IDNO

DG.102014.PAO

Description

Sumuk Kamar (left) and Sumuk Nuong (right), both wearing sepiya (round cloth caps with back flaps), stagi (elliptical bead necklaces), dark jackets and skirts, and metallic belts, perform the jekau dance using miniature wooden pendat (blade with V-shaped incision at the tip) and nengin (decorated shield), probably for visitors to Kampung Benuk.
Behind them, on the right, is the wooden doorway to Otor’s shop, with a signboard reading “CHOP*OTOR*JAM” over it. A woman and child stand in the doorway watching. A man sits on the wooden staircase on the right playing a gendang (wood and skin drum( to accompany the dancers.

Place

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

Cultural Affliation

Bidayuh [historically Land Dayak]

Named Person

Sumuk Kamar (Singuat); Sumuk Nuong (Sajon)

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

Paka anak Otor

Date

circa 1960 - 1970

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. [Liana Chua 30/8/2007]

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 anak Sunjam, the village’s tua gawai (ritual chief) 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. “Chop” on the signboard is probably a phonetic rendering of the English “Shop”. “Jam” could simply be a shortening of “Sunjam” from Otor’s full name. The two stars on the board are probably a reference to the stars woven onto Otor’s (and other tua gawai’s) ritual vest, a reflection of his status as a head ritual chief of the village.
[Liana Chua 30/8/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Liana Chua 30/8/2007]