View allAll Photos Tagged Language
The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center held their annual Language Day 2016 at the Presidio of Monterey, California, May 13 to promote and encourage cultural understanding and customs from around the world.
Approximately 5,000 people attended the event, which features cultural displays and activities as well as ethnic foods served by local international vendors on the Presidio’s Soldier Field every year.
(Photo by Patrick Bray)
The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center held their annual Language Day 2016 at the Presidio of Monterey, California, May 13 to promote and encourage cultural understanding and customs from around the world.
Approximately 5,000 people attended the event, which features cultural displays and activities as well as ethnic foods served by local international vendors on the Presidio’s Soldier Field every year.
(Photo by Patrick Bray)
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. – More than 3,000 students from across California visited the Presidio of Monterey on May 13 for DLIFLC’s Language Day. Students, educators and other participants were treated to stage performances, classroom displays and ethnic cuisine, highlighting the cultures of the many foreign languages taught here.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center held their annual Language Day 2016 at the Presidio of Monterey, California, May 13 to promote and encourage cultural understanding and customs from around the world.
Approximately 5,000 people attended the event, which features cultural displays and activities as well as ethnic foods served by local international vendors on the Presidio’s Soldier Field every year.
(Photo by Amber K. Whittington)
The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center held their annual Language Day 2016 at the Presidio of Monterey, California, May 13 to promote and encourage cultural understanding and customs from around the world.
Approximately 5,000 people attended the event, which features cultural displays and activities as well as ethnic foods served by local international vendors on the Presidio’s Soldier Field every year.
(Photo by Amber K. Whittington)
The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center held their annual Language Day 2016 at the Presidio of Monterey, California, May 13 to promote and encourage cultural understanding and customs from around the world.
Approximately 5,000 people attended the event, which features cultural displays and activities as well as ethnic foods served by local international vendors on the Presidio’s Soldier Field every year.
(Photo by Amber K. Whittington)
The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center held their annual Language Day 2016 at the Presidio of Monterey, California, May 13 to promote and encourage cultural understanding and customs from around the world.
Approximately 5,000 people attended the event, which features cultural displays and activities as well as ethnic foods served by local international vendors on the Presidio’s Soldier Field every year.
(Photo by Patrick Bray)
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2017 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 12. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools throughout the region to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 5,000 people attended the annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors on Presidio’s Soldier Field.
The event featured a Vietnam War veterans recognition ceremony. Vietnam War lapel pins authorized by Congress were individually presented by POM Garrison Commander Col. Lawrence Brown and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Roberto Marshall to approximately 75 Vietnam War veterans in attendance.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
The British Columbia government is eliminating tuition fees on Adult Basic Education (ABE) and English Language Learning (ELL) programs, opening the door for tens of thousands of people to upgrade their education and skills every year.
Learn more: news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2017PREM0071-001404
Photos courtesy of Camosun College.
The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center held their annual Language Day 2016 at the Presidio of Monterey, California, May 13 to promote and encourage cultural understanding and customs from around the world.
Approximately 5,000 people attended the event, which features cultural displays and activities as well as ethnic foods served by local international vendors on the Presidio’s Soldier Field every year.
(Photo by Amber K. Whittington)
A little break from my snow wanderings; here is something from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Olympus E-p2 with a vintage Zuiko OM 50mm f1.4 lens
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2018 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 11. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools across the nation to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 6,000 people attended this annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Joint Service Color Guard and marching units representing the four military services helped Monterey residents and visitors celebrate Independence Day by participating in the City of Monterey's 4th of July parade in downtown Monterey on July 4.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Soap and Sabun
Conformity of the Word “Soap”
(Sabun) in Different Languages
There are 54 languages in the world saying “soap” as “sabun”, including Taiwanese.
22 in European languages
18 in Asian languages
2 in Middle-Eastern languages
3 in African languages
6 in Austronesian languages
3 in other languages
Below table is the details of languages saying "sabun" instead of "soap".
In 1967, William Rugh poses with Saudi English teachers in Riyadh. The U.S. Embassy was at that time located in Jidda. Rugh explains: "We at USIS Saudi Arabia opened an English Language Center [in Riyadh] because the Saudis at that time would allow us to teach English but would not allow us to call the facility an embassy. Later they let the embassy move to Riyadh but in those days I was almost the only diplomat in that city. We did public diplomacy programs in addition to teaching English. Bill Royer, later a hostage in Tehran, was director of the ELT program and I taught classes too." Photo courtesy of Ambassador Bill Rugh.
Died 4 October 1988, aged 93 years
Mother of Gerald and Peter
Row ; 35 / 76
This photograph was taken by Deborah Ross. It was indexed and uploaded to Flickr as part of the Lahav Jewish Heritage project (a project funded by a bequest to Newcastle City Council by the Lahav Marital Trust in memory of Ron and Kath Lahav).
TWAM reference: CE.JW/6 - a collection of 4 CDs containing photographs of headstones at Elswick, Hazlerigg, Heaton, North Shields, North Shields Reform, South Shields and Whitley Bay.
(Copyright) We're happy for you to share this digital image within the spirit of The Commons. Please cite 'Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums' when reusing. Certain restrictions on high quality reproductions and commercial use of the original physical version apply though; if you're unsure please email archives@twmuseums.org.uk
The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center held their annual Language Day 2016 at the Presidio of Monterey, California, May 13 to promote and encourage cultural understanding and customs from around the world.
Approximately 5,000 people attended the event, which features cultural displays and activities as well as ethnic foods served by local international vendors on the Presidio’s Soldier Field every year.
(Photo by Patrick Bray)
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and Presidio of Monterey held their Hispanic Heritage Month commemoration inside the Tin Barn on Sept. 29. The theme to this year's event was "Many Backgrounds, Many Stories, One American Spirit." Guest Speaker for the event was the Mayor of Pacific Grove, Carmelita Garcia and a presentation was made by Dr. Leah Graham, dean of the Student Learning Center.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
These are photos that were taken by Deaf students at Danny Williams School for the Deaf in Kingston Jamaica. I taught them photography for two weeks and their final project was to create a book of photos showing hand signs with the object or person they are associated with.
From stuttering to therapy for stroke survivors, the WSU Speech and Language Clinics provide speech-language services for community members of all ages.
Learn more: www.clas.wayne.edu/CSD/Wayne-State-Speech-and-Language-Ce...
