Indonesia

The main subject of the exhibition is the culture and traditional activities of the peoples of Sumatra – the Bataks and Minangkabau. Items are displayed linked with farm activity and the development of handicrafts: weaving, blacksmith work, ceramics and weaving. The model “Traditional Batak village” was made by Bataks from the Karo tribe at the end of the 19th century, and shows the lay-out of a village and the main buildings: residential houses, the house of the leader, farm buildings, house for keeping the skulls of ancestors etc. The stone figures of ancestors, “boats of the dead” (part of the funeral items), “magic wands” of priests, priest books, ritual masks, and amulets are all very rare exhibits. They all make it possible to look into the secret world of religious and magical ideas and practice of Batak priests of the Bataks of Sumatra.