Power and Gold

In talking about the jewellery, local people speak of 'adat' an Indonesian concept meaning 'village custom', as well as proper conduct, the moral life, mythological truth, and ritual tradition. The ornaments often compress much symbolic meaning into their shapes and uses. For example, marriages in many Indonesian villages are accompanied by an exchange of gifts between the families of the bride and groom; gold and silver ornaments, associated with masculinity, and textiles and beadwork, crafts that are considered women's work. The different gifts symbolically complete each other and ensure the prosperity and fertility of the marriage.
The ornaments, gold or silver, made of forest products or manufactured goods, have different meanings according to local traditions in the various cultures of the different parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Martial prowess or aristocratic power, but also prestige through images of wealth, fierceness, sexual potency, and invulnerability to attack are symbolized in the various objects.

Echoes of the Creation
In pre-modern island Southeast Asia, acts of creation - such as metalworking, weaving, ivory carving, and housebuilding - were seen as echoes of the creation of the universe, to be carried out with care and ritual precautions. Gold was treated with particular respect, due to its associations with power, the supernatural, prosperity, aristocracy, and the creation of the world.
Almost all Indonesian jewellery carries many layers of symbolism. Arisocrats' regalia symbolizes noble status and the realm of the supernatural. Other types of jewellery represent family values, clan descent, gender, and marriage alliance.
Heirloom jewellery builds up meaning as it is passed from generation to generation.
In some highland societies in Southeast Asia the styles of dress and decoration were not simply ornamental but served to proclaim the wearer's station in life - social class, marital status, and ethnic identity.
Of the hundreds of ethnic groups in these islands, the exhibition in the Museum of Ethnology Rotterdam focuses on lesser-known cultures beyond Java and Bali: highland societies in Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Northern Luzon; inland cultures like the Dayak of Kalimantan; and the peoples of Eastern Indonesia and the Moluccas. With few exceptions the objects on display date from the late 1700s and the 1800s, a time when village tradi- tions were still vigorous. This collection of ritual ornaments, aristocrats' regalia, and house treasures - all from the Barbier-Mueller Museum of Geneva, Switzerland - presents an extraordinary range of island Southeast Asian art.

Museum for Ethnology Rotterdam
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