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Island Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Global Tribal Art News
Articles
Featured
September 29, 2025
Cultural History In Focus | “Custom, Combat, and Ceremony: Java and the Indo-Persian Textile Trade” by Jiri Jakl & Tom Hoogervorst
September 29, 2025
September 29, 2025
May 28, 2025
Cultural History In Focus | “Conflict, Defensive Sites and Oral Tradition: A History of Settlement in Atauro” from Archipel
May 28, 2025
May 28, 2025
September 27, 2024
Cultural History In Focus | “Who Is the Dalang?” by Matthew Isaac Cohen from Tablet
September 27, 2024
September 27, 2024
July 29, 2024
Cultural History In Focus | “Between resistance and co-operation; Contact zones in the Aru Islands in the VOC period” by Hans Hägerdal
July 29, 2024
July 29, 2024
June 23, 2024
Cultural History In Focus | “Pangolin, Rama, and the garden in Lanka in the 9th century CE: A few notes on a symbolically powerful “anteater” by Jiri Jakl
June 23, 2024
June 23, 2024
May 27, 2024
Cultural History In Focus | “Dayak ‘Jungle and River Experts’ and Dutch West New Guinea Exploration, 1900-1940” by Bernard Sellato
May 27, 2024
May 27, 2024
March 28, 2024
Cultural History In Focus | “The Brisbane Museum’s Collection of Queensland Shields” by Bill Evans from Tribal Art Magazine + Rainforest Shields: A Tribute to Bill Evans
March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024
February 28, 2024
Cultural History In Focus | “Distant Drums and Thunderous Cannon: Sounding Authority in Traditional Malay Society” by Barbara Watson Andaya
February 28, 2024
February 28, 2024
November 28, 2023
Cultural History In Focus | “Ku and the Battlefield of Authenticity: A Hawaiian Feather Image between Empathic and Objectified Authenticity” by Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin
November 28, 2023
November 28, 2023
July 28, 2023
Cultural History In Focus | “Female Figures from Aitutaki: Traces of Genealogy and Descent” by Michaela Appel
July 28, 2023
July 28, 2023
February 27, 2023
Cultural History In Focus | “Macanas: The Art of Clubs from Amazonia” by Alexandre Bernand
February 27, 2023
February 27, 2023
January 24, 2023
Cultural History In Focus | “Warfare, Pacification, and Environment: Population Dynamics in the West Borneo Borderlands (1823‑1934)” by Reed L. Wadley
January 24, 2023
January 24, 2023
December 26, 2022
Cultural History In Focus | “A.W. Nieuwenhuis Across Borneo (1894-1994)” by Bernard Sellato
December 26, 2022
December 26, 2022
November 23, 2022
Cultural History In Focus | “The Colonial Official as Ethnographer: VOC Documents as Resources for Social History in Eastern Indonesia” by Hans Hägerdal
November 23, 2022
November 23, 2022
October 24, 2022
Cultural History In Focus | “The Tropics and the East-Central European Gaze: The Natural World of Southeast Asia in Polish and Serbian Travel Writings” by Tomasz Ewertowski
October 24, 2022
October 24, 2022
August 28, 2022
Arts of Borneo Redux
August 28, 2022
August 28, 2022
August 26, 2022
Cultural History In Focus | “Primates and Birds of Sabulungan” by Juniator Tulius & Linda Burman-Hall
August 26, 2022
August 26, 2022
April 25, 2022
Cultural History In Focus | “The Amorphous Nature of Coastal Polities in Insular Southeast Asia: Restricted Centres, Extended Peripheries” by Pierre-Yves Manguin
April 25, 2022
April 25, 2022
December 20, 2021
Cultural History In Focus | “Spain’s Well-Kept Secret: Northwest Coast Art in the Museo de América” by Araceli Sanchez Garrido from Tribal Art Magazine
December 20, 2021
December 20, 2021
December 13, 2021
Cultural History In Focus | “Honoring of the Successful Yahray Warriors” by Niels Beckers
December 13, 2021
December 13, 2021
September 22, 2021
Review of John G. Kreifeldt’s “Woven Power: Ritual Textiles of Sarawak and West Kalimantan” by Jeffrey B. Spurr
September 22, 2021
September 22, 2021
August 27, 2021
Cultural History In Focus | “Coconuts and the Emergence of Violence in Sulu: Beyond Resource Competition Paradigms” by Yancey Orr
August 27, 2021
August 27, 2021
July 21, 2021
Cultural History In Focus | “Material Words: The Aesthetic Grammar of Toraja Textiles, Carvings, and Ritual Language” by Aurora Donzelli
July 21, 2021
July 21, 2021
May 29, 2021
“Jaraik: Origin and Uses of an Ancient Mentawaian Design” by Dr. Reimar Schefold
May 29, 2021
May 29, 2021
May 25, 2021
Cultural History In Focus | “Tongan Club Iconography: An Attempt to Unravel Visual Metaphors Through Myth” by Frans-Karel Weener
May 25, 2021
May 25, 2021
April 20, 2021
Cultural History In Focus | “If You Can Keep Your Head: An Analysis of Torajan Headhunting” by Mark Hobart
April 20, 2021
April 20, 2021
March 22, 2021
Cultural History In Focus | “The Menstrual Hut and the Witch's Lair in Two Eastern Indonesian Societies” by Janet Alison Hoskins
March 22, 2021
March 22, 2021
January 28, 2021
“The Kayanic Arts of Borneo: Adventures in Chronology and Authenticity” by Antonio J. Guerreiro & Steven G. Alpert
January 28, 2021
January 28, 2021
January 20, 2021
Cultural History In Focus | “Mother Cassowary's Bones: Daggers of the East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea” by Douglas Newton
January 20, 2021
January 20, 2021
Featured
December 20, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “Kelirieng: The Vanishing Monumental Heritage of Sarawak” by Antonio J. Guerreiro
December 20, 2020
December 20, 2020
November 27, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “The Headhunter as Hero: Local Traditions and Their Reinterpretation in National History” by Janet Alison Hoskins
November 27, 2020
November 27, 2020
November 24, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “The Ngorek of the Central Highlands and ‘Megalithic’ Activity in Borneo” by Bernard Sellato from Living and Past Megalithisms: Interwoven Approaches
November 24, 2020
November 24, 2020
October 14, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “Houses, Graves and the Limits of Kinship Groupings among the Sa'dan Toraja” by Roxana Waterson
October 14, 2020
October 14, 2020
September 24, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “Atua: Sacred Gods of Polynesia” by Michael Gunn from Tribal Art Magazine
September 24, 2020
September 24, 2020
September 21, 2020
“Dayak Shields: Courting and Defying Death” by Steven G. Alpert from War Art & Ritual | Shields from the Pacific
September 21, 2020
September 21, 2020
September 18, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “Idols and Art: Missionary Attitudes toward Indigenous Worship and the Material Culture on Nias, Indonesia 1904-1920” by Mai Lin Tjoa-Bonatz
September 18, 2020
September 18, 2020
August 21, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “Speaking to the Spirits: Thinking Comparatively about Women in Asian Indigenous Beliefs” by Barbara Watson Andaya
August 21, 2020
August 21, 2020
August 20, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “The Symbolism of Baduy Adat Clothing: On the Efficacy of Colours, Patterns and Plants” by Jet Bakels from Weaving Patterns of Life
August 20, 2020
August 20, 2020
July 27, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “Sultans’ Palaces and Museums in Indonesian Borneo” by Bernard Sellato
July 27, 2020
July 27, 2020
July 17, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “The Merchant and the King: Political Myths of Southeast Asian Coastal Polities” by Pierre-Yves Manguin
July 17, 2020
July 17, 2020
June 25, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “On Losing and Getting a Head: Warfare, Exchange, and Alliance in a Changing Sumba, 1888-1988” by Janet Alison Hoskins
June 25, 2020
June 25, 2020
June 24, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “Family Stories: Oral Traditions, Memories of the Past, and Contemporary Conflicts over Land in Mentawai, Indonesia” by Juniator Tulius
June 24, 2020
June 24, 2020
May 29, 2020
Kayanic Art | Aesthetic Traditions of Borneo: Part III
May 29, 2020
May 29, 2020
May 22, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “New Ireland: Art of the South Pacific” by Michael Gunn from Tribal Art Magazine
May 22, 2020
May 22, 2020
May 13, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “The ‘Informal Portuguese Empire’ and the Topasses in the Solar Archipelago and Timor in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries” by Leonard Yuzon Andaya
