Vanishing Cultural Knowledge – the Penans of Borneo
This a picture* of a man from the Penan group that now number 10,000 and is probably the last group that lives surviving solely on the produce of hunting & … Continue reading
Intriguing Balinese Calendars – Palindon & Palelintangan
In a world with so many different cultures with divergent ideologies and beliefs, naturally there are as many ways to mark the passage of time and predict fortunes. I studied … Continue reading
A Gorgeous Tampan Ship Cloth from Sumatra
A textile full of soul! From the Kota Agung region, Sumatra. Pre 1900s. A rare design in Tampans featuring a colonial Dutch ship and the associated ancestral tree. Note the … Continue reading
ANTIQUE CEREMONIAL CLOTH FROM SUMATRA
An old ancestral textile – circa 1850 – 1900 – a Tatibin – has now joined he WOVENSOULS collection. Time to celebrate! jm Oct 2013
WOVENSOULS | Antique Textiles | South Asia
This page showcases some of the Tibetan & Himalayan textiles from the Wovensouls Collection. To view the dozen or so assets please visit WOVENSOULS.com linked here. These are just a … Continue reading
Tampan – the bewitching extinct weaving of Lampung
Weaving ceased in Lampung at the end of the 19th century. Ceased. Extinct. Forever. This fact would be tragic even if we were speaking of some other geography. But once … Continue reading
Textile Art of South East Asia at the Asian Civilsations Museum
An album from a forgotten visit in 2007 to the Asian Civilisations Museum …. taken with a camera I do not even remember. A photography experience that probably made me … Continue reading
The Batak Calendar from Sumatra, Indonesia
Everyone reading this would know that it is the year 2012. And everyone would also know that the world did not begin 2012 years ago – so what does this … Continue reading
Sarawak Diaries
The number of hours spent in an airplane seems to be directly proportional to the “Exotica Quotient” of a destination. This is false of course and although I knew that, … Continue reading
Shadow Puppets of Malaysia, Indonesia & South India
Wayang Kulit is the name given to folk ‘shadow’ puppet shows performed in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The puppe tperformances are usually story telling mediums and most stories narrate excerpts … Continue reading
Antique Java Topeng Masks and Wayang Topeng
Wayang Topeng is an Indonesian dance form that uses masks such as the ones shown below, that evolved in the 16th century. Performances enact Javanese stories about 12th century heroes … Continue reading
Exquisite Vintage Kebayas – the costume of the Peranakan culture
Peranakan, Baba-Nyonya and Straits Chinese are terms used for descendants of the very early Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region of British controlled Malaya and the Dutch controlled Java among … Continue reading
A Visit to Borobudur
2008. I wrote about it on another site. But the nature of the internet is such that things get lost easily. Nothing is as permanent as paper. But am sure … Continue reading
Thumbuakar Tribal Group, Borneo
What a delightful and soul satisfying find this has been!! Gorgeous humans, gorgeous textiles and topping all that – gorgeous performance art! Bamboo dance, fire dance – in which they … Continue reading
