IDNO

DG.101932.PAO

Description

Otor anak Sunjam stands in the doorway of his shop, on the ground floor of his house overlooking the longhouse at Kampung Benuk. He wears some of his tua gawai (ritual head) garb over his trousers, consisting of a green vest with stars woven onto it, a headscarf, and a stagan (circular leopard teeth necklace), as well as a thick pair of glasses.
Hanging above Otor are two signs reading “OTOR AK SUNJAM Tua-Gawai” and “82” [the house number]”. Next to them is a poster in Malay advertising a promotional price on cigarettes (12 for the price of 10 at 30 sen per box). Small rectangular pieces of paper, possibly official registration sheets, are pasted on the left and right of the doorway. A large natural object, possibly a gnarled branch or coral, is mounted to the right of the doorway, above a wooden bench.
On the right is a wooden staircase leading up to the house. Several tree trunks and branches, which Paka, Otor’s son, collected on trips into the jungle, line the side and base of the staircase.
Sitting at a long wooden table in the shop behind Otor are at least two men in shirts and trousers. Behind them, on the inner wall of the shop, can be seen a rectangular window.

Place

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

Cultural Affliation

Bidayuh [historically Land Dayak]

Named Person

Otor anak Sunjam

Photographer

?Paka anak Otor

Collector / Expedition

Paka anak Otor

Date

21 June 1973

Collection Name

Paka anak Otor Collection

Source

Paka anak OtorChua, Liana

Format

Print Black & White

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. 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 Information: Otor anak Sunjam (d. 1978) was the father of Paka anak Otor, who owned the mini-museum in Kampung Benuk. He was also the village’s tua gawai (ritual chief), and often played host to visitors from the British, Australian and American navies, dignitaries, tourists and government officials. [Liana Chua 2/8/2007]

Place: Otor and Paka’s family were among the first to move out of the longhouse at Kampung Benuk, shifting in 1954 to a detached wooden house on a hill at one end of the village. Otor cemented the ground floor of the house and ran it as a provision shop - one of the first in the village - until the mid-1970s. After this, the space became occupied by what is now the mini-museum, containing the family’s heirlooms, gifts from previous visitors, and Paka’s personal collection. [Liana Chua 24/8/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Liana Chua 24/8/2007]