Tribal Arts
Indonesia is a nation of many tribes and cultures, each with it's own history, arts, and style. Bali is a kind of art gallery for all of Indonesia, so many tribal art and craft items can be found here—much more conveniently than traipsing around the backcountry and isolated islands of this part of the world—although we have every intention of doing that, too! We loved the various tribal styles we saw, and here we have a small sampling of some of the more beautiful and compelling stuff we saw.
It's hard to know the provenance of most of these pieces when you are not buying them in the village they came from. It is safe to say where they were made, many are old, many are recently made crafts for the international market. They are nevertheless authentic creations of the various peoples.
We were fascinated by the art of the Toraja people of Sulawesi. These boldly painted and carved panels form the walls of their traditional houses and are made from hand-hewn teak.
A traditional Toraja house seen in Bali.
The island of Madura lies just off the coast of Java. It is an area of poor soil given mostly to livestock. One of the little-known crafts of the area are these paintings, often depicting local historical events, or events of significance to the owner. These panels were originally incorporated into Madurese houses.
The Madurese have a more western-influenced style. This one has been made into a teak dining table.
This painting depicts a three-masted trading ship, a horse, coconuts, birds. Three Madurese in small boats approach the ship.
The tribal arts of Timor are dark and mythic. Intricate geometric motifs surrounding stylized anthromorphic and animorphic figures, these pieces are carved of Suar (Monkeypod), Teak and Ironwood.
Timorese houses
Bench or table with horsehead design at each end.
A massive set of doors with dragon figures, carved in jackwood.
