IDNO

DG.102048.PAO

Description

A group portrait of a large crowd of villagers and four male ?European visitors, probably from the British Navy, on the tanju at the longhouse in Kampung Benuk. The visitors and their hosts, Otor anak Sunjam, his son Paka anak Otor and some women, sit on a kasah (rattan and bark mat) at the front of the group, probably drinking tuak (fermented rice or fruit wine) or arak (distilled rice wine) from glass tumblers.
Otor sits in the centre, wearing a headscarf, stagan (circular leopard teeth necklace), white shirt and trousers. Paka kneels on the left, wearing a tee-shirt and trousers and carrying a raga (woven rattan basket), ?holding out a glass to one of the visitors. Two women, both wearing dresses, and one man also sit amid the visitors on the kasah. The visitors wear military uniform and caps.
Behind them are mainly men and boys from the village, who mostly wear shorts.
On the left are some working sheds with thatched attap roofs and bamboo walls. On the right are the awah (covered verandah) and individual apartments, sheltered by a sloping thatched attap roof.
In the background is jungle foliage.

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

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

Paka anak Otor

Date

circa 1966

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. It was common for such visitors to take part in large village-wide feasts and ceremonies, which often involved music and dancing.
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 10/9/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Liana Chua 10/9/2007]