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center’s most colorful day of the year came May 8 as the Presidio opened its doors and welcomed a crowd estimated at more than 5,000 during its 31st hosting of Language Day. Attendees were treated to a diversity of songs, skits, dances, classroom demonstrations as well as food and wares that represented the cultures of 23 languages studied here at the military’s preeminent language training facility. Also in attendance were 54 combat veterans of the Vietnam War, honored guests during a “Welcome Home” ceremony led by Col. Paul Fellinger, Presidio of Monterey garrison commander, and Dan Presser, Military and Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee member, in commemoration of the war’s 50th anniversary.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
Language no bar, however, SHRINP = shrimp & CHIRI = chili. If you like the looks of any of these plastic demo dishes, enter the restaurant & point out to the waiter which all you want. Then he will serve you the actual dishes inside
Near www.google.co.in/maps/place/Kamakura,+Kanagawa+Prefecture... on 26.4.2015
Multy Language headphones used as a simultaneous translation equipment (simultaneous interpretation equipment) lay on brightly-patterned chairs in empty luxury hotel conference hall after the event
© 2000 - 2014 ifeelstock. All Rights Reserved.
✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎
░ENG░ Do you need this image for your project? Get it now for only 5 USD! Just follow these simple steps:
Press Additional info (show more) → Press Request to license
ifeelstock's photos via Getty Images → Press Submit Request and follow the steps of Getty Images system.
Prices start at just 5 USD — it all depends on the size* you need and how you plan to use it.
——————————————————————————————————
░DE░ Brauchen Sie dieses Bild für Ihr Projekt? Lass es jetzt ab 5 USD! Befolgen Sie diese einfachen Schritte:
Drücken Sie auf den Link Weitere Informationen (Weitere anzeigen) → Drücken Sie Lizenzierungsantrag
der Fotos von ifeelstock über Getty Images → Drücken Sie Anfrage abschicken und die Schritte von Getty Images System
Lizenzierungen gibt es schon ab 5 USD– abhängig von Größe und Verwendungszweck.
——————————————————————————————————
░ES░ ¿Necesita esta imagen para su proyecto? Get It Now de partida de 5 USD! Sólo tienes que seguir estos sencillos pasos:
Pulse el enlace Información adicional (ver más) → Solicitar licencia
de las fotos de ifeelstock a través de Getty Images → Presione Enviar Peticióny siga los pasos de sistema de Getty Images.
Hay imágenes a partir de 5 USD, depende del tamaño que necesites y del uso que pretendas darle a la imagen.
——————————————————————————————————
░FR░ Avez-vous besoin cette image pour votre projet? Il pourrait être le vôtre pour 5 $! Il suffit de suivre ces étapes simples:
Appuyez sur le lien Informations supplémentaires (afficher plus) → Demande de licence
pour les photos de ifeelstock via Getty Images → Appuyez sur Valider la demandeet suivez les étapes de système Getty Images.
Les premiers prix débutent à seulement 5 USD. Tout dépend de la taille demandée et de l'utilisation prévue.
——————————————————————————————————
░IT░ Avete bisogno di questa immagine per il vostro progetto? Scarica la guida per soli 5 dollari! Basta seguire questi semplici passi:
Premere Ulteriori informazioni (mostra di più)→ Premere Richiesta di licenza foto di Ifeelstock via Getty Images → Stampa Inoltra richiesta e seguire le fasi di Getty Images sistema.
I prezzi partono da soli 5 dollari - tutto dipende dalle dimensioni avete bisogno e come si prevede di utilizzarlo.
——————————————————————————————————
░JA░ あなたのプロジェクトのためにこのイメージが必要なのでしょうか？わずか5ドルのために今すぐ入手！ちょうどこれらの簡単な手順に従います。
押しが要求を提出し、ゲッティイメージズシステムの手順に従ってください→ゲッティイメージズ経由ifeelstockの写真をライセンスするプレスリクエスト→押して追加情報（すべて表示）。
価格はわずか5ドルで開始 - それはすべてあなたが必要*サイズに依存し、どのようにあなたがそれを使用する予定。
——————————————————————————————————
░CHI░你需要这个形象为您的项目？得到它现在仅售5美元！只要遵循这些简单的步骤：
按附加信息（显示更多）→按要求通过盖蒂图片许可ifeelstock的照片→点击提交申请，并按照Getty图像系统的步骤。
起价仅为5美元 - 这一切都取决于你需要的尺寸以及您打算如何使用它。
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The 2017 Language Day celebration was held by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, May 12. Language Day is open to the public and attended by schools throughout the region to promote an understanding of diverse customs and cultures from around the world. Approximately 5,000 people attended the annual event featuring cultural displays, activities and international ethnic cuisine served by local vendors on Presidio’s Soldier Field.
The event featured a Vietnam War veterans recognition ceremony. Vietnam War lapel pins authorized by Congress were individually presented by POM Garrison Commander Col. Lawrence Brown and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Roberto Marshall to approximately 75 Vietnam War veterans in attendance.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
If you can,read the advertising on the pink house.
It's in italian language, as almost everything.
It's strange to hear all the people talk in this language instead of hearing croatian words.
The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja"). Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk ("the way"). The Indonesian government has recognized this animist belief as Aluk To Dolo ("Way of the Ancestors").
The word toraja comes from the Bugis Buginese language term to riaja, meaning "people of the uplands". The Dutch colonial government named the people Toraja in 1909. Torajans are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tongkonan, and colorful wood carvings. Toraja funeral rites are important social events, usually attended by hundreds of people and lasting for several days.
Before the 20th century, Torajans lived in autonomous villages, where they practised animism and were relatively untouched by the outside world. In the early 1900s, Dutch missionaries first worked to convert Torajan highlanders to Christianity. When the Tana Toraja regency was further opened to the outside world in the 1970s, it became an icon of tourism in Indonesia: it was exploited by tourism developers and studied by anthropologists. By the 1990s, when tourism peaked, Toraja society had changed significantly, from an agrarian model - in which social life and customs were outgrowths of the Aluk To Dolo - to a largely Christian society. Today, tourism and remittances from migrant Torajans have made for major changes in the Toraja highland, giving the Toraja a celebrity status within Indonesia and enhancing Toraja ethnic group pride.
ETHNIC IDENTITY
The Torajan people had little notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic group before the 20th century. Before Dutch colonization and Christianization, Torajans, who lived in highland areas, identified with their villages and did not share a broad sense of identity. Although complexes of rituals created linkages between highland villages, there were variations in dialects, differences in social hierarchies, and an array of ritual practices in the Sulawesi highland region. "Toraja" (from the coastal languages' to, meaning people; and riaja, uplands) was first used as a lowlander expression for highlanders. As a result, "Toraja" initially had more currency with outsiders - such as the Bugis and Makassarese, who constitute a majority of the lowland of Sulawesi - than with insiders. The Dutch missionaries' presence in the highlands gave rise to the Toraja ethnic consciousness in the Sa'dan Toraja region, and this shared identity grew with the rise of tourism in the Tana Toraja Regency. Since then, South Sulawesi has four main ethnic groups - the Bugis (the majority, including shipbuilders and seafarers), the Makassarese (lowland traders and seafarers), the Mandarese (traders and fishermen), and the Toraja (highland rice cultivators).
