An ethnological exhibition on Indonesia in Linz, Austria. (Brief Communications).An exhibition on Indonesia, with particular emphasis on Borneo, was held from June 11th, 1999, through February 27th, 2000, in the Schlossmuseum (Castle Museum) in Linz, Austria, called "Indonesien. Kunstwerke--Weltbilder" ("Indonesia. Works of Art--World Views"). Opening ceremonies took place on Monday evening, May 31st. Indonesian artists performed Javanese and Balinese dances in the Museum's festival hall and the Museum Director and the Governor of Upper Austria Upper Austria, Ger. Oberösterreich, province (1991 pop. 1,333,480), 4,625 sq mi (11,979 sq km), NW Austria. Linz is the capital. Bordering on Germany in the west and the Czech Republic in the north, the province is predominantly hilly. gave opening speeches. The ceremonies were attended by His Excellency HIS EXCELLENCY. A title given by the constitution of Massachusetts to the governor of that commonwealth. Const. part 2, c. 2, s. 1, art. 1. This title is customarily given to the governors of the other states, whether it be the official designation in their constitutions and laws or not. , the Ambassador of Indonesia, together with other members of the Indonesian embassy. Stone sculptures and bronze figures from the Javanese Middle Ages as well as examples of wayang Wayang is an Indonesian word for theater. When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theater, sometimes the puppet itself is referred to as wayang. "Bayang", the Javanese word for shadow or imagination, also connotes "spirit. art, weapons, and batik batik (bətēk`), method of decorating fabrics practiced for centuries by the natives of Indonesia. It consists of applying a design to the surface of the cloth by using melted wax. predictably stood out. But the exhibition also featured a number of unique objects from Borneo. Before 1940, Austrian travelers and collectors brought back examples of material culture from Kalimantan and this tradition continues. Among the objects included in the exhibition was the bronze waterbuffalo with rider reported on in Volume 29 of the BRB "Be right back." See digispeak. (chat) BRB - (I will) be right back. . This was the first public exhibition of this figure. Also included were more recent woodcarvings from the upper Mahakam region, as well as a longhouse longhouse Traditional communal dwelling of the Iroquois Indians until the 19th century. The longhouse was a rectangular box built out of poles, with doors at each end and saplings stretched over the top to form the roof, the whole structure being covered with bark. entry ladder ornamented with aso motifs, masks, and figurative sculptures. A comprehensive catalogue, Heide Leigh-Theisen and Reinhold Mittersakschmoller, eds., Indonesien. Kunstwerke--Weltbilder. Kataloge des Oberosterreichischen Landesmuseums, Neue Folge 139, 1999 (ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 3-85474-037-9), was produced to accompany the exhibition. In it, Dr. Magdalene von Dewall, an archaeologist specializing in the South China Bronze Age, wrote a six page introductory description of the bronze waterbuffalo, entitled "Eine archaische Bronzeplastik aus Ost-Kalimantan" ("An Archaic Bronze Figure from East Kalimantan"), illustrated with photographs and figures. Dr. Dewall is extremely cautious in her evaluation of the sculpture's dating, since it was found without a clear archaeological or ethnographic context, and argues that the spirit of the buffalo probably played a significant role in guiding the deceased's soul in its journey to the land of the dead. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion