax, which can
be applied to the base of ceramic and glass
objects as an adhesive to ensure stability.
Nevertheless, the Yogyakarta workshop also
exemplified the challenges facing regional
cross-cultural exchanges. The most immediate
issue was communication, with the workshop
delivered in English language and then
translated by professional interpreters into
Bahasa Indonesia. The translation process
proved time-consuming, with finer details
occasionally lost in translation. Another

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

challenge was the lack of information

about conservation techniques available
in Indonesian language. Resource texts
taken for granted in Australian museums
are inaccessible to non-English speaking
collection custodians. Fortunately, efforts
were made to ensure that the workshop
program was translated into Bahasa Indonesia
prior to the workshop and this became a
pivotal tool during each session. Another
challenge was that although a number of
standard conservation materials were locally
sourced, other materials such as acid-free
tissue are simply not available in Indonesia
and import costs are prohibitively expensive.
The success of the workshop built on
relationships that Artlab Australia conservator,
Kristin Phillips, had previously developed
in 2007 while undertaking an Asialink Arts
Management Residency at the Sonobudoyo
Museum, where she worked extensively on
the museums textile collection and its storage
facilities. Kristin also visited museums in
Jakarta, Cirebon and Pekalongan looking at
north coast Javanese batik, enabling her to
research more information about traditional
wax-resist dye techniques. The collegiate
relationships Kristin formed during the 2007
residency provided the stepping-stone for
facilitating a training program at the Museum
of Batik in Pekalongan, East Java, in July 2008.
Pekalongans recently-established Museum
of Batik is under the directorship of Zahir
Widadi, whose dynamic can-do attitude
demonstrates the impressive initiative often
shown by Indonesian museum staff working
in situations of great professional isolation.
Zahir Widadi and Kristin, through the
support of the Australia-Indonesia Institute,
developed a textile conservation workshop

program at the Museum of Batik, which was

attended by 25 museum workers from 15
cultural organisations throughout Java.
Like the Yogyakarta workshop, this project
demonstrated how professional development
programs can simultaneously provide general
conservation training opportunities as well as
address a specific local need. In Pekalongan,
this was the need for the Museum of Batik to
develop a strategic plan to upgrade collection
storage facilities and preventive conservation
practices. The eventual implementation of the
storage facilities will position the Museum
of Batik as an innovative leader amongst
Indonesias regional museums.
Unlike in Yogyakarta, a professional
interpreter was not available so that
workshop participants also assisted as
interpreters. A benefit of this more informal
approach was the sense of ownership of
knowledge which participants gained in the
process. And, it may be added, the absence
of a translator provided entertainment at
Kristins attempts to speak Bahasa Indonesia!
The Museum of Batik workshop also nurtured
a network of museum colleagues with whom
Kristin continues to exchange conservation
information and know-how on an informal
basis. The workshops emphasis on preventive
conservation measures particularly underlined
the importance of identifying local substitutes
as a cheap alternative to costly imported
conservation materials.
The issue of the high cost and relative
inaccessibility of overseas conservation
products was further highlighted when
Sandra Yee travelled to Timor-Leste in 2008,
accompanied by colleagues Joanna Barrkman
and Pep van Papenrecht (Workshop Technician,

Sandra Yee and Policarpo Magelhaes from the National Directorate of Culture pack an ancestral figurine
from the National Collection of Timor-Leste for freight to Darwin for display in the exhibition Husi Bei Ala Timor Sira
Nia Liman - From the Hands of Our Ancestors held at the MAGNT in 2008. Photo Joanna Barrkman

funding applications, liaison with overseas

professional peers, preparing course content,
arranging translations, planning overseas
travel and acquitting grants are timeconsuming and often compete with the dayto-day work of Australian museum staff.
The need for a dedicated approach to
conservation training in cooperation with
Australias closest neighbours is evident in
the astonishingly rare and beautiful works
of art lent to recent Australian exhibitions
from Southeast Asias cultural collections.
It is a sobering thought that both the oldest
and youngest national museum collections in
Australasia are in Indonesia and Timor-Leste.
Jakartas National Museum collection was
founded in 1778 and the National Collection
of Timor-Leste dates from the establishment
of the East Timor Provincial Museum in 1995
during Indonesias occupation of the country.

MAGNT), to coordinate the packing of 39 loan

objects from the National Collection of TimorLeste (NCTL) for freighting to Darwin. The
wooden figurines and ceremonial house doors,
stone effigies and large earthenware pots
had been selected for display in MAGNTs
exhibition Husi Bei Ala Timor Sira Nia Liman
- From the Hands of Our Ancestors, curated by
Joanna Barrkman (Barrkman, 2008).
The logistical challenges for ensuring the
safe freight of the exhibitions loan items
from Dili to Darwin were immense, with
many unanswered questions regarding the
availability of local resources and equipment
in Timor-Leste at the commencement of the
project. Product samples of packing materials
were sent in advance to National Directorate
of Culture (DNC) staff to assist with the
sourcing of local substitutes and items such
as acid free tissue, cotton tape, bubble wrap
and foam, not obtainable Timor-Leste, were
immediately shipped from Darwin. An
appropriate work space to pack the works of
art had to be located in Dili as the National
Collection is yet to be housed in a designated
museum building. A reliable power source
was required and a logistical solution found
for moving crates, containing fragile artworks,
to the Dili dock for despatch by barge to
Darwin. An example of the challenges faced
in the rudimentary conditions was the
introduction of clean gloves for handling
objects. Many of the rare items, such as
the ancestral sculptures from Lautem and
Bobonaro, were friable, with old patinated
surfaces, and it was difficult to keep bare
hands clean when there was little running
water available at the Dili packing site.

To protect the objects as much as possible in

transit, all wooden items, such as sculptures
and material culture artefacts, were wrapped
in acid-free tissue before being further
wrapped in calico and placed in specially
constructed individual boxes. The potential
dangers of inclement weather during the
Dili-Darwin voyage required that objects be
packed with additional buffering in shipping
containers, to protect against humidity, heat,
wave motion and potential water seepage.
An environmental data logger travelled to
Darwin in the container with the objects,
tracking conditions inside the container. An
added challenge for the Australian team
working in Dili was the constraints of a curfew,
and mandatory escorted travel between the
hotel accommodation and workplace, that
was a result of the political crisis in Dili in
February 2008.
The successful outcome of this project was that
DNC staff received useful and relevant handson training in object handling, cleaning and
packing, and that the National Collection of East
Timor was displayed for the first time outside
the newly established nation and in Australia.
The challenge in developing regional
exchange programs is maintaining on-going
programs that further build on established
professional relationships. Organisations such
as the Australia-Indonesia Institute, Australia
International Cultural Council, Asialink
and AusAID have generously supported
initiatives in the field of professional
development, yet it continues to be difficult to
access funds for more long-term conservation
programs. The requirements of writing grant

The continuing requests by regional museum

colleagues for support in their quest to
care for historically significant collections
are difficult to ignore. The diverse fields
in which they seek training include basic
condition reporting, correct handling, storage,
movement of objects, as well as general
housekeeping and occupational health and
safety. Whilst the challenges of language
differences, scarcity of professional materials,
lack of funds and sometimes - as in Dili - even
lack of running water can be confronting to
Australian museum staff, it is apparent that
Australia can contribute significant support
to our immediate Southeast Asian neighbours
to care for their cultural heritage collections.
Yet the question remains: will Australian
cultural organisations be able to continue to
maintain this useful role into the future?
Kristin Phillips is a Principal Conservator Textiles,
Artlab Australia, South Australia.
Sandra Yee is a Conservator at the Museum and Art
Gallery of the Northern Territory.

REFERENCES
Barrkman, J. (ed) 2008: Husi Bei Ala Timor Sira Nia Liman From
the Hands of Our Ancestors. Museum and Art Gallery Northern
Territory, Darwin, in partnership with the National Directorate of
Culture, Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.
Heritage Collections Council, 1998: reCollections: Caring for
Collections Across Australia. Commonwealth Department of
Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Canberra.
Soemantri, H 1997: Majapahit Terracotta Art. Ceramic Society of
Indonesia, Jakarta.
Simith, V. 2008: National Museum of Timor-Leste: Its Past, Present
and Future in Husi Bei Ala Timor Sira Nia Liman From the Hands
of Our Ancestors, Barrkman, J. (ed), Museum and Art Gallery
Northern Territory, Darwin.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

C OLL E C TOR A N D C OLL E C T E D : E X P LORI N G T H E I N T E R C U LT U RAL

N AT U R E O F A M U S E U M C OLL E C TIO N
Siobhan Campbell

Anthony Forge (background, left) attends a ceremony at the Pura Bale Batur in Kamasan, Bali, August 1973.
Forge Archive, where? photographer unknown.

s museums around the world acknowledge the need for greater interaction
with the producers of their cultural heritage
collections, research on the Forge Collection
of Balinese Art at the Australian Museum in
Sydney is generating new perspectives on the
artistic and scholarly processes behind the
formation of this museum collection.
The Australian anthropologist and collector
Anthony Forge (1929-1991) spent one year in
Kamasan village, Bali, between 1972 and 1973
and conducted a detailed study of traditional
paintings on cloth. During this fieldwork
and on a couple of later visits Forge acquired
the 160 paintings that now constitute the
Forge Collection at the Australian Museum,
Sydney. As his intention was to assemble a
collection that visually documented stylistic
and iconographic change over time, he
purchased a considerable variety of works
ranging from old paintings sourced from
community temples to new works purchased
or commissioned directly from artists.
Assembling a museum collection in the
field was not something Forge had planned
beforehand, but he was encouraged by the
availability of old and new works. Forge
had collected for museum institutions in
the United States and Europe during two
previous periods of fieldwork in the Sepik
region of Papua New Guinea, and therefore
had established contacts with potential
collectors and institutions. When he began
his first period of fieldwork in Bali, Forge
was a senior lecturer in Anthropology at
the London School of Economics, but
during his stay in Bali he was appointed
as Founding Chair of Anthropology at the
Australian National University in Canberra.
His Balinese painting collection was offered
to the Australian Museum, which purchased
the initial collection in 1976 and then funded
further acquisitions in 1979.

Kamasan village is home to a community

of artists actively producing art for social
and religious purposes as part of a painting
tradition that can be traced back to at least
the time of the great East Javanese Majapahit
kingdom (1293 -1500). The village is located
two kilometres to the south of Semarapura,
the capital of Klungkung District in East
Bali. This was the seat of the Dewa Agung
of Klungkung, the highest ruler in Bali until
1908, when the kingdom was destroyed by
the Dutch. Kamasan painters, known by the
Balinese word for artist/craftsman sangging,
served the ruler of Klungkung. Their work
included the painted ceiling narratives on
the Kerta Gosa, or Court of Justice, located
within the grounds of the former royal palace.
This palace, standing on the southern corner
of the main intersection of Semarapura, is
Klungkungs most visited tourist attraction.
Most of the artists reside in Banjar Sangging,
the Kamasan ward named after the Sangging
descent group, although other wards within
Kamasan including Pande Mas and Siku
also house practicing artists, alongside gold,
silver and metal smiths who largely produce

containers and vessels for temple offerings.

Although the paintings collected by Forge
originate from several centres across Bali, the
village of Kamasan remains the main centre of
this classical painting tradition and artists today
continue to work in the classical style. This style
is closely related to the wayang shadow puppet
theatre. The paintings are characterised by their
narrative content, depicting scenes from the
Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata as well
as indigenous narratives including the story of
black magic witch Rangda, the courtly tales of
Prince Malat Rasmi, the family of Pan and Men
Brayut with their 18 children, and the Tantri
animal fables. They were produced in a variety
of formats on bark or cotton cloth and hung
within royal palaces, individual courtyard
and community temples, often stored away
and brought out for use during particular
festivals. Forge worked with several Kamasan
artists to produce written and photographic
documentation of the painting process, sought
their views on the provenance and quality of
older works and relied on them as sources to
explain the narratives depicted in the paintings.

Ider-ider of Pan and Men Brayut, presumed to be by Kumpi Mesira, Bali (Kamasan, Klungkung District), c1900.
Natural pigment and ink on cotton cloth, 29 x 380 cm. The Forge Collection, Australian Museum, Sydney. Photo Emma Furno

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

Ider-ider of Rangda-Barong and Bharatayuddha, artist unknown, Bali (Djasi, Karangasem District), c1920s (two parts,
see below and right). Paint, charcoal and ink on cotton cloth, 29 x 364 cm. The Forge Collection, Australian Museum, Sydney. Photo Emma Furno

One painting collected by Forge from a temple

in the coastal village of Djasi in Karangasem,
East Bali, suggests that the Balinese users of
paintings were familiar with different painting
styles and even employed them side by side.
Ider-ider is the name given to a long and narrow
cloth that hangs from the eaves of a pavilion in
temples or palaces and can stretch right around
the outside of the building. Ider-ider usually
relate several scenes of a narrative which can
be viewed in sequence by walking around the
building. This particular painting consists of
two pieces of cloth which were sewn together
before painting, but the two halves are very
different. The scenes on the left side of the cloth
show a Rangda and Barong dance and orchestra
with the musicians wearing European style
dress. The demon witch Rangda appears with
an assistant, both with long fiery tongues, while
armed men attack them. The scenes on the
right side are from the Mahabharata epic, and
depict a meeting which takes place between
representatives of the Korawa and Pandawa
sides at the beginning of the Bharatayuddha,
their final battle. The cloth shows the leaders
of the Korawas receiving Krishna and the
Pandawa retinue. Forge did not discount the
possibility that the same artist produced both
parts of this painting and although the artist
was not known, it is believed to date from
the 1920s and to be the work of a painter
outside Kamasan.
Another pair of paintings in the collection was
made to be used as flags and hung at the
entrance to temples and private compounds.
They are known as kober, and are painted on
both sides with a seam running down one side
so that a long piece of bamboo can be inserted as
the flag pole. They generally depict two opposed
characters or a male and female pair. This pair
shows two characters from the Ramayana epic:
an unidentified demon general who is a member
of the demon king Rahwanas retinue, and
Hanoman, the white monkey general who leads
the army which defends Rama.