HISTORY
From the 17th century, the Dutch established trade and political control on Sulawesi through the Dutch East Indies Company. Over two centuries, they ignored the mountainous area in the central Sulawesi, where Torajans lived, because access was difficult and it had little productive agricultural land. In the late 19th century, the Dutch became increasingly concerned about the spread of Islam in the south of Sulawesi, especially among the Makassarese and Bugis peoples. The Dutch saw the animist highlanders as potential Christians. In the 1920s, the Reformed Missionary Alliance of the Dutch Reformed Church began missionary work aided by the Dutch colonial government. In addition to introducing Christianity, the Dutch abolished slavery and imposed local taxes. A line was drawn around the Sa'dan area and called Tana Toraja ("the land of Toraja"). Tana Toraja was first a subdivision of the Luwu kingdom that had claimed the area. In 1946, the Dutch granted Tana Toraja a regentschap, and it was recognized in 1957 as one of the regencies of Indonesia.
Early Dutch missionaries faced strong opposition among Torajans, especially among the elite, because the abolition of their profitable slave trade had angered them. Some Torajans were forcibly relocated to the lowlands by the Dutch, where they could be more easily controlled. Taxes were kept high, undermining the wealth of the elites. Ultimately, the Dutch influence did not subdue Torajan culture, and only a few Torajans were converted. In 1950, only 10% of the population had converted to Christianity.
In the 1930s, Muslim lowlanders attacked the Torajans, resulting in widespread Christian conversion among those who sought to align themselves with the Dutch for political protection and to form a movement against the Bugis and Makassarese Muslims. Between 1951 and 1965 (following Indonesian independence), southern Sulawesi faced a turbulent period as the Darul Islam separatist movement fought for an Islamic state in Sulawesi. The 15 years of guerrilla warfare led to massive conversions to
CHRISTIANITY
Alignment with the Indonesian government, however, did not guarantee safety for the Torajans. In 1965, a presidential decree required every Indonesian citizen to belong to one of five officially recognized religions: Islam, Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism), Hinduism, or Buddhism. The Torajan religious belief (aluk) was not legally recognized, and the Torajans raised their voices against the law. To make aluk accord with the law, it had to be accepted as part of one of the official religions. In 1969, Aluk To Dolo ("the way of ancestors") was legalized as a sect of Agama Hindu Dharma, the official name of Hinduism in Indonesia.
SOCIETY
There are three main types of affiliation in Toraja society: family, class and religion.
FAMILY AFFILIATION
Family is the primary social and political grouping in Torajan society. Each village is one extended family, the seat of which is the tongkonan, a traditional Torajan house. Each tongkonan has a name, which becomes the name of the village. The familial dons maintain village unity. Marriage between distant cousins (fourth cousins and beyond) is a common practice that strengthens kinship. Toraja society prohibits marriage between close cousins (up to and including the third cousin) - except for nobles, to prevent the dispersal of property. Kinship is actively reciprocal, meaning that the extended family helps each other farm, share buffalo rituals, and pay off debts.
Each person belongs to both the mother's and the father's families, the only bilateral family line in Indonesia. Children, therefore, inherit household affiliation from both mother and father, including land and even family debts. Children's names are given on the basis of kinship, and are usually chosen after dead relatives. Names of aunts, uncles and cousins are commonly referred to in the names of mothers, fathers and siblings.
Before the start of the formal administration of Toraja villages by the Tana Toraja Regency, each Toraja village was autonomous. In a more complex situation, in which one Toraja family could not handle their problems alone, several villages formed a group; sometimes, villages would unite against other villages. Relationship between families was expressed through blood, marriage, and shared ancestral houses (tongkonan), practically signed by the exchange of water buffalo and pigs on ritual occasions. Such exchanges not only built political and cultural ties between families but defined each person's place in a social hierarchy: who poured palm wine, who wrapped a corpse and prepared offerings, where each person could or could not sit, what dishes should be used or avoided, and even what piece of meat constituted one's share.
CLASS AFFILIATION
In early Toraja society, family relationships were tied closely to social class. There were three strata: nobles, commoners, and slaves (slavery was abolished in 1909 by the Dutch East Indies government). Class was inherited through the mother. It was taboo, therefore, to marry "down" with a woman of lower class. On the other hand, marrying a woman of higher class could improve the status of the next generation. The nobility's condescending attitude toward the commoners is still maintained today for reasons of family prestige.
Nobles, who were believed to be direct descendants of the descended person from heaven, lived in tongkonans, while commoners lived in less lavish houses (bamboo shacks called banua). Slaves lived in small huts, which had to be built around their owner's tongkonan. Commoners might marry anyone, but nobles preferred to marry in-family to maintain their status. Sometimes nobles married Bugis or Makassarese nobles. Commoners and slaves were prohibited from having death feasts. Despite close kinship and status inheritance, there was some social mobility, as marriage or change in wealth could affect an individuals status. Wealth was counted by the ownership of water buffaloes.
Slaves in Toraja society were family property. Sometimes Torajans decided to become slaves when they incurred a debt, pledging to work as payment. Slaves could be taken during wars, and slave trading was common. Slaves could buy their freedom, but their children still inherited slave status. Slaves were prohibited from wearing bronze or gold, carving their houses, eating from the same dishes as their owners, or having sex with free women - a crime punishable by death.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
Toraja's indigenous belief system is polytheistic animism, called aluk, or "the way" (sometimes translated as "the law"). In the Toraja myth, the ancestors of Torajan people came down from heaven using stairs, which were then used by the Torajans as a communication medium with Puang Matua, the Creator. The cosmos, according to aluk, is divided into the upper world (heaven), the world of man (earth), and the underworld. At first, heaven and earth were married, then there was a darkness, a separation, and finally the light. Animals live in the underworld, which is represented by rectangular space enclosed by pillars, the earth is for mankind, and the heaven world is located above, covered with a saddle-shaped roof. Other Toraja gods include Pong Banggai di Rante (god of Earth), Indo' Ongon-Ongon (a goddess who can cause earthquakes), Pong Lalondong (god of death), and Indo' Belo Tumbang (goddess of medicine); there are many more.
The earthly authority, whose words and actions should be cleaved to both in life (agriculture) and death (funerals), is called to minaa (an aluk priest). Aluk is not just a belief system; it is a combination of law, religion, and habit. Aluk governs social life, agricultural practices, and ancestral rituals. The details of aluk may vary from one village to another. One common law is the requirement that death and life rituals be separated. Torajans believe that performing death rituals might ruin their corpses if combined with life rituals. The two rituals are equally important. During the time of the Dutch missionaries, Christian Torajans were prohibited from attending or performing life rituals, but were allowed to perform death rituals. Consequently, Toraja's death rituals are still practised today, while life rituals have diminished.
CULTURE
TONGKONAN
Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses. They stand high on wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof shaped in a sweeping curved arc, and they are incised with red, black, and yellow detailed wood carvings on the exterior walls. The word "tongkonan" comes from the Torajan tongkon ("to sit").
Tongkonan are the center of Torajan social life. The rituals associated with the tongkonan are important expressions of Torajan spiritual life, and therefore all family members are impelled to participate, because symbolically the tongkonan represents links to their ancestors and to living and future kin. According to Torajan myth, the first tongkonan was built in heaven on four poles, with a roof made of Indian cloth. When the first Torajan ancestor descended to earth, he imitated the house and held a large ceremony.
The construction of a tongkonan is laborious work and is usually done with the help of the extended family. There are three types of tongkonan. The tongkonan layuk is the house of the highest authority, used as the "center of government". The tongkonan pekamberan belongs to the family members who have some authority in local traditions. Ordinary family members reside in the tongkonan batu. The exclusivity to the nobility of the tongkonan is diminishing as many Torajan commoners find lucrative employment in other parts of Indonesia. As they send back money to their families, they enable the construction of larger tongkonan.
WOOD CARVINGS
To express social and religious concepts, Torajans carve wood, calling it Pa'ssura (or "the writing"). Wood carvings are therefore Toraja's cultural manifestation.
Each carving receives a special name, and common motifs are animals and plants that symbolize some virtue. For example, water plants and animals, such as crabs, tadpoles and water weeds, are commonly found to symbolize fertility. In some areas noble elders claim these symbols refer to strength of noble family, but not everyone agrees. The overall meaning of groups of carved motifs on houses remains debated and tourism has further complicated these debates because some feel a uniform explanation must be presented to tourists. The image to the left shows an example of Torajan wood carving, consisting of 15 square panels. The center bottom panel represents buffalo or wealth, a wish for many buffaloes for the family. The center panel represents a knot and a box, a hope that all of the family's offspring will be happy and live in harmony, like goods kept safe in a box. The top left and top right squares represent an aquatic animal, indicating the need for fast and hard work, just like moving on the surface of water. It also represents the need for a certain skill to produce good results.
Regularity and order are common features in Toraja wood carving (see table below), as well as abstracts and geometrical designs. Nature is frequently used as the basis of Toraja's ornaments, because nature is full of abstractions and geometries with regularities and ordering. Toraja's ornaments have been studied in ethnomathematics to reveal their mathematical structure, but Torajans base this art only on approximations. To create an ornament, bamboo sticks are used as a geometrical tool.
FUNERAL RITES
In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event. The richer and more powerful the individual, the more expensive is the funeral. In the aluk religion, only nobles have the right to have an extensive death feast. The death feast of a nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large, grassy field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other ceremonial funeral structures are specially made by the deceased family. Flute music, funeral chants, songs and poems, and crying and wailing are traditional Toraja expressions of grief with the exceptions of funerals for young children, and poor, low-status adults.
The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after the death so that the deceased's family can raise the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses. Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward Puya (the land of souls, or afterlife). During the waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan. The soul of the deceased is thought to linger around the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to Puya.
Another component of the ritual is the slaughter of water buffalo. The more powerful the person who died, the more buffalo are slaughtered at the death feast. Buffalo carcasses, including their heads, are usually lined up on a field waiting for their owner, who is in the "sleeping stage". Torajans believe that the deceased will need the buffalo to make the journey and that they will be quicker to arrive at Puya if they have many buffalo. Slaughtering tens of water buffalo and hundreds of pigs using a machete is the climax of the elaborate death feast, with dancing and music and young boys who catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes. Some of the slaughtered animals are given by guests as "gifts", which are carefully noted because they will be considered debts of the deceased's family. However, a cockfight, known as bulangan londong, is an integral part of the ceremony. As with the sacrifice of the buffalo and the pigs, the cockfight is considered sacred because it involves the spilling of blood on the earth. In particular, the tradition requires the sacrifice of at least three chickens. However, it is common for at least 25 pairs of chickens to be set against each other in the context of the ceremony.
There are three methods of burial: the coffin may be laid in a cave or in a carved stone grave, or hung on a cliff. It contains any possessions that the deceased will need in the afterlife. The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave carved out of a rocky cliff. The grave is usually expensive and takes a few months to complete. In some areas, a stone cave may be found that is large enough to accommodate a whole family. A wood-carved effigy, called Tau tau, is usually placed in the cave looking out over the land. The coffin of a baby or child may be hung from ropes on a cliff face or from a tree. This hanging grave usually lasts for years, until the ropes rot and the coffin falls to the ground.
In the ritual called Ma'Nene, that takes place each year in August, the bodies of the deceased are exhumed to be washed, groomed and dressed in new clothes. The mummies are then walked around the village.
DANCE AND MUSIC
Torajans perform dances on several occasions, most often during their elaborate funeral ceremonies. They dance to express their grief, and to honour and even cheer the deceased person because he is going to have a long journey in the afterlife. First, a group of men form a circle and sing a monotonous chant throughout the night to honour the deceased (a ritual called Ma'badong). This is considered by many Torajans to be the most important component of the funeral ceremony. On the second funeral day, the Ma'randing warrior dance is performed to praise the courage of the deceased during life. Several men perform the dance with a sword, a large shield made from buffalo skin, a helmet with a buffalo horn, and other ornamentation. The Ma'randing dance precedes a procession in which the deceased is carried from a rice barn to the rante, the site of the funeral ceremony. During the funeral, elder women perform the Ma'katia dance while singing a poetic song and wearing a long feathered costume. The Ma'akatia dance is performed to remind the audience of the generosity and loyalty of the deceased person. After the bloody ceremony of buffalo and pig slaughter, a group of boys and girls clap their hands while performing a cheerful dance called Ma'dondan.
As in other agricultural societies, Torajans dance and sing during harvest time. The Ma'bugi dance celebrates the thanksgiving event, and the Ma'gandangi dance is performed while Torajans are pounding rice. There are several war dances, such as the Manimbong dance performed by men, followed by the Ma'dandan dance performed by women. The aluk religion governs when and how Torajans dance. A dance called Ma'bua can be performed only once every 12 years. Ma'bua is a major Toraja ceremony in which priests wear a buffalo head and dance around a sacred tree.
A traditional musical instrument of the Toraja is a bamboo flute called a Pa'suling (suling is an Indonesian word for flute). This six-holed flute (not unique to the Toraja) is played at many dances, such as the thanksgiving dance Ma'bondensan, where the flute accompanies a group of shirtless, dancing men with long fingernails. The Toraja have indigenous musical instruments, such as the Pa'pelle (made from palm leaves) and the Pa'karombi (the Torajan version of a jaw harp). The Pa'pelle is played during harvest time and at house inauguration ceremonies.
