IDNO

DG.101996.PAO

Description

A photograph taken from the upper floor of Otor anak Sunjam’s house, of Otor interacting with a group of twenty-three tourists on the front lawn below. He wears a headscarf, stagan (leopard teeth necklace), tee-shirt and shorts and holds a miniature nengin (shield) and staff.
The tourists are mainly Chinese, and have probably come from Malaysia or Singapore. The men wear shirts and trousers, and the women mostly wear skirts or dresses. Several carry cameras, including a Polaroid. Two men to the right carry travel satchels, one with “K.C.C.” and the other with “BOAC” on them.
In the background, at the base of the hill, can be seen part of the longhouse and a smaller detached hut. Both have split bamboo walls, raised bamboo platforms and sloping thatched attap roofs.

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 1970 - 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]

Context: Kampung Benuk has been a small-scale tourist attraction since the 1960s, being particularly famous for its longhouse. Its first visitors were often members of the British, Australian and American armed forces stationed nearby during the Confrontation years between Indonesia and Malaysia (1963-1966); later visitors included civilian tourists, foreign dignitaries, UNESCO representatives, film crews, and government officials. Benuk’s visitor numbers appear to have peaked around the 1970s and 1980s, especially with increasing domestic and Asian tourism and the state government’s tourist promotion efforts. Today it remains a fairly popular attraction despite its much diminished longhouse. [Liana Chua 6/8/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Liana Chua 29/8/2007]