The paintings and the associated documentation

record the innovations in classical painting
over a 200 year period. This makes the Forge
Collection unique, for no other collection of
Balinese classical paintings, within or outside
Bali, has such a large amount of contextual
information to accompany the works.
Forge was not, however, the first foreign scholar to
study classical Balinese paintings. Officers serving
the Netherlands East Indies colonial administration
collected outstanding examples which are now
held in Dutch collections, but little is known about
these works or their artists. Linguist Van der Tuuk
worked with several Balinese artists during the
late 19th century in the process of compiling a
dictionary of Old Javanese, Balinese and Dutch;
he assembled a collection of more than 400 works
on paper (Hinzler: 1986). Dutch artist and collector
W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp (1874-1950) reportedly
studied painting with artists in Kamasan village in
1906 (Carpenter: 1997).
The prevailing view of Balinese art history
among many foreign and Balinese academics
is drawn from descriptions of the classical
painting tradition penned by foreigners
associated with the development of the
modern painting styles of the 1930s, who
had little understanding or appreciation of
Balinese classical art. Observers such as Miguel
Covarrubias (1937) saw traditional painting
as repetitive, unoriginal and justifiably
superseded by the new painting styles. It is not
uncommon for such accounts to lament the fact
that traditional art is on the brink of extinction
due to declining religious significance. The
Forge Collection challenges the conventional
history of Balinese painting, showing not only
that innovations cannot be solely attributed
to arrival of Western artists in the 1930s but
also that the production of art for secular and
religious purpose is not mutually exclusive.
The religious context associated with the
production and use of these paintings has led

many to assume that production for outsiders

diminishes the significance of this tradition. In
the early 1970s Forge was able to document that,
while artists may be producing paintings for
sale or fulfilling commissions from outsiders like
hotel groups, government offices and tourists,
they continued to produce as part of an artistic
tradition. Today, this sense of historical continuity
remains an important part of their practice.
The documentation of Kamasan painting made
by Forge was published as the catalogue to
accompany the first and only exhibition of the
Forge Collection held at the Australian Museum
in 1978. Within the Museum the collection has
been studied in storage by scholars such as Peter
Worsley (1984: 64-109), who undertook detailed
research on paintings including the Ramayana
scene pictured. This is possibly the oldest work
in the collection and is believed to date from
the early 19th century. The painting has been
produced on bark-cloth and shows Ramas army
of monkeys and other animal creatures building
a bridge of rocks between the mainland and
Langka. The white monkey, Hanoman, appears
in the centre top flying across the strait.
Forges fieldwork in Kamasan has been further
developed by Adrian Vickers (2005) who worked
with artists over many years to document
Balinese views of the paintings. Forges work has
not only been of interest to foreign academics,
the catalogue is highly sought after as a reference
by artists in Kamasan and has circulated in the
community since Forge brought copies back
to Bali in 1979. Most artist studios still display
a well worn and photocopied version of the
original catalogue for perusal by visitors.
It is now almost 40 years since Forge
conducted his fieldwork study and assembled
this collection. In the intervening years Bali
has experienced significant social, political
and economic change which has shaped the
transformations in artistic practice in Kamasan
village. The Forge Collection has become a

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

valuable repository documenting the crosscultural engagement that occurred between

collector and community. The relatively
recent (in historical terms) engagement
between Forge and the community of artists
in Kamasan now makes it possible to gather
more contextual information about the
dynamics of his collecting process and the
paintings themselves.
The community of Kamasan village were not
passive participants but variously influenced
the formation of the collection and Forges
understandings of Balinese art. Forge directly
worked with several of the artists whose work
is represented in the collection, as well as
many itinerant traders, antique and art dealers,
religious leaders and community members.
His primary informant among the artists was
Mangku Mura (1925-1999) who came from Banjar
Siku in Kamasan. This was not traditionally a
community of artists but Mura had studied with
artists from Banjar Sangging. Forge took many
photos of Mangku Mura working on paintings,
including one of Mura painting the scene known
as the Churning of the Milky Ocean from the
Adiparwa, the first book of the Mahabharata epic.
Anthony Forges name continues to be widely
remembered in Kamasan Village. Most adults
over 40 remember Forge, his family and their
house in Banjar Griya - though often their
most immediate recollection is the story of
Forge landing a helicopter on the local soccer
field. Forge was not in the helicopter at the
time but had organised the flight for a film
crew he escorted to Kamasan in January 1977
to film an episode of the BBC television series
Face Values. The helicopter landing, along
with Forges penchant for smoking massive
cigars, is now legendary.
Photographs taken by Forge of the village
and various local identities were shown to
various community members in 2010, and
elicited interest. Nyoman Normi, wife of artist

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

Nyoman Mandra, was amused to recognise

her father, Ketut Kantor, amongst a group
of villagers Forge had photo-snapped seated
in a temple compound. Another elderly
lady identified a photo of her now deceased
husband, Made Mandra, whom Forge had
photographed working as a silversmith.
In Kamasan today a few old paintings can be
found for sale, but several households continue
to produce new paintings. Small shopfronts
serving as art display galleries now line the
main road of Banjar Sangging, with shop-signs
identifying the name of the artist hanging outside
each one. Although each artist has paintings
available to purchase on the spot, most of the
orders come through commissions. The studio
of Nyoman Mandra reports they have at least
one visit each day, but the major purchasers of
these works are domestic visitors from Jakarta
and Surabaya rather than international tourists,
as was the case in previous decades. The five
family-run antique shops in the Klungkung
capital Semarapura, operating since the 1930s,
also report that the main clients for their wares
are now Balinese families seeking heirloom
items for their homes. Foreign visitors who were
the mainstay of their businesses in the 1970s
and 1980s now baulk at the seemingly high
prices asked for the purportedly old ceramics,
wooden carvings and cloths.

village. The Museums collection includes

paintings purchased in Europe from the estate
of W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp. Most of the collections
in Bali however display little information about
the provenance of works, which are largely
attributed to anonymous artists.
All these developments have shaped how the
community engages with overseas heritage
collections and what kinds of value they ascribe
to them. In the case of the Forge Collection, the
collected works are not a repository of cultural
traditions in decline, but relate to a community
which continues to produce traditional art
and maintains a dynamic sense of tradition.
Documenting Balinese understandings of the
Forge Collection and collecting process should
enable us to better appreciate the intercultural
engagement which took the paintings on their
journey from village temple to the Australian
Museum.
Siobhan Campbell is a PhD research student at
the University of Sydney. She has been conducting
research in Banjar Sangging and is currently
exploring the observations and documentation
produced by Forge from a contemporary viewpoint.

REFERENCES
Carpenter, Bruce W. 1997: W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp: First European
Artist in Bali. Periplus Editions, Singapore.
Covarrubias, Miguel 1937: Island of Bali. Knopf, New York.

Since the late 1970s Balinese have also replaced

foreigners as the major dealers and collectors
of classical paintings. All the large private
and public museum collections in Bali house
impressive collections of classical paintings
which are on public display: they include the
Rudana Museum, Agung Rai Fine Art Gallery,
Neka Museum, Puri Lukisan Museum in
Ubud and the Museum Negara Propinsi Bali in
Denpasar. One of the largest and most impressive
collections of classical paintings is now held
in the Gunarsa Museum, established by the
Klungkung born contemporary artist Nyoman
Gunarsa only minutes drive from Kamasan

Forge, Anthony 1978: Balinese Traditional Paintings: A selection

from the Forge Collection of the Australian Museum, Sydney.
Australian Museum, Sydney.
Forge, Anthony 1978: A Village in Bali in Anne Sutherland (ed)
Face Values:Some Anthropological Themes. British Broadcasting
Corporation, London.
Galestin, T. P. 1956: A Malat Story in Lamak and Malat in Bali
and a Sumba Loom. Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam.
Hinzler, H. I. R. 1986: Catalogue of Balinese manuscripts in the
Library of the University of Leiden and other collections in the
Netherlands. Leiden University Press, Leiden.
Vickers, Adrian 2005: Journeys of Desire: a study of the Balinese
text Malat. KITLV Press, Leiden.
Worsley, Peter 1984: E 74168 in Review of Indonesian and
Malaysian Affairs, 18: pp 64-109.

T H E R E V I V AL O F E M B ROID E R E D S TOR Y C LOT H S I N N E G ARA , B ALI

I Made Rai Artha

Ulon, ceremonial hanging with stories of the gods and godesses, by Ibu Ratih,
Bali (Sangkar Agung village, Negara, Jembrana), 2008. Hand embroidered with commercial cotton
with synthetic dyes on polyester, 108 x 110cm. Photo courtesy John MacDonald

n Bali, the identity and technique of

embroidered cloth, known as kain
sulaman*, is especially interwoven with the
cultural traditions of Negara in the west of
the island, the only place in Bali where kain
sulaman is practiced. Embroidery on cloth
was most likely introduced when Chinese
immigrant communities arrived on the island
in the 19th century. It was very quickly
adopted to become a unique medium of
aesthetic expression of the local Balinese
Hindu religion, and colourful embroidered
hangings were once an essential part of temple
decoration during festivals or auspicious lifecycle ceremonies.
The first Negara story cloths, known as
sulaman Negara, may have been made as
recently as the first half of the 20th century;
further research is required, however, to
determine exactly when the earliest story
cloths were produced (Fisher and Cooper
1998:63). They appeared around the time
when there were dramatic changes in Balinese
society following the Dutch invasion of 1906,
which led to the demise of court patronage
for the arts. Negara embroidered textiles
display many similarities, in their figurative
imagery, narrative content and use for temple
decoration, to cloth paintings produced
further east at Kamasan under the patronage
of the court at Semarapura (Klungkung),
destroyed by the Dutch in 1908; the Negara
textiles were possibly were initially inspired
by Kamasan painted hangings (see Campbell
article pp. 7-9 this issue).
The process of making kain sulaman begins
with the selection of a suitable base material.
The most common cloth utilised today is plain
white or sometimes light coloured polyester,
although hand woven cotton is occasionally
used. Next, craftsmen dedicated to the design
of kain sulaman, known as tukang orten, draw
the desired pattern in pencil on the base cloth.
Tukang orten are considered to be extraordinary
people, drawn from the ranks of urusan agama (I),
the religious disciplines which include shadow
puppet performance masters called dalang (I),
or undagi (traditional architects). Their training
ensures extensive mastery of the repertoire and
iconography of shadow puppet theatre, known
as pawayangan (I), which forms the inspiration
for the story cloth designs. In addition to their
artistic ability, tukang orten must participate
in a cleansing ceremony known as mewinten.
The performance of this ritual ensures that the

Once the drawing is completed, the

embroiderer selects coloured rayon threads
and begins the hand-stitching process. If the
base cloth is thin polyester, the stitcher uses
an embroidery frame called a penyangkan
(I). The outlines of the drawing are traced
using running stitch, and flat stitch is used
to fill in blocks of colour. An important
enhancement to the attractiveness of the
cloths is the addition of small sequin-like
mirrors or fringing that is sewn on leluur
cloths. A single embroiderer makes each story
cloth and he or she may take between one to
four months to complete the work of art.

Mahabharata and Ramayana epic narratives that

are such an important element in Balinese art.
These plots explore issues of ethics, morality
and the nature of virtue, acted out in the
endless struggle between the forces of the
right and left, meaning good and evil. They
provide critical models for the development
of humane character values and prepare each
person for lifes journey. An important aspect
of shadow puppet iconography is the extent
that facial colours (wanda (I)) and features such as frightening, beautiful, fascinating or
humorous appearances - articulate the diverse
inner nature of the characters. This iconography
is transferred to the embroidered medium.
Characters are usually depicted with only
the minimal suggestion of a landscape setting
and their identity can easily be recognised at a
glance by those Balinese who are familiar with
the shadow puppet theatre. Thus, sulaman
Negara often prompts a desire among viewers
to further learn about pawayangan stories.

The figurative imagery on story cloths

is usually derived from the repertoire of
pawayangan, whose plots are based on the

The format of the embroidered story cloths

carries specific meanings, with the precise
significance of each piece determined by its

initial sketch and subsequent embroidery of the

design is imbued with the energy known as
taksu. According to Balinese belief, taksu is the
manifestation of the spiritual power evoked by
the artist during religious ceremonies, and the
quality of a finished embroidered cloth depends
on its presence.

* All words in italics are in the Balinese language, except those marked (I) indicating Indonesian.
10

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

Ider-ider, ceremonial hanging depicting the love story between Sampik and Intai, by Ibu Ratih,
Bali (Sangkar Agung village, Negara, Jembrana), 2008. Hand embroidered with commercial cotton
and synthetic dyes on polyester, 27 x 471 cm. Photo courtesy John MacDonald

shape and use. Textiles customarily play an

essential role in Balinese ceremonial practices
as they symbolically represent specific spiritual
concepts or the aspirations of participants in
the ceremony. One such example is a simple
plaid cloth called sekordi, a contraction of suka
en werdi that literally translates as happinessold. Sekordi are used in life-cycle ceremonies
and express the wish for a long, joyful life.
Negara embroidered cloth is made in various
sizes and shapes, such as ulon , ider-ider , leluur
and lamak. The term ulon means a squareshaped wall hanging, marking the head of
a sacred structure or site. Ider-ider are long
rectangular cloths commonly hung along the
eaves of buildings. Leluur are square-shaped
canopies usually strung from the ceiling of
a ritual space. The long, narrow lamak cloth
is hung in front of the stairs leading to the
pelinggih, an altar space and the abode of the
sacred energies of the gods and goddesses that
dwell within the temple.
The choice of figurative subjects - heroic,
demonic or supernatural - and the gestures
depicted on each embroidered cloth are
determined by its shape. For example, an ulon
usually has both naga serpents and figurative
motifs from pawayangan. Ider-ider and lamak
have bun-bunan, linked flower motifs or
complete episodes from the pawayangan. Leluur
usually have only flower motifs decorated
with glass and fringing. The narrative cloths
are collaborative works of art as the stories are
determined by the tukang orten while materials
and the colours of the threads are selected by
the embroiderer. Nevertheless, both share the
same ideal of creating a beautiful object for
the gods and both agree that the use of story
cloths strengthens belief in the sacred presence
existing within a ritual space. This enables
the enactment of ceremonies to become a
devotional practice through which awrwah
leluhur (I) (ancestors) can transmit strength and
blessings to the devotee.
The use of embroidered story cloths to decorate
temples and sacred spaces, such as pelinggih,
was popular until the 1980s. The Negara
embroidered textile makers prospered and
the textiles were readily available in markets
around the island. Around 1990, however,
the novel appearance of cheaper kain prada
(I), mass-produced silk-screen printed gold
ink on cloth, and beludru (I), a velveteen
fabric, swamped the market. The growth in
popularity of these substitute fabrics meant
that the makers of sulaman Negara received
fewer and fewer commissions, removing the
incentive to perform labour-intensive hand
embroidery and resulting in a decline in
production and loss of embroidery skills.
Within a decade, sulaman Negara has become

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

an almost forgotten art form. Although prada

and beludru are visually striking, they lack
the cultural context and close connection to
Balinese spiritual values that is the essence of
sulaman Negara.
The art of embroidering sulaman Negara has
recently been reinvigorated in Bali by Threads
of Life, an organisation in Ubud that supports
the sustainable revitalisation of local textile
traditions around Indonesia. The publication of
a definitive historical study of sulaman Negara
in Story Cloths of Bali (Fischer, 2004) encouraged
Threads of Life to explore the possibility of
instigating a revival in the art. In 2007 Threads
of Life undertook fieldwork in Negara, and the
name of Ibu Ratih of Sangkar Agung village
was repeatedly mentioned in response to local
enquiries regarding makers of story cloths.
Ibu Ratih graduated from Akademi Seni Tari
Indonesia (ASTI) as a young woman, then
returned to Sangkar Agung village where
she began to teach dance, songket weaving
and embroidery. She had co-ordinated a
weaving and embroidery co-operative which
had ceased activity because of the decline in
buyer demand. Threads of Life commissioned
a story cloth on specially selected hand-woven
cotton, but it was only completed two years
later due to the difficulty in securing the skills
of a tukang orten. The only remaining tukang
orten in the district was Bapak Putra of Sangkar
Agung and there was heavy demand on him
to create other types of ceremonial objects for
the entire Negara region.