LANGUAGE
The ethnic Toraja language is dominant in Tana Toraja with the main language as the Sa'dan Toraja. Although the national Indonesian language is the official language and is spoken in the community, all elementary schools in Tana Toraja teach Toraja language.Language varieties of Toraja, including Kalumpang, Mamasa, Tae' , Talondo' , Toala' , and Toraja-Sa'dan, belong to the Malayo-Polynesian language from the Austronesian family. At the outset, the isolated geographical nature of Tana Toraja formed many dialects between the Toraja languages themselves. After the formal administration of Tana Toraja, some Toraja dialects have been influenced by other languages through the transmigration program, introduced since the colonialism period, and it has been a major factor in the linguistic variety of Toraja languages. A prominent attribute of Toraja language is the notion of grief. The importance of death ceremony in Toraja culture has characterized their languages to express intricate degrees of grief and mourning. The Toraja language contains many terms referring to sadness, longing, depression, and mental pain. Giving a clear expression of the psychological and physical effect of loss is a catharsis and sometimes lessens the pain of grief itself.
ECONOMY
Prior to Suharto's "New Order" administration, the Torajan economy was based on agriculture, with cultivated wet rice in terraced fields on mountain slopes, and supplemental cassava and maize crops. Much time and energy were devoted to raising water buffalo, pigs, and chickens, primarily for ceremonial sacrifices and consumption. Coffee was the first significant cash crop produced in Toraja, and was introduced in the mid 19th century, changing the local economy towards commodity production for external markets and gaining an excellent reputation for quality in the international market .
With the commencement of the New Order in 1965, Indonesia's economy developed and opened to foreign investment. In Toraja, a coffee plantation and factory was established by Key Coffee of Japan, and Torajan coffee regained a reputation for quality within the growing international specialty coffee sector Multinational oil and mining companies opened new operations in Indonesia during the 1970s and 1980s. Torajans, particularly younger ones, relocated to work for the foreign companies - to Kalimantan for timber and oil, to Papua for mining, to the cities of Sulawesi and Java, and many went to Malaysia. The out-migration of Torajans was steady until 1985. and has continued since, with remittances sent back by emigre Torajans performing an important role within the contemporary economy.
Tourism commenced in Toraja in the 1970s, and accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1984 and 1997, a significant number of Torajans obtained their incomes from tourism, working in and owning hotels, as tour guides, drivers, or selling souvenirs. With the rise of political and economic instability in Indonesia in the late 1990s - including religious conflicts elsewhere on Sulawesi - tourism in Tana Toraja has declined dramatically. Toraja continues to be a well known origin for Indonesian coffee, grown by both smallholders and plantation estates, although migration, remittances and off-farm income is considered far more important to most households, even those in rural areas.
TOURISM AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Before the 1970s, Toraja was almost unknown to Western tourism. In 1971, about 50 Europeans visited Tana Toraja. In 1972, at least 400 visitors attended the funeral ritual of Puang of Sangalla, the highest-ranking nobleman in Tana Toraja and the so-called "last pure-blooded Toraja noble." The event was documented by National Geographic and broadcast in several European countries. In 1976, about 12,000 tourists visited the regency and in 1981, Torajan sculpture was exhibited in major North American museums. "The land of the heavenly kings of Tana Toraja", as written in the exhibition brochure, embraced the outside world.
In 1984, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism declared Tana Toraja Regency the prima donna of South Sulawesi. Tana Toraja was heralded as "the second stop after Bali". Tourism was increasing dramatically: by 1985, a total number of 150,000 foreigners had visited the Regency (in addition to 80,000 domestic tourists), and the annual number of foreign visitors was recorded at 40,000 in 1989. Souvenir stands appeared in Rantepao, the cultural center of Toraja, roads were sealed at the most-visited tourist sites, new hotels and tourist-oriented restaurants were opened, and an airstrip was opened in the Regency in 1981.
Tourism developers have marketed Tana Toraja as an exotic adventure - an area rich in culture and off the beaten track. Western tourists expected to see stone-age villages and pagan funerals. Toraja is for tourists who have gone as far as Bali and are willing to see more of the wild, "untouched" islands. However, they were more likely to see a Torajan wearing a hat and denim, living in a Christian society. Tourists felt that the tongkonan and other Torajan rituals had been preconceived to make profits, and complained that the destination was too commercialized. This has resulted in several clashes between Torajans and tourism developers, whom Torajans see as outsiders.
A clash between local Torajan leaders and the South Sulawesi provincial government (as a tourist developer) broke out in 1985. The government designated 18 Toraja villages and burial sites as traditional tourist attractions. Consequently, zoning restrictions were applied to these areas, such that Torajans themselves were barred from changing their tongkonans and burial sites. The plan was opposed by some Torajan leaders, as they felt that their rituals and traditions were being determined by outsiders. As a result, in 1987, the Torajan village of Kété Kesú and several other designated tourist attractions closed their doors to tourists. This closure lasted only a few days, as the villagers found it too difficult to survive without the income from selling souvenirs.
Tourism has also transformed Toraja society. Originally, there was a ritual which allowed commoners to marry nobles (puang) and thereby gain nobility for their children. However, the image of Torajan society created for the tourists, often by "lower-ranking" guides, has eroded its traditional strict hierarchy. High status is not as esteemed in Tana Toraja as it once was. Many low-ranking men can declare themselves and their children nobles by gaining enough wealth through work outside the region and then marrying a noble woman.
WIKIPEDIA
Video Mapping Philipp Geist_Germany+Brazil 2013-2014_- Santa Marta 2014_©Fred Pacífico/Porã
„VideoInstallation by Philipp Geist“, "Philipp Geist", „Copyright 2014 Philipp Geist / VG Bildkunst 2014", www.videogeist.de, mail@videogeist.de, „Rio de Janeiro“, "Santa Marta“, „Cristo Redentor“, „Dona Marta“, „Deutschland + Brasilien 2013-2014“, “Alemanha + Brasil 2013-2014”
Photo by Fred Pacífico
©2014 Philipp Geist / VG BIldkunst Bonn
Rio de Janeiro / Brazil 2014
Christ statue (Cristo Redentor) – May 12
Dona Marta favela – May 15 and 16,2014
Light Art-Video-Mapping-Installations Philipp Geist in Rio de Janeiro / Brazil 2014
on the Christ statue (Cristo Redentor) - May 12 and in the Dona Marta favela - May 15 and 16,
2014
Installation Philipp Geist Year of Germany in Brazil 2013/2014
Concept Time Drifts May 2014
At the end of the Year of Germany in Brazil 2013/2014, the artist Philipp Geist (Berlin, 1976)
develops two light installations in Rio this year; the first one on the world-famous Christ statue
(Cristo Redentor) and the other installation in the Santa Marta favela. For the installation the
artist presents artistic-liberal and poetic German and Brazilian themes and develops a building
and floor light installation of colored words and phrases in Portuguese, German, and in other
international languages. The installation deals with cultural characteristics and achievements of
both countries and visualizes the issues of time and space, volatility and presence in a free
artistic style. The two projects are in fact a double project which is combined. The installation
on the symbol of Rio and Brazil, the Christ statue, is recorded and projected onto the small
buildings and huts of the favela. The Christ statue, which has been built to protect the city and
the sailors, is symbolically projected on the shantytown, the favela, in a protective way. The
installation in the favela will be seen not only on a facade as a large cinema projection or as a
static image, but on several winding buildings, the roofs, the floor and on the steps. Thus, the
visitor becomes a part of the installation and can immerse into the projection and the light and
introduce himself. Chalk crayons are put out on the streets in the favela and the young and old
residents and visitors can write and paint words on the street, the ground, the stairs or even on
the house walls. The residents and several institutions should be addressed to submit words and
associations dealing with Rio, Brazil and Germany.
