IDNO

DG.102016.PAO

Description

A group of six performers, dressed in adat gawai (pre-Christian rituals) clothing, pose on a kasah (rattan and bark mat) on the lawn in front of Otor anak Sunjam’s house, probably just before or after performing a dance for visitors to Kampung Benuk.
From left to right (standing): Babai Punjo, Otor anak Sunjam, Simau, Minuau, Babai Nasia. (kneeling in front): Paka anak Otor.
The three men standing wear headscarves, vests with stars sewn onto them, stagan (leopard teeth necklace) and sawat (embellished loincloth). Paka, kneeling in front, wears a circular bead necklace, feather headscarf and trousers, and carries a miniature nengin (decorated shield) and a thin ?blade. The women wear sepiya (round cloth cap with red, black and white strips and a back flap), stagi (elliptical bead necklace), sembun (string of beads with canine teeth), dark jackets and skirts, and sashes.
In the background can be seen the longhouse with its sloping thatched attap roof. A large group of people has gathered in the awah (inner verandah) near the hill, probably to watch the performance.

Place

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

Cultural Affliation

Bidayuh [historically Land Dayak]

Named Person

Babai Punjo; Otor anak Sunjam; Simau; Minuau; Babai Nasia; Paka anak Otor

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.
[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]