Since 2009, Threads of Life has commissioned

ulon, ider-ider, leluur and lamak cloths and the
quality of production continues to improve.
Consideration is being given to the use of
embroidery thread coloured with natural dyes
for further commissions. A dedicated group of
embroiderers has re-formed; yet the question
remains whether community demand and a
market for Negara embroidery will re-emerge.
It may be the interest of international collectors
that ultimately provides enough economic
incentive for the embroiderers to fully revive
sulaman Negara and ensure the continuation
of this important aspect of Balinese cultural
practice. As we wait to see whether this
distinctive textile art will regain its rightful
place in temple ceremonies that continue to be
performed in the modern era, the women of
Negara have begun again to tell their stories
with dedication and pride.
I Made Rai Artha (Lolet) manages the cultural
information and materials for Threads of Life based
in Ubud, Bali, which works with weavers from
remote areas of Indonesia to sustain the cultural
and technical integrity of traditional textile arts.

REFERENCES
Fischer J. and Cooper T. 1998: The Folk Art of Bali: The Narrative
Tradition. Oxford University Press, New York.
Fischer J. 2004: Story Cloths of Bali. Ten Speed Press, California.

11

T H E S A C R E D H O U S E O F TI M OR - L E S T E
Eugnio Sarmento

Existing sacred house of Fatala (interior detail),

Soibada, in the old Manufahi district, Timor Leste.
Photo Nuno Vasco Oliveira and Eugnio S.C.J. Sarmento

imor-Leste is rich in traditional architecture

which varies in style according to the
ethno-lingual, geographic and climatic
environment of each region of the country.
The buildings are constructed in various types
of wood and other natural materials using
complex techniques, endowing them with
a unique appearance. This is most clearly
apparent in the particular form of traditional
building that is known as the uma lulik. The
uma lulik is the sacred house owned by each
clan or village group and it is the traditional
focal point of ancestral beliefs and communal
life, even in matters such as village politics
and local security. Embodied within each ume
lulik* are the complex tangible and intangible
values of Timorese culture that are most
immediately expressed in the bonds and
obligations of bilateral relationships existing
between the fetosan (the family of the man/
husband/fianc) and unmane (the family of
the woman/wife/fiance) social groups. Thus
the architecture of the uma lulik is far more
complex than common houses. Its design and
sculptural decoration is intended not only to
appear as aesthetically beautiful but also to
convey deep philosophical meanings related
to Timor-Leste identity.
The design of uma lulik varies in each region
throughout Timor-Leste. In Le Teinu, in
Lautems Lorosae (literally rising sun)
district on the far eastern tip of the island,
the roof and dome of the houses are raised
very high while further west in places such
as Oecusse, Bobonaro and Covalima, the
roof eaves touch the ground. Likewise, the
ornamental decoration carved on the wood
beams, pillars, lintels, doors and windows
of the sacred houses in each region convey
specific local symbolic meanings. In the old
kingdom of Suai Loro, in the district of
Covalima, sculptural motifs decorating the
uma lulik are intended to demonstrate how the
social lineages of each tribe were established
in ancestral times. In Suai Fohorem, the
sculptures that adorn the uma lulik are likened
to a horse with wings. This supernatural
animal symbolises the great power that was
shared by five kingdoms whose existence is
enshrined in the ancient name Cova Lima.
The uma lulik form can also be seen woven in
the mama fatin, small baskets containing bua
(areca nuts) and malus (betel leaves).
The uma lulik of Timor-Leste may also be
considered to be a traditional museum

because its role was to preserve old objects that

were valued for their heritage significance,
elevated to the status of sacred heirlooms with
time. In the early 20th century, the Portuguese
visitor Martinho (1943: 257) observed:
the uma lulik is like the temple of the
Timorese people. There they keep the most
varied objects such as old war and party drums,
machetes of aswain (war heroes), scepters of
liurai (kings), old uniforms, swords and rifles,
spears, jewels, textiles and chinaware, and
even whole buffalo horns of animals that were
killed to honor the souls of the persons to whom
those objects once belonged.
It is significant that many uma lulik not only
contain objects locally made by Timorese but
also foreign artifacts, even European soldiers
clothing, swords and helmets. Martinho
noted that the Timorese individual revered
these objects brought from overseas with
a religious respect as high as the respect
he had for his own ancestors because
they represented the pages of his history
(Martinho 1943).
The uma lulik may be said to be like a temple
because it represents the sacred centre of
all things and is regarded as a place of
prayer. In early times, before battles, the lulik
nian (traditional priest) entered the sacred
house especially to perform rituals in close
proximity to those objects that had been
taken from the hands of the enemy and
embodied the narratives of past wars. These
warrior ceremonies were intended to ensure
subsequent success and victory. The rites
included consulting the intestines of sacrificed
animals and marking their foreheads with
a mixture of betel, lime powder and areca
believed to make the wearer invincible.
It is through the uma lulik that Timorese
today are able to learn more about their own
histories. One such example is the uma lulik
named DaE Menaha or Menahas head. It is
sacred to the suko (clan group) of Abo Quelicai
and related to the important uma lulik of Abo
Matebian on the Matebian mountains. DaE
Menaha was built following a war between
the kingdoms of Laga and Abo Quelicai. The
people from Abo won and killed an enemy
warrior (funubaluk) from Laga whose name
was Menaha. In pre-Christian Timor it was
believed that the souls of warriors killed
in combat go to the after-life paradise of

Lalean, so consequently Menahas head was

buried with great funerary ceremony. Until
today, people still place food on his grave
and make annual offerings, praising the dead
and asking for Gods blessing. The uma lulik
is situated next to his grave and decorated
with many symbols related to this story. The
sacred house also contains warriors battle
artefacts that are a reminder that respect for
heroes of war was an important value in
traditional Timor-Leste culture. The DaE
Menaha uma lulik has recently been restored
and in May 2008 I represented the State
Secretary of Culture at its inauguration. The
ceremony included placing sacred foods such
as the tongue and chest of a pig, the tongue,
the liver and the heart of a buffalo, as well
as areca nuts and betel leaves, on top of the
grave of Menaha.
The Government of Timor-Leste, through the
State Secretariat of Culture and the National
Directorate of Culture, and in collaboration
with the Embassy of the United States of
America in Dili, has developed a heritage
program for funding the reconstruction
of historically important uma lulik. The
programs restoration priorities are those
buildings that deteriorated while Timor-Leste
was under Indonesian occupation or suffered
damage during Black October in 1999. To

*All terms in italics are in the Tetun language unless otherwise stated.
12

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

Construction detail of the Ri Tur sacred

Ri Tur, an uma lulik (sacred house) in the Fatala group, Soibada, Manufahi district, Timor Leste.

house in Soibada. Photo Nuno Vasco Oliveira

Photo Nuno Vasco Oliveira and Eugnio S.C.J. Sarmento

and Eugnio S.C.J. Sarmento

However, the internal design and decoration

of Uma Fatala differs from other Soibada
sacred houses because these two elements
have to be suggestive of its special status
both within Soibada society and the Samoro
kingdom. In Uma Fatala there are two
main pillars that support the roof and these
symbolise that its independence is trusted but
that the house is administratively dependent
on the kingdom of Samoro.

date, this project has ensured the restoration

of important uma lulik including Manu
Benu in Oecusse, Mane Telu in Bobonaro,
Lokometa Darlau ini Ainaro as well as the
uma lulik Horu Fatu Ara in Lautm.
The uma lulik embodies the ancient Timorese
tradition of reverence for the ancestors and
yet its architectural principles also sometimes
significantly influenced the erection of
Christian houses of worship following the
arrival of Portuguese missionaries. The sacred
house of Uma Fatala in Manufahi is notable
for its beautiful architecture and regarded
among the five most important uma lulik in
the Soibada region. The traditional design
was influential during the construction of the
Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus in Soibada
in 1889. The missionaries decided that the
churchs door would be built facing southwest
as the building site provided enough space
in that direction for a courtyard. The dato
(aristocratic lord who is below the Liurai
(king) and has only regional powers) of Lacu
Mauk disagreed and required that the main
door be built facing the east. According to
Soibada customary practice, the main door
of the uma lulik must face east, even if the
land is not level, in order to catch the light
of the rising sun. Furthermore, traditional
sculptures were placed inside the church, and

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

one of them is known as Bibi Nehan (literally a

goats tooth, but in this case a carved wooden
object in the form of a goats tooth).
Currently, Uma Fatala is undergoing
reconstruction. The task is being completed
according to the guidelines of lian adat
(sacred oral histories). This reconstruction is
traditionally described as Uma Futus Hisin
Uma Taun Hisin, literally meaning a sample
of the houses body, represented by a piece
of traditional woven cloth, as opposed to
the complete houses body, represented by a
tree which symbolises the permanence of the
sacred house. The reconstruction is anticipated
to take around five years to complete. During
this period, 12 ceremonies will be performed,
because each construction phase requires the
ritual sacrifice of an animal and libation of its
blood on the tree designated to be felled for
making the pillars or other components of
the structure.
As with other sacred houses of Soibada,
the roof of Uma Fatala is constructed in
three architectonic layers to symbolise its
hierarchical position as a sacred house. A
traditional house inhabited by a liurai has
only two roof layers while that of a dato has
just one layer. There are no roof layers on
dwellings constructed for common people.

The techniques and sculptural decoration

used in traditional architectural construction,
with their profound philosophical and
cultural meanings, have attracted the
attention of foreigners from the first arrival
of the Portuguese missionaries in the 16th
century. The uma lulik, perhaps more than any
other form of traditional architecture, most
powerfully represents the art of the people
of Timor-Leste. Nevertheless, much more
research is still required to understand the
unique heritage of this style of building. It is
hoped this knowledge will contribute to the
development of Timor-Leste cultural identity
that is imbedded in a spirit of nationalism
as well as a desire for peace and tranquility
among other countries.
Mr Eugnio S.C.J. Sarmento is Director of
Administration, Secretariat of State, Culture, Ministry
of Education, Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.
The author wishes to thank Dlia Mesquita and
Nuno Vasco Oliveira for translating the orignal text
from Portuguese to English.

REFERENCES
Assis, C. & L. Garate (in press): Patrimnio Cultural de Timor-Leste:
As Uma Lulik dos Distrito de Ainaro. Secretaria de Estado da
Cultura de Timor-Leste/Universidade La Corua, La Corua.
Cinatti, R., L. Almeida, S. Mendes 1987: Arquitectura Timorense.
Instituto de Investigacao Cientifica Tropical/Museu de Etnologia,
Lisboa.
Martinho, Cpt. J. S. 1943: Timor Quatro Sculos de Colonizao
Portuguesa. Livraria Progredior, Porto.
Sarmento, E.S.C.J. 2003: A Histria do antigo reino de Samoro e
a nova religio. Organising Committee of the 100th anniversary
of the Church of Soibada, Dili.

13

DILI : A C IT Y I N S E AR C H O F IT S S O U L
Jill Jolliffe

Government Palace, Dili, originally the office of the Portugese colonial administration,
with 1960s monument marking fourth centenary of the death of Henry the Navigator in foreground.
All photos Jill Joliffe 2010 unless otherwise indicated

ast Timors capital Dili has not been

treated kindly by history. Joseph Conrad
in his novel Victory described it as that highly
pestilential place, while Charles Darwins
colleague Alfred Russel Wallace, who visited
in 1861, declared it a most miserable place
compared with even the poorest of the Dutch
towns, by which he meant those of the Dutch
East Indies. Their views were influenced as
much by enmity towards the Portuguese who
governed it as from observing the city itself.
Naturalist Henry Forbes followed in Wallaces
footsteps two decades later and looked at the city
more in its own right. He observed: The town,
although vastly improved since Mr Wallaces
visit, was still disappointing in many respects,
and its Hibiscus-lined streets looked poor and
uninviting. The adventurous Henry and his
wife Anna refused to stay with the Governor
at his palace in Lahane in favour of building a
bamboo hut at Fatunaba in the hills behind Dili,
which they preferred for its panoramic view of
the city, the palace and Ataro island.
By 1975, after Portugals four-decade
dictatorship fell to the leftist Armed Forces
Movement, the capital of Portuguese Timor
was still a tropical backwater, but with a
certain magic in its fusion of architectural
styles: Timorese traditional thatch houses
nestling side-by-side with trim, whitewashed
Portuguese dwellings in a setting of palm
groves and banyan-lined avenues.

denied independence, the result of a secret

1943 deal between the dictator and the Allies.
There were, however, minor reforms in the
1960s such as the building of new schools and
the first scholarships to Portugal and Macau
for a small pool of Timorese students. There
was also housing reform, with the building of
bairros econmicos - low-cost housing clusters
in traditional Portuguese style. The 1960s also
marked the appearance of a new architectural
style in Dili, a sort of Salazarist art-deco
common in Portugal, reflecting the lines of
the Italian Futurist movement which had
flourished under Mussolini.