For the installation, which was shown at the Luminale in 2012, the artist Philipp Geist won the
German Lighting Design Award 2013 (Deutscher Lichtdesign-Preis 2013) in the category Light Art.
The series 'Time Drifts' is characterized by the complex and subtle way of visualizing various
currents and voices in cultural contexts and to provide institutions and visitors with the
opportunity of substantive participation: different personalities, visitors and institutions may be
addressed in advance and then contribute words and associations. Current and historico-cultural
topics are researched in advance by the artist and then integrated in a sensitive and subtle way.
The projection dismisses the use of screens, because concepts and associations are projected on
a large area onto the floor surface on several facades and in theater fog. Over the course of two
days, the installation can be seen on-site in the favela on May 15 and 16 and on the Cristo
Redentor on May 12 for a day.
Short, tall, young and old visitors can interactively participate in the installation by tracing and
adding words with colored chalk crayons available on the streets. Thus, over the period of the
installation, a carpet of words is evolved with terms that are contributed locally by the visitors
by means of the temporary and volatile 'medium' of chalk crayons. Philipp Geist develops in this
way a dialogue between the place, the visitors and his artistic work.
The concrete, tangible projection of the architecture and the static terms on the floor area
represents the facts and visible relics that are responsible for our understanding of history. The
transparent and volatile projection in the fog reminds us that part of the history can not be
preserved and that it is created in our individual imagination in a single moment. Words are
briefly visible as a metaphor for transience and then disappear again. This interplay of the
various text and image layers in the space refers to the location and the history/-ies of Brazil
and Germany and the cultural exchange between the two countries. The visitors themselves are
part of the installation: they dive into the large floor projection. In this way, different
perspectives and experiences of space are unified. Abstract passages which are created, then
overlapped and displaced by each other symbolize the constant changes in history, the passage
of time and the transience of existence. Even the understanding of the past is in the flux. The
modern writings and formations created on the computer establish a connection to the present
and the possibilities of today's technology and show that the perception of history and culture
depends always on the possibilities and constraints of the present.
'Time Drifts - Words of Berlin' is part of a series of installations, which has been shown in recent
years by Philipp Geist, and which are always re-developed site-specifically and adapted to the
local conditions: In October 2012, Philipp Geist showed the installation on the entire Potsdamer
Platz (public square) and the Kolhoff Tower and Renzo Piano Tower skyscrapers. In April 2012
the installation was shown at the Luminale in Frankfurt where it was seen by more than 40,000
visitors and thus the main project of the Luminale 2012. In 2011, Philipp Geist presented the
'Time Drifts' installation in Vancouver at the Jack Poole Plaza, as well as in Montreal on the
Place des Arts in 2010. The 'Timing' installation was shown at the 2009 Glow Festival in
Eindhoven. In the end of 2009, on the occasion of the birthday of the King of Thailand, 2-3
million visitors saw his facade installation at the royal throne in Bangkok. Other projects
include: 'Timelines' at the prestigious Pallazzio delle Esposizioni (Rome, 2007), 'Time Fades'
at the Cultural Forum of Berlin and 'Broken Time Lines' at the old spa Kurhaus Ahrenshoop
(Germany, 2008).
Geist's projects are primarily characterized by their complexity concerning the integration of
space, sound and motion images. His video mapping installations waive screens and transform a
wide range of architectures in moving, picturesque light sculptures which challenge the viewer's
perception of two- and three-dimensionality.
www.alemanha-brasil.org/br/node/8542
www.alemanha-brasil.org/Programme/Dia/2014-05-12
www.alemanha-brasil.org/Programme/Dia/2014-05-15
www.alemanha-brasil.org/Programme/Dia/2014-05-16
---------------
Arte de luz - Instalações de Mapeamento de Vídeo por Philipp Geist no Rio de Janeiro / Brasil
2014 no Cristo Redentor no dia 12 de maio e na favela Santa Marta nos dias 15 e 16 de maio de
2014
Instalação Philipp Geist Ano Alemanha + Brasil 2013/2014
Conceito Time Drifts Maio 2014
No final do ano Alemnaha + Brasil 2013/2014, o artista Philipp Geist (1976, Berlim) desenvolverá
duas instalações de luz no Rio; uma delas será exibida na mundialmente famosa estátua do
Cristo Redentor, e a outra na favela Santa Marta. Para a instalação, o artista traz temas teutobrasileiros
de maneira liberal-artística e poética desenvolvendo instalações de luz em edifícios e
no solo a partir de palavras e conceitos coloridos em Português, Alemão e em outros idiomas
internacionais. A instalação lida com as peculiaridades e realizações culturais de ambos os países
e visualiza as questões de tempo e espaço e de volatilidade e presença no estilo liberal-artístico.
Os dois projetos em questão representam um projeto duplo que é combinado. A instalação na
estátua do Cristo Redentor, como um símbolo do Rio e do Brasil, será gravada e projetada nos
pequenos prédios e barracos da favela. A estátua do Cristo Redentor, que foi erguida para
proteger a cidade e os marinheiros, será então projetada como um símbolo de proteção em uma
favela. A instalação na favela é visto não apenas em uma fachada como uma projeção grande de
cinema ou como uma imagem estática, mas em vários prédios sinuosos, em telhados, no solo e
nas escadas. Desta maneira, o visitante conseguirá ser parte da instalação e imergir e mergulhar
na projeção e na luz. Na favela, será distribuído giz para pintura de rua, e os moradores e
visitantes, tanto jovens quanto velhos, podem escrever e pintar conceitos na rua, no solo, nas
escadas ou até mesmo nas paredes das casas. Os moradores e diversas instituições serão
convidados a contribuir com conceitos e associações que representam o Rio, o Brasil e a
Alemanha.
