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.
Art in Traditional Indonesian Cultures
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
It was not so long ago that the supposed superiority of Western art over non-Western indigenous artistic creations was taken for granted.
Themes in Traditional Indonesian Arts
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In most of the more than three hundred ethnic groups in Indonesia, one encounters the tradition that when claiming the new land, the mythical founder first had to deal with its autochthonous inhabitants—some of them human, some of them the spirits that had always been there, associated with the natural world and predating the arrival of humankind.
Ancestors in Traditional Indonesian Cultures
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In all traditional Indonesian cultures, ancestors were the preeminent spiritual authorities. They included the earliest settlers, and people memorized genealogies that led from primeval, mythical times to their immediate forebears. Since memories are limited and writing was generally unknown, intervening generations were often compressed into just a few names.
Blessings of the Bride in Traditional Indonesian Cultures
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Fundamental to the thinking of Indonesian peoples was the conviction that the family that provided the bride was ritually superior to that of the groom.
Batak Art and the West
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The arts and crafts of the Batak became extremely popular as souvenirs among European travelers, colonial officials, missionaries, plantation employees, collectors, and tourists beginning in the mid-19th century.
Founding Mothers in Southeast Moluccan Art
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The most impressive statues of founding mothers were found in the western part of Maluku Tenggara. On islands such as Luang, Sermata, Leti, Lakor, and Kisar, so-called luli (a word meaning “sacred”) represented the female founders of noble matrilineal families.
Founding Fathers in Southeast Moluccan Art
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
On Aru, Kai, and Tanimbar, the history of many patrilineal descent groups goes back to a glorious, mythical past in which the first male ancestors still acted in the guise of animals. The mythical founding fathers appear to have assumed the shape of animals on Aru in particular.
Adat
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Adat, a word derived from Arabic, governs Indonesian daily life. Sometimes translated as "customary rule," adat is all-pervasive, covering not only ritual but traditional kinship systems, politics, ethical codes, and ultimately the conceptualization of the universe.
Hindu-Buddhism and Islam in Lampung Culture
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Receptiveness to foreign influences is sometimes considered one of the characteristic traits of Indonesian cultures. The new was never shut out, but was instead invited in, causing old traditions to be transformed over and over again.