Music and Dance
The Bonang: Structure, Sound, and Role in Javanese Gamelan
Explore the bonang’s bossed gongs, barung and panerus registers, playing techniques, and documented role in Central Javanese gamelan.
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New this month
- Music and Dance
Javanese Bronze Gongs: Casting, Sound, and the Material Culture of Gamelan
Explore how Javanese bronze gongs connect casting and forging in Wirun with tuning, musical cycles, and the heirloom life of Yogyakarta gamelan.
Read article - Manuscripts and Literature
Palm-Leaf Manuscript Making: How Lontar Was Prepared, Written, and Preserved
Follow documented Balinese lontar making from leaf selection and preparation to incised writing, darkening, protective covers, and manuscript care.
Read article - Manuscripts and Literature
Jawi Manuscripts in Indonesia: Malay Writing, Islam, and Maritime Exchange
Malay manuscripts in Jawi connect Islamic learning, court documents, and copying networks from Sumatra and Riau to Semarang and Makassar.
Read article - Manuscripts and Literature
Pegon Script: How Javanese and Sundanese Muslims Adapted Arabic Writing
How Pegon adapted Arabic letters for Javanese and Sundanese learning, poetry, and historical writing, with identifiable manuscript examples.
Read article - Community Life
Suntiang Minangkabau: Bridal Headdress, Status, and Ceremony
Explore Minangkabau suntiang through its tiered ornaments, Padang assembly techniques, bridal responsibilities, local wearing traditions, and museum evidence.
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Caci of Manggarai: Ritual Combat, Performance, and Community in Flores
Explore Manggarai Caci in western Flores through its whip-and-shield equipment, harvest ceremonies, music, and relationships between participants.
Read article - Masks and Sculpture
Topeng Masks of Java and Bali: Character, Performance, and Transformation
Explore how carved Topeng masks become characters through dance, storytelling, and ceremony in Cirebon, Malang, and Bali.
Read article - Ritual and Belief
Bisj Poles of the Asmat: Ancestors, Ritual, and Monumental Woodcarving
Explore how Asmat bisj poles transform a tree into a memorial sculpture through named ancestors, skilled carving, and communal ritual.
Read article - Textiles and Craft
Gringsing of Tenganan: Double Ikat, Ritual Protection, and Weaving Knowledge
Discover how Tenganan's gringsing brings double-ikat skill, beliefs about protection, and the transmission of weaving knowledge into one cloth.
Read article - Manuscripts and Literature
Kawi Script and Old Javanese: Writing, Literature, and Power in Early Java
Explore Kawi script and Old Javanese through inscriptions, land grants, court poetry, and the manuscript traditions that preserved early Java's written heritage.
Read article - Ritual and Belief
Korwar Ancestor Figures of Cenderawasih Bay
Meet the korwar figures of Cenderawasih Bay through their carved forms, ancestral relationships, regional differences, and changing lives in museums.
Read article - Manuscripts and Literature
La Galigo Manuscripts: The Bugis Epic, Performance, and Cultural Memory
Explore the Bugis epic La Galigo through its manuscripts, Colliq Pujie's work, sung readings, modern theatre, and the care of cultural memory.
Read article - Manuscripts and Literature
Lontara Script: How Bugis and Makassar Communities Recorded History and Genealogy
Discover how Lontara writing preserved Bugis and Makassar genealogies, chronicles, and court records, and how historians read these manuscripts today.
Read article - Community Life
Mamuli of Sumba: Gold, Marriage Exchange, and Ancestral Wealth
Explore Sumba's mamuli ornaments through their gold forms, marriage exchanges, local interpretations, and roles as ancestral heirlooms.
Read article - Community Life
Moko Bronze Drums of Alor: Exchange, Status, and Island Memory
Explore Alor's moko drums as marriage-exchange valuables, status objects, and heirlooms whose names and histories connect island communities.
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