Last week, I had the opportunity to view indigenous art from Southeast Asia at a private home in Toronto organized by the Young Patrons’ Circle of the Royal Ontario Museum. The art of the people of Borneo, an island which divides Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia, is primarily religious-based, meaning that the pieces are actually used for worship (unlike the religious pieces of the western Renaissance, which a reflection of faith, rather than worship itself. One does not pray to, say, The Last Supper).

One very interesting piece of Borneo art is the tau tau. Tau taus are funerary statues, often made out of bamboo wood, that are carved to represent a dead person. While the statue at this home was nude, according to some websites, tau taus are generally clothed and placed in a terrace near their village. Many believe that tau taus are used for ancestral worship, honouring those in the family who have died.

We also saw plenty of knives. Some were used to hunt animals, and others were used for…people. Headhunting was practiced by many cultures, including that of Borneo, Chinese, Japanese, and Celts. It is generally believed that this practice was ceremonial and a way to reinforce hierarchy. It is also believed that
the skull contained some sort of energy that will bring prosperity to a village or tribe. For example, it may be believed that a skull would bring rain to a drought-devastated village (they even had a skull in their collection, apparently something that they were a little reluctant to acquire). Headhunting is, of course, outlawed in modern society.

According to our hosts, this type of art, does not seem to interest many museums around the world. They had been contacted about lending the pieces out for exhibition. However, the project was ultimately cancelled due to the lack of interest. But learning about these cultures is important. Due to colonialism and modernization, these cultures can very well die out. However, whether it is the job of the west/societies that are “modernized” to preserve it is debatable.