Para as instalações apresentadas na Luminal em 2012, o artista Philipp Geist ganhou o
'Deutscher Lichtdesign-Preis 2013” (Prêmio Alemão de Desenho de Luz de 2013) na categoria
Arte de Luz. A série Time Drifts caracteriza-se pela forma complexa e sutil de visualizar várias
correntes e vozes em contextos culturais e de oferecer a instituições e aos visitantes a
oportunidade de participar: diferentes personalidades, visitantes e instituições podem ser
contatados antecipadamente para contribuir com termos e associações. Temas atuais, históricos
e culturais serão previamente pesquisados pelo artista e, depois, integrados de uma forma
sensível e sutil. A projeção é realizada sem o uso de telas porque conceitos e associações são
projetados, em grande estilo, sobre a superfície do solo, em diversas frentes e envolvidos em
fumaça. Ao longo de dois dias, a instalação estará em exibição em 15 e 16 de maio na favela, e
em 12 de maio, por um dia, no Cristo Redentor.
Visitantes jovens e velhos podem envolver-se na instalação e traçar ou adicionar palavras com
giz colorido, que será distribuído, e assim participar interativamente na instalação. Desta
maneira, durante a duração da instalação, será desenvolvido um tapete de palavras. As palavras
serão fornecidas, no próprio local, pelos visitantes usando o giz, um meio temporário e volátil.
Philipp Geist desenvolve assim um diálogo entre o local, os visitantes e seu trabalho artístico.
A área de projeção concreta e tangível da arquitetura e os termos estáticos sobre a superfície do
solo representam os fatos e as relíquias visíveis que compõem a nossa compreensão da história. A
área de projeção transparente e sumindo por dentro da fumaça lembra que parte da história não
pode ser preservada e que ela é criada na nossa imaginação individual momentaneamente.
Conceitos são brevemente visíveis, como uma metáfora para a transitoriedade e, logo mais,
desaparecem. Esta interação entre as várias camadas de texto e de imagens no espaço refere-se
à localização e a(s) história(s) do Brasil e da Alemanha e o intercâmbio cultural entre os dois
países. Os próprios visitantes tornam-se parte da instalação: eles imergem na grande projeção
do solo. Desta forma, diferentes perspectivas e experiências de espaço são unidas. Passagens
abstratas que são formadas, sobrepostas e suprimidas pela próxima simbolizam as mudanças
contínuas na história, a passagem do tempo e a transitoriedade da existência. A compreensão do
passado também está no fluxo. As fontes e formações modernas criadas no computador
estabelecem uma conexão com o presente e com as possibilidades da tecnologia de hoje: a
percepção da história e da cultura sempre dependende das capacidades e limitações do
presente.
'Time Drifts - Words of Berlin' faz parte de uma série de instalações, que foram apresentadas
durante os últimos anos por Philipp Geist e que são sempre redesenvolvidas para as condições
locais específicas: em outubro de 2012, Philipp Geist exibiu a instalação em toda a praça
Potsdamer Platz (Berlim) e nos dois arranha-céus Kolhoff Tower (Berlim) e Renzo Piano Tower
(Londres). Em abril de 2012, a instalação foi apresentada no evento da Luminal em Frankfurt
onde foi vista por mais de 40.000 visitantes sendo o principal projeto da Luminal de 2012. Em
2011, Philipp Geist mostrou a instalação Time Drifts na praça Jack Poole Plaza em Vancouver
bem como em Montreal, Canadá, no centro de arte Place des Arts, em 2010. A instalação Timing
foi exibida no Glow Festival de 2009 in Eindhoven, Holanda. No final de 2009 e por ocasião do
aniversário do rei tailandês, aprox. 2 a 3 milhões de visitantes viram a instalação de fachada do
artista no trono real em Banguecoque. Seus outros projetos incluem: Time Lines, no prestigiado
museu Palazzio delle Esposizioni (Roma, 2007); Time Fades, no Fórum Cultural de Berlim;
Broken Time Lines, no antigo spa Kurhaus Ahrenshoop (Alemanha, 2008).
Os projetos de Geist são principalmente caracterizados por sua complexidade na integração de
espaço, som e imagens de movimento. Suas instalações de mapeamento de vídeo renunciam
telas e transformam uma ampla gama de arquiteturas em esculturas móveis e pitorescas que
desafiam a percepção do espectador de duas e três dimensões.
www.alemanha-brasil.org/br/node/8542
www.alemanha-brasil.org/Programme/Dia/2014-05-12
www.alemanha-brasil.org/Programme/Dia/2014-05-15
www.alemanha-brasil.org/Programme/Dia/2014-05-16
---------------
Lichtkunst-VideoMappingInstallationen Philipp Geist in Rio de Janeiro / Brasilien 2014
an der Christstatue (Cristo Redender) 12.5 und in der Favela Santa Marta 15./16.5.2014
Installation Philipp Geist Deutsch-Brasilianisches Jahr 2013/2014
Konzept Time Drifts Mai 2014
Zum Abschluss des Deutsch-Brasilianischen-Jahres 2013/2014 entwickelt der Berliner Künstler
Philipp Geist (1976) zwei Lichtinstallation in Rio d.J.; eine an der weltbekannten Christstatue
(Cristo Redender) und in die andere Installation in der Favela Santa Marta. Bei der Installation
greift der Künstler künstlerisch frei und poetisch deutsch brasilianische Themen auf und
entwickelt eine Gebäude- und Boden-Lichtinstallation aus farbigen Wörtern und Begriffen in
portugiesischer, deutscher, und in weiteren internationalen Sprachen. Die Installation thematisiert
kulturelle Besonderheiten und Errungenschaften beider Länder und visualisiert die Themen Zeit
und Raum, Flüchtigkeit und Präsenz in freien künstlerischen Art. Bei den beiden Projekten handelt
es sich um ein Doppelprojekt welches kombiniert wird. Die Installation auf das Wahrzeichen von
Rio und Brasilien die Christstatue, wird aufgenommen und auf die kleinen Gebäude und Hütten
der Favela projiziert. Die Christstatue die errichtet worden ist um die Stadt und Seeleute zu
schützen, wird so symbolisch schützend über ein Armenviertel die Favela projiziert. Dabei ist die
Installation in der Favela nicht nur auf einer Fassade als große Kinoprojektion oder als statisches
Bild zu sehen, sondern auf mehreren verwinkelten Gebäuden, den Dächern, den Boden und auf
den Stufen. Der Besucher wird vielmehr auf diese Weise selbst Teil der Installation und kann in die
Projektion und das Licht eintauchen und sich einbringen. In der Favela werden Strassenmalkreide
ausgelegt und die Bewohner und Besucher ob jung oder alt können Begriffe auf die Strasse, den
Boden, die Treppenstufen oder sogar auf die Hauswände schreiben und malen. Die Bewohner und
verschiedene Institutionen sollen angesprochen werden Assoziationen und Begriffe die für Rio,
Brasilien und Deutschland stehen einzureichen.
