IDNO

DG.102005.PAO

Description

Two young women dressed in adat gawai (pre-Christian rituals) clothing consisting of a sepiya (round cloth cap with a back flap), stagi (elliptical bead necklace), sembun (string of beads with canine teeth), kindang (dark jacket), sash and dark skirt, perform a dance for visitors on a kasah (rattan and bark mat) on the lawn in front of Otor anak Sunjam’s house in Kampung Benuk.
A row of tourists, probably Chinese from Malaysia or Singapore, sit on wooden benches in the cement porch opposite them, watching. Behind them is Otor’s provision shop; above them is the main house. One man stands on the grass to the right, photographing Otor anak Sunjam who stands in front of him dressed in his tua gawai (ritual chief) outfit of a headscarf, stagan (leopard teeth necklace) and vest with stars sewn on. Paka anak Otor, dressed in similar clothing, stands behind the tourists in the porch.
A group of children from the village stand near the foliage on the right, looking on.

Place

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

Cultural Affliation

Bidayuh [historically Land Dayak]

Named Person

Otor anak Sunjam; Paka anak Otor; ?Simau anak Paka

Photographer

None

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]

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 adat gawai-based 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 30/8/2007]

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 30/8/2007]