May 13, 2020
May 13, 2020
April 21, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “Royal Hawaiian Featherwork (Na Hulu Ali’i)” by Christina Hellmich from Tribal Art Magazine
April 21, 2020
April 21, 2020
March 27, 2020
Kayanic Art | Aesthetic Traditions of Borneo: Part II
March 27, 2020
March 27, 2020
March 25, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “Iban Beaded Costume” by Michael Heppell
March 25, 2020
March 25, 2020
February 27, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “The Pig Story (Tibboi Sakkoko): Storytelling of kinship, memories of the past, and rights to plots of ancestral land in Mentawai” by Juniator Tulius
February 27, 2020
February 27, 2020
February 26, 2020
Review of Select Works by Raymond Corbey | “Three Recent Publications about Indonesian Material Culture, Art and Ethnography” by Antonio J. Guerreiro
February 26, 2020
February 26, 2020
February 19, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “The Art of Micronesia: The University of Hawaii Art Gallery” by Jerome Feldman and Donald H. Rubinstein with Introduction by Leonard Mason
February 19, 2020
February 19, 2020
January 29, 2020
“Ambivalent blessings: Headhunting on Siberut (Mentawai) in a comparative Southeast Asian perspective” by Dr. Reimar Schefold
January 29, 2020
January 29, 2020
January 21, 2020
Cultural History In Focus | “Perspectives on the Gift in Indonesia and Beyond” by Paul Michael Taylor, from “The Gift as Material Culture” (Yale-Smithsonian Reports on Material Culture, No. 4)
January 21, 2020
January 21, 2020
January 18, 2020
“Looking Deeper: Ceremonial Spoons from Timor (Nura Dikun)” by Steven G. Alpert
January 18, 2020
January 18, 2020
December 27, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “The Other Tiger: History, Beliefs, and Rituals in Borneo” by Bernard Sellato
December 27, 2019
December 27, 2019
November 26, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Colour and Anti-Colour in the Death Ritual of the Toraja” by Dr. Reimar Schefold & Dr. Hetty Nooy-Palm
November 26, 2019
November 26, 2019
November 21, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “The Mysterious Ocean: Underwater Kingdoms, Sea Creatures, and Saintly Miracles in Early Modern Southeast Asia and Europe” by Barbara Watson Andaya
November 21, 2019
November 21, 2019
November 12, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “The Chinese-Indonesian Collections in the National Museum of World Cultures, the Netherlands” by Francine Brinkgreve & Johanna Leijfeldt
November 12, 2019
November 12, 2019
October 28, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Stranded People: Mythical Narratives about the First Inhabitants of Mentawai Islands” by Juniator Tulius
October 28, 2019
October 28, 2019
Featured
September 23, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Re-Collecting Father Viegen's Asmat Objects” by Karel Weener from Tribal Art Magazine
September 23, 2019
September 23, 2019
September 18, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Gendered Objects: Embodiments of Colonial Collecting in Dutch New Guinea” by Anna-Karina Hermkens
September 18, 2019
September 18, 2019
September 17, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Textiles and Dragon-Snakes: The Vatter Collection in Frankfurt” by Ruth Barnes from Tribal Art Magazine
September 17, 2019
September 17, 2019
August 31, 2019
Kayanic Art | Aesthetic Traditions of Borneo: Part I
August 31, 2019
August 31, 2019
August 16, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Hornbill, Naga and Cock in Sa'dan and Toraja Woodcarving Motifs” by Roxana Waterson
August 16, 2019
August 16, 2019
July 26, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Gold Jewellery in Nias Culture” by Maggie de Moor
July 26, 2019
July 26, 2019
July 24, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Dutch Galleons and South Nias Palaces” by Jerome Feldman
July 24, 2019
July 24, 2019
July 12, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Collecting in the Colony: Hybridity, Power, and Prestige in the Netherlands East Indies” by Pieter ter Keurs from Indonesia and the Malay World
