Category Archives: Culture

Making “Paruki” Toraja Woven Cloth

Sa'dan To'barana, Desa Tenun di Toraja - Where Your Journey Begins

Woven cloth as one of the traditional products in Toraja is now being developed in a village in Tana Toraja. This Pa’ruki weaving is made in four days at a price of IDR 1 million to IDR 2 million. The work process starts from the thread hearth (Pa’renden) and this is the most difficult level, […]

A small textile that connects “Netherlands-Toraja-Japan”

–In memory of the late Bunga Yohanis– by Keiko Kusakabe, July 4, 2014 In 1999, a Torajan group was invited to introduce cultures such as dance, song and textiles to the annual Indonesian festival “Pasar Malam” held in The Hague, the Netherlands. Among them, Papa’Eka (Bunga Yohanis), who later became the owner of Rantepao’s textile […]

Various Kinds of Sekomandi Motifs

Weaving Ikat Sekomandi

Currently, there are around 15 (fifteen) original motifs of Sekomandi’ Weaving which are still being made or produced by craftsmen, especially Sekomandi’ Weaving craftsmen in Kalumpang, they are: No. Motif Pattern Meaning 1). Ulu Karua Barinni (Ba’ba Deata) This is the first motif made by the Sekomandi woven craftsmen and means the unity of the […]

Toraja textiles for use in funeral rites

Toraja textiles for use in funeral rites

The best known, and the most visually striking, Sulawesi ikat textiles are those made by the Toraja people, who occupy the mountainous central part of the island. Unfortunately we know little about them, as practically no one paid any attention to them before the onset of the 20th C., and there are few old examples […]

Cirebon Cargo of Yue Ceramics Vessels

Cirebon Cargo of Yue Ceramics Vessels

IN FEBRUARY 2003, some 100 km off Cirebon on the north Java coast, local fishermen caught ceramic objects in their dragnets. They were part of wreckage found at a depth of 56 m. in the Java Sea subsequently named the Cirebon cargo. The first of these wares surfaced in April 2004. Providing evidence of a […]

Sekomandi Ikat (Tie) Weaving

Sekomandi Ikat (Tie) Weaving

Sekomandi’ is one of the oldest ikat weaving motifs in Indonesia, a typical woven fabric of the Rongkong – Seko and Kalumpang regions. Sekomandi’ comes from two words, namely “Seko” which means brotherhood or kinship or family clump, and “Mandi’” which means strong or close. So that Sekomandi’ can be interpreted as “a strong and […]

5 Unique Culture and Traditions of Tana Toraja

5 Unique Culture and Traditions of Tana Toraja

Every region in Indonesia has a variety of unique and interesting traditions. One of them exist in Tana Toraja. Tana Toraja, literally means land of Toraja, is a highland situated in the region of Southern Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is well known as the Land of Heavenly Kings. In Tana Toraja tourists are not only can […]

Cultural Commoditization in Tana Toraja, Indonesia

Cultural Commoditization in Tana Toraja, Indonesia

Author: Kathleen Adams M. In 1984 the Indonesian director general of tourism declared Tana Toraja Regency the touristic “prima donna of South Sulawesi.” In a little more than 15 years the Toraja people of upland Sulawesi had gone from anthropological obscurity to touristic celebrity. Known for their spectacular funeral rituals, effigy-filled burial cliffs, and elaborately […]

The Chairman of ‘IKAT’ is concerned, the craftsmen of traditional clothes made of bark are not preserved

the craftsmen of traditional clothes made of bark

Melestarikan tradisi dan budaya kini menjadi tantangan tersendiri terutama di jaman serba modern dan serba digital saat ini. Dengan menelusuri Kecamatan Rampi, Jurnalis media ini bersama Ketua Ikatan Keluarga Toraja (IKAT) Luwu Utara, Ir. Marthina Simon berkunjung ke pembuat pengrajin kulit kayu, untuk tukar pikiran, baik secara adat maupun Lembaga Kesenian dan pengrajin Rampi yang belum […]

Wood Sculpture from Tanimbar

Wood Sculpture from Tanimbar

Terletak di tepi negeri ini, Indonesia dan berbatasan langsung dengan Australia dan Timor Leste, itulah Kepulaun Tanimbar, sesaat setelah pesawat mendarat di Saumlaki yang berada di Pulau Yamdena, ibu kota Kabupaten Maluku Tenggara Barat yang meliputi wilayah Kepulauan Tanimbar. Dan setelah diskusi singkat diputuskan untuk terlebih dahulu mengunjungi kerajinan pahat kayu khas Tanimbar di Desa […]