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The Art of Indonesia

The emphasis in the Gallery's collection of Indonesian art is on textiles. Combining a wide range of different materials, motifs and purposes, they are quite representative of the finer textile making processes throughout the Indonesian islands.

For more information on Indonesian art and culture, see the

Bimasakti internet page

1. Title: Panel of a funerary vault (salong)
Date: 19th century
H.=169cm
Carved from a single piece of wood, this panel once served as an end wall to the funerary vault of an aristocrat on the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. The grotesque features, such as the bulging eyes and sneering, fanged mouth, plus the frightening expression on this face are intended to keep evil spirits from harming the deceased. The vault and panel would have been used for secondary burial celebrations, where the bones of the dead are reclaimed from a storage mausoleum, cleaned and placed in this special vault. Such ceremonies form a large part in the continuing success of the community, as they keep the past alive in the present by remembering traditional values and respected ancestors.

2. Title: Saput or Kain songket (ceremonial textile)
Date: 19th century
109.8/157cm

3. Title: Painted magical cloth
Date: c.1750-99
148/88cm

4. Title: Tampan (ceremonial textile)
Date: 19th century
66/73cm
These three textiles make use of a variety of materials and techniques. The first is woven from silk, using gold threads for embellishment over the dyed design and a supplementary weft weave. The second is a far more freeform composition painted onto the cloth, depicting human, animal and plant figures and motifs. The third textile is an elaborately designed (possibly with Islamic influence) handspun cotton cloth, dyed with natural colours and again using a supplementary weft thread. The interpretation of the various motifs used in Indonesian textile design is difficult, as they could be derived from either personal, communal or traditional sources, or a combination of all three. They often represent spirits from mythology or dream scenarios experienced by the weaver. Motifs are also particular to specific regions throughout Indonesia. The colour and shape of the cloth is dependent on the age, sex and status of the wearer, as well as the occasion for which it is intended. Designs can also reveal the clan, moiety and village of the wearer. In indonesia, as in other parts of Asia, textiles were used as garments and headwear; as canopies under which dead elders or those of prestige lay in funerary rites; as items to be buried with the dead to ensure their safe passage to the next world; as gift exchange at funerals; to decorate structures erected at ceremonies to house guests; and as wrappings for betel nuts, which are ceremonially chewed and exchanged on a variety of occasions. Before the introduction of cotton and silk to the area through trade with other Asian countries, textiles were woven from local plant fibres including hemp, wild banana threads, pineapple plant fibres as well as the leaves and fronds of various other plants and palms. Cotton was then grown locally to support local demand. The importance of textiles as trade items undoubtedly played a large part in the transference of styles and techniques throughout Asia.

For a short history of Indonesia plus a commentary on the Mahabarata, one of the main epic tales of the Hindu religion, see my page on the

History and Religion of Indonesia

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Jane Carter 19.10.95