IDNO

DG.101978.PAO

Description

Otor anak Sunjam, wearing thick glasses and a batik shirt, sits at a wooden desk at home, reading a document which is illuminated by light entering through a window on the left.
Mounted on the wooden plank wall behind him are a mirror and three framed pictures. On the right, standing against the wall, is a display cabinet filled with various objects, on which cardboard boxes are stacked. A number of papers hang from a metal hook, through which they have been punched, in the corner.
In the foreground on the left are other items of wooden furniture and possibly a book.

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

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]

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. Otor was literate in both Malay and (to a lesser degree) English. He kept meticulous records, in scrapbooks, journals and on the backs of photographs, of the places he had visited, miscellaneous events, and visitors to Kampung Benuk, many of which are represented in the CUMAA collection. Around the late 1960s or early 1970s Otor began wearing these thick glasses after undergoing what his grandchildren guessed was an eye operation. [Liana Chua 28/8/2007]

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