IDNO

DG.101997.PAO

Description

Otor anak Sunjam, dressed in his tua gawai clothing, takes two ?European men and a woman, possibly foreign dignitaries, along the tanju (open gallery) of the longhouse at Kampung Benuk. He wears a headband with large feathers and coloured strips of cloth stuck into it, a vest with two stars woven onto it, trousers and a stagan (leopard teeth necklace).
The tourists wear light-coloured clothing; the men have cameras slung around their necks. They are accompanied by a ?police officer and another man, possibly a Malaysian government official, in a shirt and trousers.
The main residential section of the longhouse is on the left, with the awah (inner verandah) and individual apartments sheltered by a sloping thatched attap or zinc roof. On the right are small working sheds with triangular thatched attap roofs. In front of them, on the left, is a tikarak, a bamboo pole with a split upper end that holds a light. A line of washing has been tied to it.

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 - 1975

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. Otor and his family were central to this nascent industry, often playing host to the visitors and performing dances for their entertainment.
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 29/8/2007]

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