July 12, 2019
July 12, 2019
June 18, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “The Great Chief's House at Baruyulasara Pulau Tello, The Batu Islands, Indonesia” by Jerome Feldman
June 18, 2019
June 18, 2019
June 7, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Art Critics, Connoisseurs, and Collectors in the Southeast Asian Rain Forest: A Study in Cross-Cultural Art Theory” by Stanley J. O'Connor
June 7, 2019
June 7, 2019
May 27, 2019
“Shamans in Siberut, Mentawai: Restoring Threatened Harmony” by Dr. Reimar Schefold
May 27, 2019
May 27, 2019
May 25, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Borneo To Philadelphia: The Furness-Hiller-Harrison Collections” by Adria H. Katz
May 25, 2019
May 25, 2019
May 17, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Transgressions in the House of the Chief: Hilimondregeraya Village in South Nias, Indonesia” by Jerome Feldman
May 17, 2019
May 17, 2019
May 14, 2019
“The Escalating Problem of Faking” by Michael Backman
May 14, 2019
May 14, 2019
May 8, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “History, Headhunting and Gender in Monsoon Asia: Comparative and Longitudinal Views” by Barbara Watson Andaya
May 8, 2019
May 8, 2019
May 3, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Decorated Mats of the Peoples of the Borneo Hinterland” by Jonathan Fogel and Bernard Sellato from Tribal Art Magazine
May 3, 2019
May 3, 2019
April 23, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “The Tradition of Head-Hunting” by Albert van Zonneveld from ‘Traditional Weapons of Borneo: The Attire of Head-Hunters | Volume I: Shields & War Clothes’
April 23, 2019
April 23, 2019
April 15, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “High Status Markers in Low Relief: Carved Doors and Panels of Borneo” by Bernard Sellato
April 15, 2019
April 15, 2019
April 3, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “From Lukas to Liefkes?: Age and Authenticity of Gold Jewellery from Sumba, Indonesia” by Francine Brinkgreve
April 3, 2019
April 3, 2019
March 22, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “So My Name Shall Live: Stone-Dragging and Grave-Building in Kodi, West Sumba” by Janet Alison Hoskins
March 22, 2019
March 22, 2019
March 18, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | "The Social Value of Elephant Tusks and Bronze Drums among Certain Societies in Eastern Indonesia" by Leonard Yuzon Andaya
March 18, 2019
March 18, 2019
March 16, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Indonesian Shields” by Steven G. Alpert from “Protection, Power, and Display: Shields of Island Southeast Asia and Melanesia” | Boston College Museum of Art
March 16, 2019
March 16, 2019
March 7, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Writing So Subtle...” by Michel Thieme from HALI Magazine
March 7, 2019
March 7, 2019
February 27, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “'Ikat' As Metaphor For 'Iban': Women Artists' Creative, Ritual, and Social Powers in Borneo” by Astri Wright
February 27, 2019
February 27, 2019
February 25, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “A Sumba Spinning Wheel: An Instrument, a Work of Art, and a Lesson in Philosophy” by Georges Breguet
February 25, 2019
February 25, 2019
February 20, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Shipshape Societies: Boat Symbolism and Political Systems in Insular Southeast Asia” by Pierre-Yves Manguin
February 20, 2019
February 20, 2019
February 8, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “An Early Ivory Spoon with Stylistic Connections to Eastern Indonesia” by Steven G. Alpert from Tribal Art Magazine
February 8, 2019
February 8, 2019
January 25, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | Collezione Brignoni at Museo delle Culture Lugano | “A Serendipitous Find” by Bernard Sellato
January 25, 2019
January 25, 2019
January 7, 2019
Cultural History In Focus | “Enggano” by Pieter J. ter Keurs
January 7, 2019
January 7, 2019
November 30, 2018
Cultural History In Focus | “The Religious Art of the Southeast Moluccas” by Nico de Jonge
November 30, 2018
November 30, 2018
