Women's Art Making in Timorese Cultures
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Textile production on Timor—along with pottery and basketry (often combined with beading)—was preeminently a female occupation. From an early age, girls would start weaving textiles that were used for all sorts of purposes.
Men's Art Making in Timorese Cultures
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Throughout Timor, the crafting of containers and ritual implements, the construction of houses and their architectural environs, the carving of ancestor statues, and the making of weapons were typically male endeavors. Aesthetically comparable to the most accomplished textiles, which were preeminently produced by women, are the beautifully decorated containers used for storing stimulants such as tobacco and betel,
Traditional Arts in Timorese Cultures
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In the past, ethnological fieldwork on Timor has been carried out only on a very small scale, and field research into the material culture has been extremely scarce. Earliest information comes from colonial civil servants in Dutch territory and also from Dutch missionary workers. Missionary and ethnologist Dr. B. A. G. Vroklage made the first outstanding contributions in his fieldwork and publications.
The Timorese
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The cultural diversity of Timor is most pronounced on East Timor. Here, besides the Northern and Southern Tetun, at least ten different groups can be identified. Of these, the Mambai, Kemak, Fataluku, Galoli, and Makassae are best known. In addition, a third Tetun-speaking community known as the Eastern Tetun resides in the southeast. The situation in West Timor is somewhat simpler.
Timor
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Timor, with its eastern location in the Indonesian archipelago, has a unique position among the Lesser Sundas (a group of volcanic islands) —not only because it is the largest of the islands, but also because of its political situation.
Sulawesi
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Sulawesi’s strange, spread-eagled shape is the result of a geological collision between its eastern and western halves, originally separate landmasses, which occurred between thirteen and nineteen million years ago.
Wooden Sculpture of the Ono Niha
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The ancestor and protective figures made of wood, which can readily be distinguished from the sculptures of many other Indonesian ethnicities, are of special importance in the art of Nias. There are numerous stylistic differences in the woodcarvings of North, Central, and South Nias, but also just as many features that can be described as typical of the island as a whole.
Ono Niha
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Nias is an island on the western edge of the Indonesian archipelago.