Among important examples of civic architecture

were: the colonial administration offices, still a
waterfront landmark and reborn today as
the Palcio do Governo of the independent
government of East Timor; the SAPT building
(Society for Agriculture, Fatherland and
Labour, a colonial body established in the
early 20th century) in Colmera; the Lahane
palace; and the former colonys main garrison
building on the Dili waterfront. The last began
as a primitive artillery fortification when the
Portuguese moved the capital from Lifau to
Dili in 1769, and was rebuilt between 1885
and 1889 as an infantry barracks. The dates of
the restoration work are based on research by
Timor scholar Kevin Sherlock.

This austere, angular style was evident in the

original Hotel Turismo, built by Sebastio
Calado around 1969. A landmark hotel
haunted by journalists, spies and diplomats
during the upheavals of the 1975-1999
Indonesian takeover, it was later extended
to an adjoining block by Indonesian owner
Alex Semara. He planted a tropical garden
and built a new wing linked to the original
by an arched colonnade. Stylistically it was
as foreign to the original structure as the
Indonesian generals housed there on visits
from Jakarta. Pope John Paul II was rumoured
to have occupied a room during his 1989
visit, although insiders swear it was only his
dresser who did.

In Lisbon the dictatorship of Antnio de

Oliveira Salazar was in decline after World
War II but Portugal still clung to its colonies.
Portuguese Timor was almost alone among
Southeast Asian territories which were

The Lahane palace was the setting for the

swearing to office of the first independent
government of East Timor on 28 November
1975 under then FRETILIN president
Francisco Xavier do Amaral. The ceremony

14

was held 10 days before Indonesian

paratroopers invaded the territory, paving
the way for their 24-year military occupation
dedicated, among other things, to eliminating
all vestiges of Portuguese and traditional
Timorese culture.
The influence of Catholic, European values on a
distinctive people who were neither Malays nor
Melanesians but standard-bearers of an animist
warrior culture had made the East Timorese a
special people in Southeast Asia before 1975.
After 1975 they became victims of a modern
army set on obliterating exactly these special
qualities, and their country changed forever.
Independence was restored to East Timor, with
UN help, in 2002, but its present and future can
only be understood by recognising the human
and physical destruction of those occupation
years. The official death toll assessed by the
post-war reconciliation commission (CAVR),
was 183,000, but in 2010 bodies are still being
unearthed. Around 10,000 of the surviving
population were victims of torture.
Defeated by international pressure, as much
as by Timorese courage, Indonesia withdrew
in September 1999. Its scorched-earth exit
compounded the damage. As the soldiers
marched under UN watch, heads bowed,
to disembark from Dili harbour, the flames
were licking at Lahane Palace and no-one
moved to douse them. Around 80 per cent
of the countrys infrastructure was destroyed
during the withdrawal.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

Lahane Palace, Dili, in 1927. Image from

Artillery barracks, Dili (left), in 1927. Image from

Viagem ao Extremo Oriente 1927-1928 by Capt.

Viagem ao Extremo Oriente 1927-1928 by Capt.

Alvaro de Freitas Morna,1931. Imprensa da Armada

Alvaro de Freitas Morna,1931. Imprensa da Armada

Dili has in many ways come to resemble a little

Jakarta, with its mushrooming kiosks, shanty
houses, dense car traffic spewing pollution and
a wildcat building boom producing projects
with no link to Timorese tradition.

The Timorese have shown themselves to be

a generous people who are not moved by
hatred, despite their horrific experience under
Indonesia and their dislike of Portuguese
colonial rule. It would have been perfectly
understandable if, after 1999, they had
taken hammers to the ugly triumphalist
statues Indonesian authorities had erected
throughout their country, but they did not.
Other factors are also at work. The generation
which emerged from the 1991 Santa Cruz
massacre was educated entirely in Indonesian
schools, but feel cheated of the spoils of
independence. They were shoved aside by
the post 2002 government, dominated by
Portuguese speakers returning from exile.
Portuguese became the official language, and
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri dismissed their
degrees as those of super-mie graduates,
referring to a brand of Indonesian noodles.
Many have emigrated, to work in factories
in the UK. Searching for a new national
identity, they have been left only with the
psychological fragments of 1999.
They had been taught to loathe the Portuguese
whose language they are now told to speak.
All they knew was the Indonesian army,

which they loathed but mimic in their

frequent resort to violence. Set to become the
countrys next leaders, they are not yet able to
incorporate their colonial past as a legitimate
part of their own history: East Timor is still a
country in post-conflict mode.
Only a few 1975 landmarks have survived
the military occupation and other heritage
buildings are being razed by private
developers or by state authorities who want
public buildings to express pomp and power,
regardless of the historic qualities of the city.
Lahane palace was carefully restored by
Portuguese architects, as was the old artillery
garrison, which today is known as Casa
Europa, the diplomatic mission of the European
Community. The SAPT building survives, an
historic piece of industrial architecture, but its core
has recently been transformed into a supermarket
by Portuguese entrepreneurs who have repainted
it in reds and yellows so garish they can be seen
from the southern mountain approaches to Dili. A
few private houses in the Salazarist art-deco style
can still be seen but many of the bairro econmico
houses are crumbling, while the Hotel Turismo
has been demolished to make way for an opulent
Indonesian-style resort hotel.

Privileged bilateral relations between East

Timor and The Peoples Republic of China
have directed contracts to Chinese building
companies, contributing to the uglification
of the city. Chinese involvement began
with the building of a Foreign Ministry and
Presidential Palace as independence gifts
from Beijing, both monumental buildings
with no organic links with Timorese culture.
The same companies have since moved on
to building properties for foreign investors,
from hotels to gated villa estates.
If Dilis identity is threatened, some symbols
endureand with these, hope that the forces of
political and aesthetic confusion of the 2000s may
give way to more meaningful forms in the next
decade. Two buildings in the city centre testify
to continuity. The Chinese Buddhist temple still
serves the Hakka-speaking Chinese community
which has been in Portuguese Timor for centuries.
(Fig 6 )The temples altar image of the Lord
Buddha came from Macau in 1926 and its
congregation has survived the ebbs and flows of
war. On the next corner is a handsomely-restored
building of Portugals dictatorship period, a busy
health clinic which functioned calmly under
Timorese staff in 1975 after the Portuguese fled,
and looks as though it never closed.
Jill Jolliffe is an Australian freelance writer based in
Darwin. She has a long association with East Timor,
where she currently works on The Living Memory
Project, a video archive of testimony by torture survivors.

SAPT building, Dili, East Timor, built in the early 20th century to house the colonial Society for Agriculture, Fatherland and Labour. Its core today is a supermarket

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

15

T H E I S LA M I C H E RITA G E O F I N DO N E S IA S ART
James Bennett

recent article in the Jakarta Post (9

September 2010) reported on the oldest
dated al-Quran in Indonesia. This manuscript,
written on bark-paper and simply decorated
with flower, leaf and geometrical motifs,
includes a signed colophon dated 1035 hijriah
or 1626 according to the Gregorian calendar.
As with many family heirloom objects still in
private possession in Indonesia, the present
owner, Mr Mohammas Zen Usman, continues
to carefully preserve the manuscript, which
was declared a national heritage object by
the Indonesian government in 2005. Perhaps
the most remarkable aspect of this al-Quran
is its location - Buleleng in northern Bali, an
island famed for its Hindu art and culture.
This surprising provenance from the island
of the gods (pulau dewata) is a reminder of
the complex tapestry of Indonesias cultural
heritage, of which, today, Islam is increasingly
the most prominent expression.

The Jakarta Post article underlined a

widespread aspiration in Indonesia for the
preservation of such important objects as
the Buleleng al-Quran manuscript. Over the
last decade, growing national recognition
of the countrys Islamic heritage has been
highlighted by major archaeological projects,
such as excavations at the ancient Sumatran
port of Barus, that have revealed Middle
Eastern ceramics and glassware dating as
early as the 9th century. The continuing
religious use of historical places of worship,
such as the Great Mosque of Demak (c1479)
and the Kudus Al-Aqsa Mosque (c1550),
ensures these sites are well maintained.
By contrast, locations associated with
heterodox versions of Islam are often
neglected. The mausoleum known as
Sendang Duwur (1563), the resting place
in East Java of an unidentified personage

known simply as Sunan Duwur, documents

the artistic syncretism that occurred during
the Javanese transition from the HinduBuddhist to Islamic era. It is perhaps the
most extensive repository of early wood
carving to survive anywhere in Southeast
Asia. The Dutch art historian, A.J. Bernet
Kempers, in his definitive 1959 publication
Ancient Indonesian Art, illustrated the richly
ornamented gateway doors photographed
in situ. Some time in the last decade or so,
the doors, together with other carved panels,
were removed and stacked in an open shed in
the graveyard adjoining the mosque, where
they have now been almost totally consumed
by termites. The oldest mosque in Lombok,
Mesjid Bayan Beleq, is associated with the
Waktu Telu sect that was disbanded by law
in 1960, so officially the building has been
declared a dead monument (monumen mati).
The mosque is mostly closed to public access,

Dewi Sri and consort (loro blonyo), Indonesia (Yogyakarta, Central Java), c1850. Wood with pigment, iron and gold leaf,
female figure 65.0 x 38.0 x 35.0 cm, male 77.0 x 42.0 x 40.0 cm. Collection Art Gallery of South Australia, gift of Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 2008

16

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

Sendang Duwur, East Java: 16th century gateway with original carved wood doors.
From A.J. Bernet Kempers, Ancient Indonesian art (1959)

even though the 17th century carved interior

decoration features unique subjects such as
a naga serpent and other fabulous creatures.
Since the 19th century, the scholarly study of
Southeast Asias Islamic art has evolved into
two distinct approaches to understanding the
heritage of the religion in the archipelago. The
first, and older, approach presents a layer
cake model for appreciating Indonesias
cultural history. Islamic art is located at the
end of a sequence of foreign influences that
reached the archipelago along maritime trade
routes and which commenced with the arrival
of Hinduism and Buddhism from India in the
early first millennium. This viewpoint was
first articulated by Sir Stamford Raffles in the
seminal 1817 publication The History of Java,
whose key theme was the lost greatness of
Javas pre-Islamic past.
Colonial era scholars, such as Snouck
Hurgronje and Richard Windstedt, nurtured
the implication that historical Islam in
Southeast Asia was somehow less authentic
than that of the Middle East through
highlighting a gulf between the theory of
textural Islam and syncretistic local custom.
The notion that Islam was yet another wave
of influence misleadingly implies that Islamic
art in Southeast Asia never attained an
identity in terms of its own unique aesthetic
perimeters. More recently, the Malaysian
scholar Azyumardi Azra (in de Guise 2000),
while acknowledging the authenticity of
Islamic culture in Southeast Asia, uses the
term adhesion to describe Islams position
in regional cultural layering.
The second theoretical approach has emerged
in the past two decades. It seeks to define
Southeast Asian Islamic art by doctrinal
boundaries related to the notion that the
religion avoids the depiction of living forms.
This view emanated from Malaysia where it
is contextualised in a strong socio-political
movement to proximate the country within
the sphere of Middle Eastern Islam. The
eminent scholar Othman Yatim, who was
responsible for the first definitive study
of Southeast Asian Islamic gravestone
epigraphy published in 1988, categorically
states Islam forbids the use of human forms
and figurines.[a Muslim artist] would
never choose a human form or other forms
created by God.
Such an approach is essentially a-historical
as it prioritises issues of content - whether
objects created by Muslim artists adhere to the
parameters of religious orthodoxy or not - over
a chronological analysis of stylistic change. In
the catalogue accompanying the Islamic Arts

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

Sendang Duwur: present condition of 16th century wood doors and other carved panels. Photo J.Bennett 2008

Museum of Malaysias 2005 exhibition Message

and Monsoon (de Guise 2005), Dzul Haimi Md
Zaini further extended Yatims proposition
by asserting: the discouragement of figural
representation resulted in a high level of artistic
creativity. In the same publication, Badrane
Benlahcene seeks to reconcile the layer cake
and doctrinal viewpoints through using the
broad analogy of religious conversion. First,
there was the phase of nominal conversion or
conversion of the body (circa 12001400) then
there was the phase of conversion of the spirit
(C 14001700).
A major challenge for appreciating the
Islamic art of Southeast Asia is the surprising
lack of an established chronology of style in
media other than architecture. In the realm of
objects, emphasis on either the interpretation

of art through a perspective of layer cake

cultural history or the more recent trend of
focusing exclusively on art that fits within
contemporary theological doctrine, has
enabled historians largely to avoid the vexing
issue of precise dating. The only scholar
until now who has seriously attempted to
explore chronology has been Zakaria Ali
(1994), although his research was limited to
the period 8301570.
The 16th century was a period of immense
significance in the history of Southeast
Asian Islam. Despite commencing with the
disastrous fall of Melaka to the Portuguese in
1511, the century ended with the ascendancy
of the kingdom of Mataram, whose greatest
ruler, Sultan Agung (r.16131645), was
granted his royal title from no less an

17

Bayan Beleq Mosque, Lombok, Indonesia. Photo J.Bennett 2008

royalty, and the depiction of the subject in

sculpture is most likely directly related to the
critical importance of rice production for the
wealth and power of Matarams ruling class
from the 17th century onwards. The ancient
close relationship between the ruler and
agricultural cultivation is documented in the
Central Javanese term petanen (meaning the
place of the farmer) for the kerobongan space.
In Surakarta only royalty was allowed to own
the statues and the most sacred images were
stored in the chief ministers house. Dewi Sri,
together with the jinn spirit queen Nyai Roro
Kidul, were regarded as the tutelary consorts
of the Mataram sultans who themselves were
permitted the incestuous relationship of older
sister with younger brother.

