IDNO

DG.102020.PAO

Description

Two young women, both wearing adat gawai (pre-Christian rituals) clothing consisting of sepiya (round cloth caps with back flaps), dark jackets and skirts, sashes and stagi (elliptical bead necklaces), perform the jekau dance with miniature pendat (blades with V-shaped incisions on the tip) and nengin (decorated shields) in Paka anak Otor’s mini-museum.
A number of tourists, probably mostly Malaysian, sit on benches surrounding them, watching.
The mini-museum has ?bamboo walls from which a gong, several nengin and spike fiddles are hung. In the upper right hand corner is a framed photograph of a man, possibly a Malaysian dignitary.

Place

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

Cultural Affliation

Bidayuh [historically Land Dayak]

Named Person

?Kena anak Paka

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

Paka anak Otor

Date

24 July 1977

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]

Date: P.102018 to P.102020 are part of a larger scrapbook collection dated “24.7.77”. [Liana Chua 30/8/2007]

Biographical and Contextual Information: Paka anak Otor (1927-2004), was a former tua gawai (ritual chief) and owner of Paka’s Mini-Muzium in Kampung Benuk, a Bidayuh village in Penrissen, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. The mini-museum began as Paka’s small personal collection of family heirlooms (including gongs and Chinese trade porcelain) and other objects which he “liked to look at”. During the ‘Confrontation’ years between Malaysia and Indonesia (1963-1966) Kampung Benuk became a popular recreational destination for British, Australian and American servicemen stationed nearby at the Malaysian-Indonesian border. Paka’s household - then run by his charismatic tua gawai father Otor anak Sunjam (d. 1978) - was one of their main ports of call, and often the recipient of their gifts and souvenirs, including military plaques, film reels, cameras and sweets. These items were incorporated into Paka’s collection, which also came to include locally made artefacts such as baskets, tools and water carriers, and various natural objects like snakeskins, branches and stones. From the 1970s, Kampung Benuk became a popular tourist destination famous for its longhouse. Paka’s family remained central to this nascent industry, playing host to civilian tourists, visiting dignitaries and officials. As Paka’s collection grew, visitors began calling it a ‘mini-museum’; the name has since stuck. Paka passed away in 2004, but his widow and family continue to run the mini-museum, which is visited mainly by tourists. For more information on Paka’s mini-museum, see Chua, Liana. 2006. Antiques and Adat: the changing face of Paka’s mini-museum, Kampung Benuk, Penrissen, Kuching. Institute of East Asian Studies Working Paper No. 11. Kota Samarahan: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. [Liana Chua 2/8/2007]

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