IDNO

DG.101875.PAO

Description

A young man, Mihang anak Paka, wearing a striped tee-shirt and tracksuit trousers squats in front of the model cave and longhouse in his father Paka’s mini-museum, posing for the camera. He wears and holds various adat gawai (indigenous pre-Christian rituals) accouterments: a gubak, or red cylindrical open-ended woven rattan hat, a stagan (leopard teeth necklace worn by men), a skud, or ritual staff made of two bamboo stems covered in red paint and carved motifs with feathers and colourful cloth strips at the top, and nengin, or leaf-shaped bark shield with a central rectangular strip running down the front.

Place

SE Asia Borneo; Malaysia; Sarawak; Penrissen; Kampung Benuk [Kampung Segu Bunuk]

Cultural Affliation

Bidayuh [historically Land Dayak]

Named Person

Mihang anak Paka; Paka anak Otor

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

Paka anak Otor

Date

circa 1975 - 1990

Collection Name

Paka anak Otor Collection

Source

Paka anak OtorChua, Liana

Format

Print Colour

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Source: A selection of 185 prints from Paka anak Otor’s larger collection of approximately 500 prints was made by Liana Chua during fieldwork in Kampung Benuk, Sarawak, Malaysia, in 2005. These photographs were taken, sent to and collected by Paka over about fifty years (circa 1950-2000). The purchase of non-exclusive reproduction rights [RM 1845, £250] by the Museum to the family of Paka anak Otor [82 Kampung Benuk, Jalan Puncak Borneo, Kuching 93250, Sarawak, Malaysia], and digital copy photographs of the collection [RM 869, £125] were paid for by the Museum Acquisition Fund [£250] and part of a Crowther-Beynon grant [£125] for the collecting of Sarawak objects. The digital scans were made by Fung Huang Colour Photo Centre [153 Padungan Road, Kuching, Sarawak] in 2005. [Liana Chua 2/8/2007]

Biographical and Contextual Information: Paka anak Otor (1927-2004), was a former tua gawai (ritual chief) and owner of Paka’s Mini-Muzium in Kampung Benuk, a Bidayuh village in Penrissen, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The mini-museum began as Paka’s small personal collection of family heirlooms (including gongs and Chinese trade porcelain) and other objects which he “liked to look at”. During the ‘Confrontation’ years between Malaysia and Indonesia (1963-1966) Kampung Benuk became a popular recreational destination for British, Australian and American servicemen stationed nearby at the Malaysian-Indonesian border. Paka’s household - then run by his charismatic tua gawai father Otor anak Sunjam (d. 1978) - was one of their main ports of call, and often the recipient of their gifts and souvenirs, including military plaques, film reels, cameras and sweets. These items were incorporated into Paka’s collection, which also came to include locally made artefacts such as baskets, tools and water carriers, and various natural objects like snakeskins, branches and stones. From the 1970s, Kampung Benuk became a popular tourist destination famous for its longhouse. Paka’s family remained central to this nascent industry, playing host to civilian tourists, visiting dignitaries and officials. As Paka’s collection grew, visitors began calling it a ‘mini-museum’; the name has since stuck. Paka passed away in 2004, but his widow and family continue to run the mini-museum, which is visited mainly by tourists. For more information on Paka’s mini-museum, see Chua, Liana. 2006. Antiques and Adat: the changing face of Paka’s mini-museum, Kampung Benuk, Penrissen, Kuching. Institute of East Asian Studies Working Paper No. 11. Kota Samarahan: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. [Liana Chua 2/8/2007]

Objects: The longhouse and cave model were personally constructed by Paka to illustrate the local story of how the village’s ancestors ended up settling in Kampung Benuk. Paka explained that the earliest Bidayuhs lived in caves for security from animals and enemy attacks until the coming of the Brooke Rajahs (1841-1946). They were then persuaded to settle in longhouses and begin practising subsistence agriculture, eventually ending up in Kampung Benuk’s present site.
The same necklaces and other ritual objects were used in both adat gawai rituals and dance performances for tourists. When they were not being used they remained on display in Paka’s mini-museum. [Liana Chua 2/8/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Liana Chua 2/8/2007]