authority than Mekkah. He created an epoch

which continues today to define Javanese
cultural identity in relation to Islam.
The rich aesthetic heritage of Mataram is
epitomised, in an unlikely manner, in the
sculptural image of Dewi Sri with her consort,
also called the inseparable pair (loro blonyo),
in the Art Gallery of South Australia. Central
Javanese tradition relates several versions of
their fateful story but the basic outline is that
the god Betara Guru coveted Dewi Sri so
murdered her younger brother and lover, Mas
Sadono. When Dewi Sri refused Betara Gurus
advances, he raped and then murdered her,
too, and from her discarded corpse grew the
first edible plants, including rice.
Her cult was an important focus of ritual
practices in all levels of Javanese society
until the last decades of the 20th century.
At the commencement of each harvest,
farmers staged a ritual wedding of Dewi
Sri and Sadono, symbolised in a pair of
the first cut rice stalks clothed in batik.
Yogyakarta aristocratic families customarily
commissioned wood images, like Dewi Sri and
consort, as part of auspicious preparations of
the residence of a newly wed couple.
Scholars, referencing the layer-cake model,
conventionally interpret the image of Dewi
Sri as representing the relic of an ancient
indigenous fertility goddess merged with
later attributes of the Hindu goddess, Sri
Devi. The worship of ancestor couples,
inherited from prehistoric Austronesia, is
widespread throughout the archipelago,
although megalithic era stone sculptures
found in Java present no certain indication
of an early goddess cult. The deity Sri Devi,
consort of Vishnu and patroness of fertility,

18

was introduced into Indonesia during the

early classical period (c.7001000); but
similarly, there is little evidence before the
end of the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit period
(c.12421551) that Sri the rice goddess was
widely revered.
The oldest surviving loro blonyo date from the
18th century and their typical dress, seen in
Dewi Sri and consort, implies that the sculptural
tradition known today was only formulated
following the victory of Islam in Java in
the 16th century. Unlike the depictions of
Javanese shadow puppet heroes and villains
in the wayang kulit theatre, the appearance
of Dewi Sri and consort does not indicate any
precedent in Majapahit iconography.
Both figures wear long cloth wraps decorated
with the parang batik motif that Yogyakarta
tradition relates Sultan Agung was inspired
to create after contemplating a stretch of
jagged rocks on south Javas mystically
powerful coast. The waistcloth of Dewi
Sri displays the talismanic blue-and-white
bango tulak design that is also used in the
construction of mammoth food offerings for
Garebeg Maulud, the annual celebration of
the Prophet Muhammads birthday. Sadono
wears a kuluk, derived from the Muslim
Ottoman fez, which tradition states the Sultan
Pajang (Jaka Tingkir, d. c1587) introduced.
His waist-wrap represents an imported
Gujarati silk cinde popular among Mataram
aristocracy. The double-ikat cloths were
draped (dikerobongi) from pillars in the sacred
inner-room of aristocratic mansions where
loro blonyo were displayed, and hence the
space became known as the kerobongan.

Dewi Sri and consort images demonstrate how

the layer cake approach in the interpretation
of Indonesian art does not acknowledge the
extent to which Islamic cultural practices
have inspired artists. Likewise, the definition
of historical art styles by the measure stick
of contemporary religious pietism fails to
enable the viewer to appreciate the spiritual
potency residing in the loro blonyo image.
Today among Indonesias younger generation
there is an increasing perception that the
art and syncretistic beliefs of their ancestors
represents a profound misunderstanding of
the unequivocal monotheism of al-Quran.
Nevertheless, even with the current rise of
Muslim orthodoxy, the rice goddesss former
role as a powerful protector of the Javanese
people continues to be remembered in an
invocation recited at communal selamatan
feasts: Giving honour to Muhammad the
Prophet, to Adam and Eve, and to Dewi Sri
James Bennett is Curator of Asian Art at the Art
Gallery of South Australia.

REFERENCES
Ali, Zakaria 1994: Islamic Art: Southeast Asia 830 A.D.-1570 AD.
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur.
Carpenter, Bruce W. 2009: Javanese Antique Furniture and Folk
Art: The David B.Smith and James Tirtoprodjo Collection. Editions
Didier Millet, Singapore.
De Guise, Lucien (ed.) 2005: The Message and the Monsoon:
Islamic art of South Asia from the Collection of the Islamic Arts
Museum of Malaysia. Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia, Kuala
Lumpur.
Jay, Robert 1969,: Javanese Villagers: Social relations in rural
Modjukoto. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Jessup, Helen Ibbitson 1990: Court Arts of Indonesia. The Asia
Society Galleries in association with Harry N. Abrams, New York.
Kempers, A.J. Bernet 1959: Ancient Indonesian Art. N.V.
Boekhandel Antiquariaat en Uitgeverij C.P.J. van der Peet,
Amsterdam.
Othman Mohd Yatim 1995: Islamic Arts. Dewan Bahasa dan
Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur.

Taboos formerly associated with loro blonyo

images reflect their specific significance for

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

A M B A S S ADOR O F I N DO N E S IA N B ATI K : I w a n T i r t a ( 1 9 3 5 - 2 0 1 0 )
Maria Wronska-Friend

Evening gown by Iwan Tirta, Jakarta, 1996.

The batik skirt features figures of phoenixes and is
covered with gold leaf. Photo Firman Ichsan

n 31 July 2010, Indonesia and the

admirers of Javanese batik across the
world - lost one of the most prominent
champions and connoisseurs of these textiles.
Nursjirwan Tirtaamidjaja better known as
Iwan Tirta - a Jakarta-based designer, lawyer
and collector, is credited with launching
Javanese batik onto the international fashion
stage.
Born in 1935 in central Java to an upper-class
family, he studied law at the University of
Indonesia, the London School of Economics
and Yale University, after which he worked at
the United Nations office in New York. Well
aware of international fashion trends and
consumers expectations as well as strongly
rooted in classical Javanese culture, he was
well placed to introduce Javanese batik into
haute couture.
Interestingly enough, it was in Australia that
Iwan Tirta launched his career as a fashion
designer: his first shows were staged in 1968 in
Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. During the
next three decades he presented spectacular
fashion shows, dominated by sumptuous
evening wear made of high-quality batik
textiles decorated with Javanese patterns, all
over the world. Combining Oriental opulence
with Western chic and elegance while at
the same time promoting the achievements
of Indonesian textile artists, these shows
were staged in all the worlds major fashion
centres, including New York, Rome, Paris,
Tokyo, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro and Singapore.
The great success of Tirtas creations resulted
from the imaginative use of high-quality
hand-drawn batik textiles, all of which were
individually designed and made to order. The
textiles frequently featured central Javanese
court motifs such as parang rusak or sawat
or dramatic phoenixes borrowed from the
Peranakan batiks. Almost all of the motifs
have been significantly enlarged, transforming
the subdued and restrained style of classical
Javanese batiks into bold, exuberant statements.
According to Tirta, this microscopic approach
to batik designs created a stronger visual effect,
better suited for the demands of international
haute couture.
Despite these modifications, all of Tirtas
garments carried the marked seal of Javanese
aesthetics. His style was guided by restrained

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

glamour and refinement, with much attention

paid to the high quality of execution. His
creations were not to shock but to seduce
and incite, revealing subtle and elevated
sophistication.
In 1996 Tirta published a major book
summarising his many years of work with
batik, illustrated with outstanding examples
of fabrics from his collection. On his role as
a designer, he commented: I see myself as
a translator, giving traditional elements a
modern interpretation. I am like a bridge,
joining old and new batik traditions.
In Indonesia itself, Iwan Tirta achieved the
status of a national fashion icon, securing
the patronage of the Indonesian government,
which trusted him with special commissions.
For example, in 1994, when Indonesia hosted
the Asia Pacific Economic Conference, he
was given the task of designing a series of
batik shirts for each of the 18 heads of state
attending this event. On other occasions he
showcased his collection and designed batik
garments for royalty and heads of state,
among them Queen Elizabeth II, Queen
Juliana of the Netherlands, Bill Clinton and
Margaret Thatcher. However, probably
the greatest admirer of his work is Nelson
Mandela, who, following several visits to
Jakarta, adopted Tirtas long-sleeved silk
batik shirt as his formal dress, worn on most
important state occasions.
At the World Batik Conference at Yogyakarta
in 1997, Iwan was one of the key speakers. In
his passionate presentation, he addressed the
demise of traditional Javanese batik textiles,
undercut by screen prints and industrial
production as well as the shrinking group
of customers. He was particularly concerned
with the declining knowledge of these textiles
by the mainstream of Indonesian society and
the loss of the understanding of the symbolic
meanings of the designs.
In his role as the international ambassador
of Javanese batik, he must have been very
pleased when his life-long efforts to promote
this group of fabrics were rewarded in
October 2009, when UNESCO placed the
batik of Indonesia on the List of Intangible
Cultural Heritage the first group of Asian
textiles to receive such recognition. However,
when publicly commenting this event, he
reminded his compatriots that the reason

for the UNESCO decision was to preserve

the beliefs, rituals and customs associated
with the production and use of these textiles,
and not just the motifs and process of their
production.
The unquestionable legacy of Iwan Tirtas
success is a younger group of Indonesian
couturiers Josephine Komara, Carmanita,
Sebastian Gunawan, Ghea Panggabean who
frequently include batik textiles in formal and
casual wear. Iwan Tirta will be remembered
as a pioneer of Indonesian haute couture and
the unparalleled master of the batik fashion.
Maria Friend is an anthropologist and museum
curator specialising in textiles and costumes of
Southeast Asia

REFERENCES
Iwan Tirta 1967: Batik: Patterns and Motifs. Djambatan, Jakarta.
Iwan Tirta 1996: Batik: A Play of Light and Shades. Gaya Favorit
Press, Jakarta.
Iwan Tirta 2000: Quo Vadis Batik? in M. Hitchcock, W. Nuryanti
(eds) Building on Batik: The globalization of a craft community.
Ashgate, Aldershot , pp 3-9.

19

B R E A S T C LOT H S O F J A V A A N D B ALI
Joanna Barrkman

he Javanese word kemben signifies kain

penutup dada wanita, which, translated
literally into English, is cloth used to cover
womens breasts. The kemben is a narrow
length of cloth, often decorated with intricate
motifs, and is usually wrapped from left to
right around the torso and breasts. Once the
kemben is evenly wound around the upper
body it is secured by being tucked into the
waist. Breastcloths were most noticeably
worn in Java and Bali as a classical form of
womans upper body attire, until the mid20th century.

worn at the courts denoted the wearers

subservience to the ruler. Wearing batik was
the preserve of the elite, and most people
outside the courts wore plain, coarse, handspun fabric, only wearing decorative kemben
for ceremonial occasions. For everyday attire
women of commoner status wore simple
cloth wraps on the lower part of their body
and nothing on the upper body.

The origins of kemben are obscure: it is still

not known when they were first worn in
Indonesia. Javanese sculptural reliefs of
Buddhist and Hindu female attendant deities
from the 8th century onward occasionally
depict cloths draped across shoulder and
torso. It is most likely that the general use of
breastcloths emerged as a form of upper body
attire contemporary with the spread of Islam
in Java during the 16th century, as Quranic
tradition explicitly demands modesty in both
male and female dress.

Most often, kemben were made from a fine

grade of unbleached cotton known as mori,
which first entered Indonesia from India in
the early 19th century,. The smooth surface of
the mori cotton suited the application of handpainted hot wax used to batik designs onto the
fabric. Classic mori batik breastcloths feature
a central lozenge that is reminiscent of the
centre field of the masculine Javanese dodot
cloth. Today dodot are worn only by rulers on
ceremonial occasions and by central Javanese
grooms at wedding ceremonies; in the
17th-18th centuries, however, the dodot was
widely worn in Javanised courts throughout
the archipelago, even by European delegates
attending royal receptions.

Also known as semekkan in ancient Javanese

language, breastcloths were worn in the
Yogyakarta and Solo keratons, indicating their
use as an elite, aristocratic practice. Kemben

The lozenge form on Javanese textiles is

sometimes described as representing the
centre of the universe where a water spring
is said to exist. The extremities of the lozenge

represent the four cardinal points radiating

outward. Thus the central power inherent
in the lozenge is dispersed outwards to give
life to all around it and the cloth becomes
a metaphor for ...where the sky and the
underworld, fire and water, male and female,
Shiva and Vishnu and Sri intersect and,
through their intersection, create the universe,
the world and on the local level, the state
(Wessing 1988: 43-44). In a Muslim cultural
context, the symbolism of the dodot implied
notions of felicity associated with paradise
whose key elements were water and a garden
landscape. The presence of the later is often
suggested by the batik motifs known as semen
and alas-alasan, meaning forest life. The use
of a lozenge in the centre of a womans kemben
denotes the wearers role as a producer of
life and is therefore symbolic of fertility and
procreation. When a woman wore a kemben
embellished with the central lozenge her
potency was purportedly reinforced.
A modification of the lozenge centre is the
use of a rectangular shape known as kemben
blumbangan. This motif is said to originate
from Jogyakarta; however, a south Indian
trade cloth in the collection of the Art Gallery
of South Australia, which features an empty
rectangular shape and is dated with a Dutch
East Indies (VOC) stamp to the mid-late 18th

Kemben sindangan (breastcloth), Java, 20th century. Cotton; resist dye batik technique, 2220 x 510mm. Gift of James Cook University, collection Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory

Kemben blumbangan (breastcloth), Java (Jogyakarta). DATE. Mori cotton and silk, resist dye batik technique and hand stitching, 2470 x 520mm.
Gift of James Cook University, collection Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory

20

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

Mayang mekar (breastcloth), Java (Jogyakarta), 20th century. Cotton and aniline dyes, resist dye tritik technique, 1700 x 330mm.
Gift of James Cook University, collection Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory

century, suggests that the design was more

widely known in earlier times. The addition
of colourful silk cloth sometimes occurred by
hand-stitching a piece of silk to the central
rectangle or lozenge area. Such cloths were
reserved for the highest ranking female
members of court, with the silk insert being
darker in accordance with the wearers age. It
remains unclear whether this incorporation of
the silk emerged in response to the occasional
availability of prestigious sumptuous silk
cloth or as a device to protect the inherent
power represented by the central form.
One style of breastcloth reserved for
court attire in Java is prada (Javanese for
gilding). Prada describes cloth which has
been enhanced with the application of gold
leaf in a technique that appears to have
been known in Java, south Sumatra and Bali
from as early as at least the 17th century. In
Javanese courts prada cloth was reserved for
the most auspicious events such as special
court ceremonies, dances and marriages and
temple festivals. Only the finest hand-drawn
batik was decorated with gold leaf, which
was applied once the batik was completed.
The process for applying the gold leaf
involved marking out the lines of the design
in glue (a white glue made from fish bones
or a red glue made from buffalo hide) onto
which the fine gold leaf or dust was applied.
The excess gold was collected. These opulent
prada cloths can be stiff and brittle and are not
to be washed, as the gold easily rubs off.
The 19th century prada silk breastcloth in the
collection of the Museum and Art Gallery of
the Northern Territory was initially decorated
with a ceplok motif, an ancient star motif
which, according to Hindu-Buddhist belief, is
symbolic of the four cardinal points. The ceplok
was applied using the resist-dyed batik stamp
(cap) technique and then dyed in an indigofera
bath. The popularity of prada breastcloths also
extended to Bali where prada was applied to
imported Javanese batik.(Maxwell 2003:183).
European factory prints imitating batik were
also used for this purpose. Prada textiles that
had not been previously worn as a garment
were also adapted as altar decorations at
shrines. Today prada cloths remain popular in
Bali, although they are commercially produced

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

with mechanised screen-printing technologies.

Another form of Javanese breastcloth is known
as semekkan sindur or kemben kebangunan
(cloth of flowers), a name resulting from the
bright colours achieved by using synthetic
aniline dyes and a dyeing technique known
as tritik. The tritik technique is created by
hand-stitching the pattern into the cloth, after
which the stitched threads are pulled so that
the cloth tightens. Then after the cloth has
been dyed, the stitching threads are removed:
where the threads were tightened, the dye has
been resisted and the cloth remains white. The
semekkan sindur, typically worn in Jogyakarta,
is used by the bride-to-be on the evening
before her wedding (midodaren). The sindur
cloth, used as a kemben, symbolises fertility
and prosperity. It is worn in conjunction with
kain panjang trumtum motif, which is symbolic
of buds, growth and new life. Alternatively,
the mayang mekar kemben is reserved for use by
newlyweds only and it features two shades of
green and a decorative border featuring the
regulon motif (Djumena 1990: 90, fig 200).
Tritik breastcloths were made in Jogyakarta
and Solo where they are used as traditional
offerings to deities and are of greater ritual
importance than Javanese batik (Maxwell
2003:79). Breastcloths following a code of
colours such as gadung motif in green, bangun
tulak in white and dark blue, papasan mateng
in dark blue with red and gadung melati in
green and white are offered in the annual
Labuhan ceremonies of the Yogyakarta and
Surakarta courts: they are placed into the sea
at Parangtritis Beach to honour the Sultans
consort Nyai Loro Kidul, Goddess of the
Southern Ocean, who resides in the depths
of the ocean (Negoro 2001:95). The use of
these cloths in this context reinforces their
association with fecundity and feminine
power, as Nyai Loro Kidul is the consort of
the rulers of both Solo and Jogyakarta.

- akin to a bandage. When anteng are tightly

bound around a Legong dancers torso her
figure is accentuated.
Balinese anteng incorporate various
production techniques such as weft ikat, the
double ikat geringsing of Tenganan village,
and songket made with gold metallic threads
only available to high caste Balinese and were
thus symbols of prestige.
On the island of Nusa Penida, near Bali,
yet another technique is used to make
breastcloths - slit tapestry-weave. These
cloths feature simple geometric patterns and
are known as rangrang. Such cloths were
reportedly also worn in the 1980s on Bali,
but while on Bali the kebaya blouse has now
become the preferred form of womens upper
body attire, on the remote island of Nusa
Penida rangrang breastcloths continue to be
worn as ceremonial attire, in particular at
ngaben (cremation) ceremonies.
The useum and Art Gallery of the Northern
Territory continues to add to its existing
significant holdings of breastcloths, and an
example of rangrang was recently acquired
to document the revival of this style of cloth
using natural dyes. The collection was also
quite recently (2006) augmented by several
breastcloths acquired by Dr Maria WronskaFriend in the 1990s, part of a significant
donation of Indonesian textiles from the
James Cook University to the Museum and
Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
Joanna Barrkman is Curator of Southeast Asian Art
and Material Culture at the Museum and Art Gallery
of the Northern Territory

REFERENCES
Djumena N. S 1990: Batik and Its Kind. Djambatan, Jakarta.
Maxwell, R. 2003: Textiles of Southeast Asia; Tradition, Trade and
Transformation. Periplus Editions, Hong Kong.
Wessing, R. 1988: Spirits of the Earth and Spirits of the Water:

Balinese culture also has a form of breastcloth

known as sabuk or anteng. Upper body
attire was traditionally worn at Balinese
temple ceremonies and in courts. The more
decorative breastcloths in Bali were indicative
of status and prestige. They are thinner than
the Javanese kemben, their dimensions being
approximately 15 cm wide and 3 metres long

Chthonic Forces in the Mountains of West Java in Asian Folklore

Studies, Vol. 47(1); pp 43-61.
Negoro, S.S. 2001: Javanese Traditional and Ritual Ceremonies.
CV Buana Raya, Solo, Surakata.

21

I N T H E P U B LI C DO M AI N : K A L A F R O M T H E A R T G A L L E R Y O F S O U T H A U S T R A L I A
Russell Kelty

Kala, Indonesia (Muntilan region, Central Java), mid-9th century (early HinduBuddhist Period, c7th-10th centuries).
Terracotta, stucco, 55.0 x 75.0 x 35.0cm. Gift of Michael Abbott QC through the Art Gallery of
South Australia Foundation 2007, collection Art Gallery of South Australia

There was a ruined candi

The demons masks looked
As if they were crying silently.
Arjuna-wiwaha (Arjunas Wedding),
canto 15:13

hose lines from Empu Kanawas epic

poem Arjuna-wiwaha, composed some time
between 1028-35 to honour King Airlanggas
consolidation of authority in East Java following
years of devastating chaos, is a reminder
that temple ruins displaying giant kala faces
above the entrances have been a feature of the
Javanese landscape since antiquity.
The heritage of Central Javanese candi
architecture is synonymous with the
extraordinarily skilled use of stone in
monuments like the early 9th century Candi
Prambanan, near Yogyakarta. The Art Gallery
of South Australias Kala, however, which is said
to have originated from a now-vanished nearby
temple known as Candi Sukun, documents the
use of fired clay from an early date in Hindu
and Buddhist temple construction.
The small village of Sukun (breadfruit in
the Javanese language) is located in Muntilan
region not far from the great 9th century
Buddhist structure of Candi Borobudur, where
the remains of fired-brick stupas have been
unearthed by archaeologists. During the 18971925 restoration of the nearby Mendut Temple
a brick structure was discovered beneath
a later stone exterior. Several terracotta
sculptures from Central Javanese temples are
found in international collections and confirm
the archaeological evidence for the use of this
medium from an early date. These include an
architectural panel decorated with parrots now
in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, and
a Buddha image in the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art.
Grimacing demon masks like the SA Gallerys
Kala were intended to fulfil the role of
threshold guardians, preventing evil from
transgressing the sanctuary while enabling
ritually purified devotees to enter. Kala was
the youngest son of Lord Siva, born out of
the seed that Siva spilt on the earth when the
god vainly attempted to ravish his consort
Uma, and so manifests the demonic aspect
of the gods. In Sanskrit kala means time,
specifically time as a fixed entity. Thus the
word came to denote destiny or death and

22

was often associated with the colour black.

The talismanic image derives from the face
of glory (kirtamukha) motif which appears
on the lintel of the doorways to the inner
sanctuary of many Hindu temples in India
and is often fiercely leonine in character
with horns, huge fangs and a gaping mouth.
The kala image was transmitted to Indonesia
in the middle of the first millennium with
the arrival of Hinduism and Buddhism
and was subsequently incorporated into
architectural features at places such as the
great Borobudur stupa, which features no less
than 328 demon masks.
In the early classical period (7th10th century),
kala (known in Old Javanese as cawiri or
cawinten) was generally depicted without a
lower jaw and this appears to be a specific
reference to the story of Rahu in Indian Purana
texts. This demon attempted to steal the
elixir of immortality from the gods and was
subsequently beheaded by Vishnu. In the later
Islamic period, commencing around the 15th
century, Kala would became associated with
the purification ceremonies for rice fields and
exorcism rituals in Java. In agricultural rites,
Kala was ritually beheaded and his monstrous
appearance used to frighten away the spirits
of pestilence, ensuring a bountiful rice harvest.
The SA Callerys Kala displays a gaping
mouth, rather than only the upper jaw.
This is more typically associated with later
Singosari-Majapahit (1222-1500) examples,

but its close stylistic similarity to the demonic

faces decorating auxiliary shrines at Candi
Plaosan, near Prambanan, suggests the
sculpture may have been made around the
time of that temples construction in 825-850
CE. The pyramid ornament crowning the
head, and the confident relief modelling of
the plant scrolls, are also typical of the Early
Hindu-Buddhist Period lintel style.
The civilisation that created this powerful
sculpture mysteriously vanished at the end of
the 10th century, and some historians attribute
the disappearance to increased volcanic
activity in Central Java. Empu Kanawas use
of kala images at an abandoned jungle temple
in his poem above was a literary device
found in other old Javanese poems, and was
intended to evoke a mood of melancholy.
Russell Kelty is Curatorial Assistant of Asian Art at
the Art Gallery of South Australia.

REFERENCES
Dumarcay, Jacques 1999: Buddhism and architectural change
in Indonesian Heritage: Ancient History., Editions Didier Millet,
Singapore.
Fontein, Jan 1990: The Sculpture of Indonesi., National Gallery of
Art & Harry N. Abrams Inc., Washington.
Hall, Kenneth R 2005: Traditions of knowledge in Old Javanese
literature, c. 1000-1500 in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol
36, Issue 01, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Pal, Pratapaditya 2004: Art from Sri Lanka & Southeast Asia:Asian
Art at the Norton and Simon Museum Vol. 3, Yale University Press
in association with the Norton Simon Foundation, New Haven
and London.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

J O H N H U I E A N D T H E C H I N E S E G ARD E N C H A M B E R M U S I C F E S TI V AL
Paolo Hooke
In the Chinese Garden of Friendship: from left to right, Ying Liu (erhu),
John Huie and Lulu Liu (pipa). Photo Rick Stevens 2009

n many cases people who love European

classical music, when faced with the
prospect of listening to Chinese music, reject
it out of hand. We hope to show audiences in
Australia new music and instruments they
may not have heard before, says Australian
composer John Huie, founder and artistic
director of Sydneys Chinese Garden
Chamber Music Festival.
So how is it that this Sydney boy came to
write for Chinese traditional instruments and
arrange Chinese folk tunes? I like German
and Italian music, it was drummed into me
day after day at the [Sydney] Conservatorium
[High School] when I was studying but I
have realised that there are other countries
that also have a long history of music, China
being the biggest and oldest, Huie says. And
so to pursue his interest in Chinese music,
Huie moved to Hong Kong in 1991, then
Shanghai in 2002. Here he spent three years
researching and reproducing the authentic
songs and musical style of Shanghai in the
1930s, releasing the albums Shanghai Jazz
1 and 2. Huie continued writing for small
ensembles, using a blend of Western and
Chinese traditional instruments, to release
New Shanghai. He drew his inspiration for
these albums from Shanghai itself, once the
uncontested jazz capital of Asia.
Huie describes how, in 1935, Du Yu Sheng
helped establish The Clear Wind Dance
Band, the first all-Chinese jazz group to
perform at the Yangtze River Hotel Dance
Hall in Shanghai, where they played jazz
arrangements of classic Chinese songs. But in
1949 jazz music was outlawed as an indecent
form of entertainment and jazz lay in an
unceremonious state of refuse until the end
of 1978. Even then, with the foreigners long
gone, and the likes of The Clear Wind Band
deceased or disenfranchised, it would be
another 25 years before jazz would rise again.
Huie believes that under todays economic
and social reforms, Shanghai is finally
experiencing this long-awaited cultural
resurgence and unsurprisingly, jazz is back.
During his years in China, Huie worked
with a number of Chinese traditional
instrumentalists. He says: It became obvious
that some were much more adaptable to
modern harmonic structures and acceptable to
the western ear than others. In particular the
guzheng, one of the oldest string instruments

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

in the world, and the yangqin, which also

has a long history and basically looks like
the inside of a piano. Both of these seemed
versatile enough to perform with a cello and
guitar, or perhaps a double bass and violin.
Using these two beautiful instruments for
much of the melodic work blended with
some great improvisation. I also included the
pipa (the small pear-shaped Chinese guitar),
the dizi (bamboo flute), and the suona which
sounds like a loud oboe.
Huies 15 years living and working in China,
traversing the cultures of East and West, has
given him an appreciation that we are all 99.9
per cent the same and share the same musical
elements no matter where we are from.
For him, the Chinese Garden Chamber Music
Festivals main purpose is to bring Australian
and Chinese audiences and musicians closer
together by gaining a greater understanding
and appreciation of the beauty, complexity and
variation of music from the regions of China.
In November 2008 Huie was presented with
the opportunity to use the Chinese Garden of
Friendship as a concert venue by the Sydney
Harbour Foreshore Authority. The local
Chinese community established the Chinese
Garden of Friendship in 1988 as a way of
sharing its rich cultural heritage and celebrating
Australias Bicentenary. Remarkably peaceful,
though nestled in the centre of Sydney, the
garden is an ideal venue for a Chinese chamber
music festival, thinks Huie.

The first festival was held at the Chinese Garden

from 5-8 February 2009. From China, the Suzhou
Opera Troupe gave Australian audiences the
rare opportunity to hear the delicate Suzhou
or Pingtan opera. Also from China came the
Shanghai Music Ensemble with guzheng master
Fang Yu. The visiting Chinese players were
joined by distinguished Australian musicians
such as pianist Michael Kieran Harvey, cellist
Patrick Murphy, bassist Kees Boersma and
percussionst Claire Edwardes. They presented
music from old and new China as well as the
great European composers.
Following the success of the first two
festivals, the 2011 Chinese Garden Chamber
Music Festival will consist of three concerts
on 11-13 February. The festival will feature
outstanding Chinese and Australian
musicians, including prominent Chinese
traditional instrumentalists from the
Shanghai Conservatory of Music, says Huie,
who would like to think that writing for
Chinese instruments and arranging Chinese
folk tunes, in the way I do, is unique, or
perhaps special. You have to be passionate
about any artistic project, thats what it is.
Paolo Hooke is a journalist with Fine Music, the
monthly magazine of2MBS-FM 102.5, Sydneys
Fine Music Station. HepresentsChinese Mosaic, a
program of Chinese traditional, classical and film
music which can be heard at 12 noon on the fourth
Sunday of each month on 2MBS-FM.

