IDNO

DG.101969.PAO

Description

Portrait of Otor anak Sunjam and his wife, Sumuk Nuong (Sajon), sitting on plastic wire-backed chairs in a corner of their house. Otor wears a long-sleeved batik shirt and trousers; Sumuk Nuong wears a long-sleeved blouse and patterned sarong.
Between them, placed against the wooden plank wall, is a glass display cabinet with three shelves. On the top of the cabinet and upper two shelves are various objects, including heirlooms such as ceramic tableware, ?brass trinkets, miniature models, a carve wooden elephant, a bonsai tree, and some framed photographs. On the bottom shelf are piles of documents.
On the wall above the cabinet are mounted three framed photographs. Next to them, leaning in the corner, are ritual staffs used in adat gawai (pre-Christian rituals) ceremonies.

Place

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

Cultural Affliation

Bidayuh [historically Land Dayak]

Named Person

Otor anak Sunjam; Sumuk Nuong (Sajon)

Photographer

?Paka anak Otor

Collector / Expedition

Paka anak Otor

Date

circa 1965 - 1978

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]

Objects: Many of the items in this photograph were heirlooms or as gifts from visitors who had been arriving in Kampung Benuk since the 1950s and 1960s. They eventually became part of what is now Paka’s mini-museum, a collection of heirlooms, ritual objects, local artefacts and objects left by previous tourists. The collection was originally displayed in Otor and Paka’s family home in corners such as these, before filling their ground-floor space, where they remain today. 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 28/8/2007]

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]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Liana Chua 28/8/2007]