23

E X H I B ITIO N P R E V I E W : T he F i r st E m p e r o r : China s E ntom b ed W a r r io r s

Ann MacArthur

ou have to be somewhat of a military

strategist and fighter yourself to mount
an exhibition of Chinas terracotta warriors.
At about the same time that the Art Gallery
of New South Wales exhibition The First
Emperor: Chinas entombed warriors two other
exhibitions are on view at the Royal Ontario
Museum in Toronto and the Museum of
Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm. The
province of Shaanxi, where the tomb of Qin
Shihuang was discovered, is such a hot spot
for rich archaeological discoveries that a
special bureau, the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage
Promotion Center, was set up to administer
overseas exhibitions.
Every international museum wants to
display as many warriors as possible in their
exhibition. You wouldnt think this would be

a problem with 6,000 warriors excavated in

Pit 1 alone, said Dr Liu Yang, the Gallerys
Senior Curator of Chinese Art, but actually,
only a certain number of warriors are set
aside for travelling exhibitions. The Sydney
exhibition was well along in its planning
when a ruling at the national level put a limit
for each exhibition of 10 terracotta figures.
At that point, according to Liu, it became a
diplomatic battle with each country pleading
their case through ministerial channels. In the
end, the limit was enforced for all museums.
The 10 figures coming to Sydney cover
the basic types that make up the military
formations in the tomb from armoured
general at the head to infantrymen, archers,
cavalrymen and horses. In addition to the
terracotta figures, which are held by the

Qin Shihuang Terracotta Warriors and

Horses Museum, the AGNSW exhibition
includes works from 12 other museums and
archaeological institutes in Shaanxi province.
Liu and AGNSWdirector Edmund Capon
visited all the museums once for research
and again to make their final selections of
works chosen to illustrate the development
of the Qin state leading up to the reign of Qin
Shihuang (221-206 BCE). Architect Richard
Johnson, who also travelled to the tomb site
in Xian, has created a dramatic design for the
exhibition. He said, Our objective is to give a
sense of the enormity of the site and the sheer
scale and number of warriors.
Passing through a photographic panorama
of the Great Wall, which was famously
linked and fortified by the First Emperor to
repel attacks from the Xiongnu people of
the steppes, visitors enter a room of bronze,
gold, jade and ceramic artefacts reflecting
the different cultural influences on the Qin
empire. The Qin people rose up in Gansu
province and moved eastward to Shaanxi
establishing various capitals until the final
one at Xianyang. The works on display come
from tombs of rulers and aristocrats located at
the different political centres. A large bronze
bell was one of a set and excavated from
of a tomb that was located in the area of
the Qin capital from 714-677 BCE. The bells
share a design, both solemn and fantastic,
that was typical of the Qin at the time. Four
openwork flanges consist of two comprising
nine intertwined dragons and another two
each comprising a phoenix and five interlaced
dragons. The inscription on the base of the bell
documents the Qin lineage from Duke Xiang,
through Dukes Wen, Jing to Xian, and their
mandate of heaven. The use of bells in rituals
where the ruler paid homage to heaven and
ancestors was a tradition developed earlier in
the Western Zhou dynasty (c1046-256 BCE).
Another striking work is the iron sword with
open-work gold hilt also dating from the
Spring and autumn period (770-476 BCE).
Made through the lost-wax casting process,
the hilt consists of interlocking serpents
with inlaid turquoise. This exemplary level
of gold craftsmanship is rarely seen in the
period. When the sword was excavated it had
remnants of fabric around it and seven small
gold circular finials lying in a line, indicating
it was originally in a scabbard. The sword
was part of a significant find of gold objects

Bo bell, China, Early Spring and Autumn period, Duke Wus reign (r 697-678 BCE), Bronze, overall ht 69.6 cm; bell ht 50 cm,
w. 22.4-26.6 cm. Excavated at Taigongmiao village, Yangjiagou, in Baoji, Shaanxi, 1978, collection Baoji Bronze Museum, Shaanxi

24

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

Sword with inlaid openwork hilt, China, Late Spring and Autumn period 697-678 BCE. Iron and gold with inlaid
turquoise, overall l. 37.8 cm, wt 3.44 kg. Excavated from No.2 tomb at Yimen village in Baoji, Shaanxi, 1992,
collection Baoji Municipal Archaeological Institute, Shaanxi

exhibition includes examples of a crane, a

swan and a wild goose which Edmund Capon
has described as not only masterworks of
bronze-casting but in the naturalism and
realism they herald, like the pottery warriors,
a new era in the material arts of China.

unearthed in 1992 with an aesthetic showing

a debt to the Eastern Zhou. Jade also held a
special place for objects of strong personal
and ritual value as can be seen in an exquisite
pushou ring holder with a jade ring and a
double taotie mask in gold, which would have
adorned a ceremonial object.
Having conquered the Warring States, Qin
Shihuang established a centralised political
system of administrative units organised
down to small groups of five to 10 families.
He further achieved unity through bringing
about the standardisation of writing, weights,
measures and currency. One exhibition
room focuses on the achievements of Qin
administration. The mandated currency was
a round coin with a central hole. A mould
for these coins is on display together with
examples of currencies in use in the other
Warring States. A bronze standard weight
has an inscription indicating it was cast by
the central government and the message on
a bronze plaque requires compliance with
standardised measurements

archers shoe could only have been achieved

through meticulous handfinishing.
The final room in the exhibition displays a
selection from the unusual discovery in 2001
at the Qin Shihuang tomb site of a pit which
seems to simulate a heavenly realm for the
Emperor. It contained a group of 15 pottery
musicians and a notional riverbank along
which were placed no less than 46 life-size
bronze waterbirds: 20 swans, six cranes and
20 geese, none of them identical. As with the
terracotta warriors, detailed painting had
been applied, little of which survives, in
order to make them lifelike. The Gallery

What is most astounding, considering the

riches and excess of the Qin Shihuang burial,
is that the main tomb itself is yet to be
excavated. According to historian Sima Qian
writing in the Shiji (records of the historian)
100 years after the death of the First Emperor,
the tomb was a paradise with mountains and
rivers of mercury. Duan Qingbo, professor of
archaeology at Northwest University, Xian
reports that mercury levels in the soil around
the mound of the main tomb are much higher
than in surrounding areas. Sonar readings
also indicate the tomb is very deep, an
enticing bit of evidence of the treasures that
are still to be discovered. Duan shares recent
archaeological findings in a symposium in
conjunction with the exhibition.
Ann MacArthur is Senior Coordinator of Asian
Programs at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The First Emperor: Chinas Entombed Warriors

is at the AGNSW 4 December 2010-13 March
2011. For details of associated events, see
Whats On section this issue.

The entombed warriors are displayed in

military formation as they appeared in the
pits. Dr Liu Yang outlines in the catalogue
the production process for the figures. Each
figure is estimated by the Terracotta Warriors
and Horses Museum in Xian to have taken
150 working days to produce, even longer
for a horse. Each human figure typically
consists of seven parts platform, feet, legs,
torso, arms, hands and head/neck made
separately. These are allowed to dry and then
sealed and strengthened with clay coils.While
there is a certain consistency to the faces,
no two are identical, confirming that each
was subject to individual finishing. Similarly,
features such as armour plates, fixings, belt
hooks, shoe ties and costume details even
the tread pattern on the sole of a kneeling
Crane with fish in its beak, China, Qin dynasty 221-206 BCE. Bronze, ht 75 cm, l. 115 cm. Excavated from K0007
in Qin Shihuang tomb complex, 200103, collection Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum, Xian, Shaanxi

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

25

C O N F E R E N C E R E P ORT : B O R N E O I N T E R N A T I O N A L B E A D S C O N F E R E N C E 2 0 1 0
Hwei-Fen Cheah

eads have been an integral and

continuing part of the material culture
of many peoples in Sarawak, the location
of the inaugural Borneo International Beads
Conference (BIBCo) 2010. Organised by
Crafthub Sarawak, a non-profit organisation,
the conference took place in Miri, Sarawak,
Malaysia, on 9-10 October this year. Bringing
together international bead and beadwork
makers, researchers, curators and users, the
conference reflected on traditions and current
directions in Southeast Asian beads and
beadwork. An accompanying bead bazaar
and demonstrations showed the practical
aspects of working with this material.
Ten presentations highlighted the richness of
bead culture and emphasized the dynamism
and ongoing significance of beads and
beadwork in the region. Ipoi Datan, Director
of the Sarawak Museum, discussed the
beads of bone, shell, glass and stone found
at archaeological sites which attest to the
depth of bead culture in Sarawak. Given the
wide range in bead types, the challenges of
studying beads across island Southeast Asia
was addressed by US-based Jamey Allen.
A noted bead researcher, Allen had little
time to catch his breath as he examined the
beads that participants had brought during

intervals. Reita Rahim, founder of fair-trade

organisation Gerai OA, offered a highly
informative overview of organic beads which
still retain a place, albeit a precarious one, in
Orang Asli and Rungus cultures in Malaysia.
Two speakers highlighted the value of beads
through their biographies and circulation.
Eileen Paya Foong from Curtin University
(Miri campus) spoke of the stories associated
with her familys heirloom beads. Poline Bala
from University of Malaya Sarawak discussed
the value of beads on womens bead-caps and
their differentiation of old and new beads.
Papers on regional beadwork focussed on
nyonya beadwork in Malaysia and beadwork
of the Philippines. The latter, presented by
social anthropologist David Baradas, was
enriched by actual examples of exquisite
beaded vests, bags and carrying bands for
cosmetic containers.
A recurring theme was the continuing role of
beads in the cultures of island Southeast Asia
and the changes that have taken place. The
contemporary role of beads as mediators of
culture and the evolving nature of beadwork
in Sarawak was succinctly presented by
Heidi Munan, author of Beads of Borneo and
executive director of Crafthub. Nor Azmah

Abd Kadir from the Standards and Industrial

Research Institute of Malaysia discussed the
technical and material challenges faced by
ceramic bead makers. Produced by the local
Lun Bawang group since 1993 for a local
clientele, these beads are used in traditional
dress and ornament. Indonesian bead
designer, Yekti Kusmartono, explained the
modern production of replica Jatim beads in
East Java today as antique beads have become
more scarce.
The presentations elicited animated
discussions, revealing the complexity of
bead categorisation and the diversity of
interpretations these invoked. The audience
also discussed the importance of documenting
the beads and their personal histories. The
conference not only offered an insight into
Southeast Asian bead and beadwork cultures
but provided fertile ground for the exchange
of ideas. It augurs well for BIBCo 2011.
Conference proceedings have been published by
Crafthub. For further information on BIBCo 2010
and 2011, see http://www.crafthub.com.my/.
Hwei-Fen Cheah lectures at the Australian National
University. She was invited to the conference by
Crafthub to speak about nyonya beadwork.

Kelabit dancers perform at the gala dinner of BIBCo, held October this year in Miri, Sarawak. Guests in foreground are decked out in their heirloom beaded caps. Photo Hwei-fen Cheah

26

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

R E C E N T TAA S A A C TI V ITI E S

Looking at tampans in NSW: (L-R) Chris Reid, Diane Schultz Tesmar, Ross Langlands, Roz Cheney, Kate Johnston. Photo Gill Green

TAASA NSW

Glorious pots - Lecture on Trade

Ceramics in Southeast Asia
Despite inclement weather, a group of TAASA
ceramics enthusiasts gathered at Irene and
Ross Langlands Nomadic Rug Traders Gallery
in Sydney on 14 September to hear David
Rehfuss talk on the trade in ceramics from
countries in Southeast Asia. A monumental
clap of thunder sounded as he began his talk.
David Rehfuss is the inaugural and still
serving - president of the Washington Oriental
Ceramics Society; he works with the sherds
collection at the Freer and Sackler Galleries
in Washington and has curated successful
exhibitions of Asian ceramics in the DC area.
Because the overland silk trade routes are
well known, David focussed on the sea trade
routes, also of great antiquity. Accompanied
by excellent maps and images, David took
us on the journey of traded ceramics from
Vietnam and Thailand and also discussed the
ceramics of Burma and Cambodia, although
they did not play a role in international trade.
Those who attended this enjoyable evening
which began with refreshments and active
ceramics conversations - are extremely
grateful to David for reinvigorating the
interest in ceramics among TAASA members,
to Ann Proctor for initiating the event, and to
Irene and Ross for their generous hospitality.
Textile Study Group Meeting,
15 September: West Timor textiles
About 40 members attended Kate Johnsons
presentation on her trip in June to West Timor,
Indonesia, introduced by Carole Cassidy
and illustrated with images depicting village
life, local textile artists and maps. Kate also
displayed 16 beautiful textiles acquired during
her two week journey with resident artist Ruth
Hadlow, known to many members of TAASA.
Despite colonisation, West Timor retains
a vibrant textile practice, crafting richly
patterned colourful cloths for domestic and
ritual occasions. Kate revealed the regions
materials and techniques, motifs and history.
Many village and town centres in West Timor
produce fine warp ikat and supplementary
weft decorated textiles using both natural,
locally-gathered dyes along with synthetic
dyes, and making use of rough, home-grown
cotton. Some of the examples Kate presented

were made by weavers working under the

auspices of Yayasan Tafean Pay (Tafean
Pah Foundation), which started in 1989 in
Kefamenanu with 8 weavers and now has14
co-operatives in TTU (north central Timor)
with over 700 weavers.
The long arid island of Timor has absorbed
a wealth of migratory influences over time.
Kate discussed the artistry and technical
expertise of contemporary weavers in West
Timor while explaining the origin of aesthetic
and customary considerations. Among the
many designs are traces of Dongson metalwork culture. Each area has its distinct style
but common motifs across the region include
anthropomorphic figures and bird and reptile
life. Said Kate, Animism is still a force and
traditional life is strong under the trappings
of modernity. In any significant life event, the
adat (the customary law that governs social
and religious order) is strictly adhered to.
Textile Study Group Meeting,
13 October: Tampan from Sumatra
Chris Reid brought in a marvellous collection
of tampan, traditional handwoven covering
cloths from South Sumatra. These squares
of cotton cloth played an important role in
festival events in that region. While more or
less the same size and with similar motifs, each
district displays its own particular variation
of common themes. Patterning was achieved
in the supplementary weft technique. What
is of significant interest in terms of dating
these sought-after textiles is that they are all
pre-1883, because the devastation wrought
by the eruption of Krakatoa and subsequent
tsunami tragically wiped out the populations,

with their possessions, of the coastal areas of

the island.
TAASA Iranian Arts and
Crafts Seminar, Sydney
This stimulating one day TAASA seminar
was held on 30 October at the Powerhouse
Museum with 80 attendees. A full report will
be provided in the March 2011 issue of the
TAASA Review.
TAASA QUEENSLAND

Talk on Hmong Costume Art

At a well attended and much enjoyed event
held on Saturday 14 August, Dr Maria Friend
gave a talk on Hmong costume art in the
Queensland Art Gallerys lecture theatre to
TAASA members and friends. The talk was
enhanced by the presence of five members of
the Brisbane Hmong community of whom two
younger ones wore their traditional costumes, as
did the representative of ACAPA, the Australian
Centre of Asia Pacific Art! Examples of Hmong
embroideries were on display for examination.

Two Hmong children in traditional costume

at the Queensland talk. Photo courtesy Ray Fulton

28

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

A M E S S A G E F RO M TAA S A S P R E S ID E N T

The TAASA Review has gone from strength

to strength and in the last 10 years has
blossomed from black and white into full
colour. The Reviews editors Heleanor
Feltham, Ann Macarthur, Sandra Forbes
and currently Josefa Green have put in an
inordinate amount of dedicated effort and
expertise to produce a peerreviewed journal
of stature, subscribed to by university and
museum libraries. Many members of TAASA
acknowledge the Review as the main vehicle
for their connection with TAASA and the
world of Asian arts.

This is a particularly
auspicious time in
TAASAs history to
have the privilege of
becoming the new
TAASA president:
it is the prelude
to TAASAs 20th
anniversary in 2011.
Together with our
dedicated TAASA
Management and Publications Committees,
TAASA Vice President Christina Sumner
and I are particularly proud to be able to
build on the sterling efforts of preceding
presidents - Carl Andrew, Jackie Menzies and
Judith Rutherford -whose determination and
wealth of expertise have forged ambitions
and directions for TAASA over these 20 years.
Time has attested to their success in providing
an avenue for members with diverse interests
and experiences in the Asian arts to explore
their particular passion. In these endeavours,
the cooperation of a number of major galleries
and museums around the country has been
seminal in assisting TAASA by offering
venues to run seminars and meetings and
by contributing their expertise through the
TAASA Review and TAASA events.

practical note, the TAASA website is currently

being substantially upgraded into a more
responsive and useful portal to access TAASAs
activities and links. A member email list now
affords an instant, effective and less expensive
means of communication with members. For
the next year and into the future, TAASA looks
forward to continuing to provide a forum for
people to share their interests in and pursue the
study of all facets of Asian arts.
Gill Green, President, The Asian Arts Society of Australia

With such a solid base TAASA can

confidently look forward. What activities are
the Committee planning for the immediate
future? The TAASA Asian Arts Essay Prize
is being offered in 2011 for the first time. A
sum of $2000 will be awarded for the prizewinning 3000-word essay on any topic on an
Asian arts subject by a tertiary student under
the age of 35.
On a completely different tack, travel companies
familiar to TAASA members are scheduling
a number of specialist tours in 2011 and 2012,
badged as Travel with TAASA, to celebrate
our anniversary. Members will be receiving
information over the next few months. On a

TAA S A M E M B E R S DIAR Y
D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 F E BR U A R Y 2 0 1 1
TAASA NSW EVENTS

TAASA NSW End of Year Party

and Bazaar
Wednesday 8 December 6-8 pm, Briefing
Room, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.
All members and their guests are invited
to the NSW annual end-of-year Party
and Bazaar. Entry to the Briefing Room
is from the lower level entrance of the
Powerhouse Museum in Macarthur Street.
This promises to be a bumper year for the
ever popular Bazaar with Asian related
items, books and novelties at bargain
prices. Drinks and snacks are provided,
conviviality is expected and appropriate
dress-ups! Cost: $10 members, $15 guests.
If you have items to donate please contact
Gill Green at 02 0331 1810 or email
gillians@ozemail.com.au

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

TAASA Textile Study Group

6-8 pm, Briefing Room, Powerhouse Museum.
The 10 November meeting of the Textile
Study Group was the last for 2010.
Meetings will recommence in February
2011. Program will be announced early
in the year. All enquiries to Gill Green,
gillians@ozemail.com.au or 02 9331 1810.
TAASA QUEENSLAND

Discussions have been held with

Professor Huib Schippers, Director of
the Queensland Conservatorium, who is
planning concerts of Asian music to which
he will invite TAASA members. Other
events are in the planning stage and will be
announced to members in the new year.

29

W H AT S O N I N A U S TRALIA A N D O V E R S E A S : D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 - F E BR U A R Y 2 0 1 1
A SELECTIVE ROUNDUP OF EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
Compiled by Sabrina Snow
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

VICTORIA

Connections

Reflections of the Lotus: ceramics

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

from Thailand

16 October 2010-15 May 2011

Geelong Art Gallery (touring exhibition)

30 October 2010-30 January 2011

Exhibition in the Childrens Gallery which

reveals the beauty and diversity of Islamic
art and helps develop an understanding of
its influence around the world. Islamic works
of art are paired with other objects in the
collection under themes such as calligraphy,
geometry, colour and the garden.
See nga.gov.au/connections
Hexagonal tile, Iran,
probably 17th century.
Glazed earthenware,
31.2 h x 27.8 w x 2.3 d cm.
Bequest of William F Wells,
collection National
Gallery of Australia

This exhibition comes from the Art Gallery of

South Australias internationally recognised
collection of Thai ceramics. Its title refers to
the lotus, the water flower that is the central
symbol of Buddhism in Southeast Asia. The
exhibition includes the most unusual of the
Sawankhalok sculptural subjects,the rare
16th century War Elephant.
See geelonggallery.org.au/reflections
of the lotus.
NEW SOUTH WALES
The First Emperor: Chinas Entombed Warriors
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2 December 2010-13 March 2011

Art from the Solomon Islands
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
26 February-29 May 2011

The first major exhibition in Australia

showcasing the fine traditional arts from these
islands, which have an incredible history of
warfare and art - early European accounts
specifically note the artistic attention given
to the decoration on weapons and raiding
canoes. Drawn from museums and galleries
across the Pacific, the exhibition features works
with pitch black, glossy surfaces, iridescent
nacreous shell, distended faces and fluid limbs
- distinctive features of Solomons art.
See nga.gov.au/exhibitions/solomonislandsart
Mother and child,
Solomon Islands/
Papua New Guinea,
c1940. Wood, paint,
ht 49.0 x w 11.0 w x
d 18.0 cm. National
Gallery of Australia

For preview of this exhibition, see pp. 25-26

this issue. It showcases the terracotta army
which protected the tomb of Chinas first
emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (221210 BCE),
who unified China more than 2000 years
ago. The some 120 objects include 20 of the
world-famous life-size warriors from Xian,
terracotta figures of foot soldiers, generals,
kneeling bowmen and cavalry and chariot
horses. Displayed alongside these iconic
figures are ceremonial vessels and bells,
ornamental gold and jade, weapons and
armour, palatial architectural remains, pottery
and ceramics. Significant recent finds which
have rarely been seen outside China include
an exceptional life-size bronze crane and
swan, discovered only in the last decade.
The exhibition is complemented by a
symposium on 4-5 December with international
scholars, and a subsequent extensive program of
events including celebrity talks, performances,
tours and film program.
See artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar.
The Indian Empire, Multiple Realities:
selections from the Portvale Collection
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Until 11 January 2011
Images of the people, architecture, customs
and costumes of India which captivated the
imagination of patrons as diverse as Indian
maharajas, East India Company employees
and the administrative personnel of the

30

British Raj. Many objects date to the late

18th century, when the British in particular
commissioned artists to portray the world
the foreigners encountered in India.
Media used include lithographs and the
then new art of photography. There is
also a substantial textile section..
See artgallery.nsw.gov.au//calendar.
Comings and Goings: Lai Lai Wang Wang
Chinalink Gallery, 107 Regent Street, Redfern, Sydney
29 October -18 December 2010

The opening show of the Chinalink

Gallery, established in Sydney in 2010
by the Zhuong Guo Society, a notr-profit
organisaion which aims to explore the
dynamics of cross-cultural exchange between
Australia and China via the visual arts.
This exhibition showcases the works of 20
Australian-Chinese contemporary artists,
who have become an increasingly visible
and important force in the formation of
Australian identity and within the evolution
of Australian art history.
See chinalinkgallery.com.
Zen: The Art of Japanese Ceramics
Newcastle Regional Gallery
6 November 2010 -16 January 2011

Celebrating the sister-city relationship between

the City of Newcastle and Ube in Japan, this
exhibition explores the influence on ceramic art
of Zen Buddhism with its emphasis of gesture,
simplicity, spontaneity and the essential qualities
of materials, technique and the object. Through
the Gallerys significant collection of Japanese
ceramics these principles are given form and are
further translated into accompanying painting
by Australian artists including Royston Harper,
Peter Upward and Tony Tuckson.
See newcastle.nsw.gov.au/nag/exhibitions.
Armoured General, China,
Qin dynasty 221-206 BCE.
Terracotta, ht 203 cm, wt
250 kg. Excavated from Pit 1,
Qin Shihuang tomb complex,
1980, collection Terracotta
Warriors and Horses Museum,
Xian, Shaanxi

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 9 N O. 4

INTERNATIONAL

The Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the

National Museum of Cambodia

UNITED KINGDOM

Arthur M Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,

Washington, DC (until 23 January 2011)

Imperial Chinese Robes from

Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

the Forbidden City

(12 February-14 August 2011)

V&A Museum, London

7 December 2010-6 March 2011

Three centuries of beautiful and historic

garments worn by the emperors and
empresses of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).
On display are exquisite robes, hats, shoes,
childrens clothes, and elaborate fabrics
made for the last Empress Dowager Ci Xi
and her court ladies. The exhibition explores
the complex conventions specifying which
clothes should be worn on different court
occasions: from official robes for important
rituals to festive dresses for banquets and
celebrations. All objects are from the Palace
Museum, Beijing.
See vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/imperial
Images and Sacred Texts:
Buddhism across Asia
The British Museum, London
14 October 2010-3 April 2011

Explores the shared traditions of Buddhism

- the three gems- throughout Asia, from Sri
Lanka to Japan, through sacred texts, painted
scrolls and sculptures.
See: britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/
buddhism_across_asia.aspx
UNITED STATES

The fascinating story of bronze sculpture

and casting in Cambodia is revealed through
36 exceptional works. Examples from the
prehistoric period to the post- Angkorian
period (3rd century BCE to16th century CE)
present the origins, uses, and techniques of
bronze casting and the development of a
distinctly Cambodian style.
See asia.si.edu/exhibitions/current/
godsofangkor.asp; or getty.edu/museums/
exhibitions.

Travel with TAASA

Cambodia:
Angkor, Preah Vihear
and Beyond
With Gill Green and Darryl Collins
30 October 18 November 2011

Fresh Ink: Ten Takes on Chinese Tradition

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.
20 November 2010-13 February 2011

A groundbreaking exhibition in which

contemporary Chinese ink painters engage
in dialogue with classical artworks from
Chinas past. Ten leading artists from China
and the diaspora, all of whom have a deep
engagement with traditional Chinese ink
painting, come to Bostons Museum of Fine
Arts to study its superb collection of Chinese
art and create new works in response. They
will reinterpret the artistic past , creating a
vibrant artistic future: a mission not only of
Fresh Ink but of contemporary China itself.
See articles and interviews in Orientations
magazine October 2010; and mfa.org/
exhibitions/fresh

The World of Kubilai Khan:

Chinese Art in the Yuan dynasty

Four Thousand Years of Southeast Asian Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu

Until 2 January 2011

Until 9 January 2011

Covers the period from 1215, the year

Kubilai Khan was born, to 1368, the year
of the fall of the Yuan dynasty he founded
in China. It features paintings, sculpture,
decorative arts in gold and silver, ceramics
and lacquer, which all illustrate the new
art forms and styles generated in China at
this time. Many works relate to the various
religions then practiced in China , including
Buddhism, Daoism, Nestorian Christianity,
Islam, Manichaeism and Hinduism.
See: metmuseum.org/exhibitions/kubilai khan

Presents more than 150 works of art from

Cambodia and Thailand ranging from the
4th millennium BCE to the 16th century.
The exhibition includes a wide variety of
sculptures, both monumental and miniature,
in stone and bronze, from the Angkor
kingdom, and also explores the development
of the unique Angkorian ceramics tradition.
Arts from the Sukhothai Kingdom include
select Chinese ceramics from the same
period, and later examples of Japanese tea
ceremony ceramics influenced by Sukhothai
export wares.
See:honoluluacademy.org/exhibition/fourth
ousandyearsofsoutheastasianart.

With Angkor as its capital, the Khmer empire ruled over

what is now central and southern Vietnam, southern
Laos, Thailand and part of the Malay Peninsula. Angkors
superb ruins are the major reason travellers come to
view the great empires remnants. Yet Cambodia offers
travellers a host of other experiences, including the legacy
of outstanding ancient and French colonial architecture,
spectacular riverine environments, a revitalising Phnom
Penh and beautiful countryside.
Our wide-ranging Travel With TAASA program sets out
to reflect this variety. As well as Angkor we visit other
evocative Khmer temple complexes including Preah
Vihear, the breathtaking mountaintop temple of immense
historical and political significance to the Khmers. An
interesting diversion across the border into Thailand to
experience Phanom Rung and Phi Mai is also included.
Two highly qualified leaders are looking forward to
sharing their enthusiasm for Cambodia with you: Gill
Green, President of TAASA, art historian and author
specialising in Cambodian culture; and Darryl Collins,
prominent Australian expatriate university lecturer,
museum curator, and author who has lived and
worked in Cambodia for twenty years.

Price per person twinshare

ex Phnom Penh $4800
To register your interest, reserve a place or for
further information contact Ray Boniface

H E R I TA G E D E S T I N AT I O N S
N AT U R E B U I L D I N G S P E O P L E T R AV E L L E R S

PO Box U237
University of Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia
p: +61 2 4228 3887 m: 0409 927 129
e: heritagedest@bigpond.com
ABN 21 071 079 859 Lic No TAG1747

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