Für die 2012 bei der Luminale gezeigten Installation hat der Künstler Philipp Geist den Deutschen
Lichtdesign-Preis 2013 in der der Kategorie Lichtkunst gewonnen. Die Serie 'Time Drifts' zeichnet
sich aus durch die komplexe und die subtile Möglichkeit, verschiedenste Strömungen und
Stimmen in kulturellen Kontexten sichtbar zu machen und Institutionen und Besuchern die
Möglichkeit zur inhaltlichen Partizipation zu geben: Es können verschiedene Persönlichkeiten,
Besucher und Institute im Vorfeld angesprochen werden, die Begriffe und Assoziationen
beisteuern. Aktuelle und kulturhistorische Themen werden im Vorfeld vom Künstler recherchiert
und auf sensible und subtile Weise integriert. Die Projektion verzichtet auf den Einsatz von
Leinwänden, denn Begriffe und Assoziationen werden grossflächig auf die Bodenfläche, auf
mehrere Fassaden und in Theaternebel projiziert. Über den Zeitraum von 2 Tagen wird die
Installation vor Ort in der Favela am 15/16.Mai und die Installation am Cristo Redentor am 12.Mai
für einen Tag zu sehen sein.!
Kleine, große, junge und alte Besucher können sich einbringen in die Installation und mit farbiger
Straßenmalkreide, die ausgelegt wird, Wörter nachzeichnen und hinzufügen und so interaktiv an
der Installation teilnehmen. Über die Installationsdauer entsteht somit ein Wörterteppich aus
Begriffen, die vor Ort von den Besuchern selbst mittels dem temporären und flüchtigen 'Medium'
der Strassenmalkreide beigesteuert werden. Geist entwickelt auf diese Weise einen Dialog
zwischen dem Ort, den Besuchern und seiner künstlerischen Arbeit. ! !
Die konkrete, greifbare Projektionsfläche der Architektur und die statischen Begriffe auf der
Bodenfläche stehen für die Fakten und sichtbaren Relikte, welche unser Geschichtsverständnis
ausmachen. Die transparente, sich verflüchtigende Projektionsfläche im Nebel erinnert daran,
dass ein Teil der Geschichte nicht konserviert werden kann und im Moment in unserer individuellen
Vorstellung entsteht. Begriffe werden als Metapher für die Vergänglichkeit kurzzeitig sichtbar und
verschwinden sofort wieder. Dieses Zusammenspiel der verschiedenen Text- und Bildschichten im
Raum verweist auf den Ort und die Geschichte(n) Brasiliens und Deutschlands und den kulturellen
Austausch beider Länder. Die Besucher selbst werden Teil der Installation: sie tauchen in die
großflächige Bodenprojektion ein. Auf diese Weise vereinen sich unterschiedliche Perspektiven
und Raumerfahrungen. Abstrakte Passagen, die sich aufbauen, überlagern und gegenseitig
verdrängen, symbolisieren die ständigen Veränderungen in der Geschichte, den Lauf der Zeit und
die Flüchtigkeit des Seins. Auch das Verständnis von der Vergangenheit ist im Fluss. Die
modernen Schriften und Formationen, die am Computer entstanden sind, stellen eine Verbindung
zur Gegenwart und den Möglichkeiten der heutigen Technik her und zeigen, dass die Erfahrbarkeit
von Geschichte und Kultur immer von den Möglichkeiten und Rahmenbedingungen der Gegenwart
abhängig ist.
'Time Drifts - Words of Berlin' ist Teil einer Serie von Installationen, die Philipp Geist in den letzten
Jahren gezeigt hat, und die dabei immer wieder neu an die örtlichen Gegebenheiten ortsspezifisch
weiterentwickelt wird: Im Oktober 2012 zeigte Geist die Installation auf dem gesamten Potsdamer
Platz und den beiden Hochhäusern Kolhoff Tower und Renzo Piano Tower. Im April 2012 wurde die
Installation in Frankfurt auf der Luminale gezeigt, wurde von mehr als 40.000 Besuchern gesehen
und war das Hauptprojekt der Luminale 2012. Im Jahr 2011 zeigte Geist die Installation Time Drifts
in Vancouver am Jack-Poole Plaza, ebenso wie in Montreal am Place des Arts in 2010. Die
Installation 'Timing' war 2009 auf dem Glow Festival in Eindhoven zu sehen. Ende 2009 sahen
anlässlich des Geburtstages des thailändischen Königs ca. 2-3 Millionen Besucher seine
Fassadeninstallation am königlichen Thron in Bangkok. Andere Projekte waren u.a.: 'Time Lines'
am renommierten Museum delle Esposizioni (2007), 'Time Fades' am Berliner Kulturforum,
'Broken Time Lines' am alten Kurhaus Ahrenshoop (2008).
Geists Projekte sind in erster Linie gekennzeichnet durch ihre Komplexität in der Integration von
Raum, Ton und Bewegbild. Seine Video-Mapping-Installationen verzichten auf Leinwände und
verwandeln verschiedenste Architekturen in bewegte, malerische Lichtskulpturen, die die
Wahrnehmung der Betrachter von Zwei- und Dreidimensionalität herausfordern.
. . . 2. 3. 2007 - this is the first day of a funeral ceremony in Bori for a High Class Woman. She died on 18. 1. 2007 at the age of 85 years. The ceremony will last for one week. Today we will see the showing of the water buffalos, pigs, cow, horse, deer and chicken. All these animals are offered to be the servants of the died woman in her new life after death in Puya. We will see buffalo fighting. Men bet for the winner of those fightings. Two buffalos fight each other - the one running away lost the fight!
If you wonder why the quality of the pictures is a little less: these are no photographs - it all are snapshots of my videos! So sorry for the less resolution, but I think, they are worth to be shown.
_____________________________________
The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja"). Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk ("the way"). The Indonesian government has recognized this animist belief as Aluk To Dolo ("Way of the Ancestors").
The word toraja comes from the Bugis Buginese language term to riaja, meaning "people of the uplands". The Dutch colonial government named the people Toraja in 1909. Torajans are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tongkonan, and colorful wood carvings. Toraja funeral rites are important social events, usually attended by hundreds of people and lasting for several days.
Before the 20th century, Torajans lived in autonomous villages, where they practised animism and were relatively untouched by the outside world. In the early 1900s, Dutch missionaries first worked to convert Torajan highlanders to Christianity. When the Tana Toraja regency was further opened to the outside world in the 1970s, it became an icon of tourism in Indonesia: it was exploited by tourism developers and studied by anthropologists. By the 1990s, when tourism peaked, Toraja society had changed significantly, from an agrarian model - in which social life and customs were outgrowths of the Aluk To Dolo - to a largely Christian society. Today, tourism and remittances from migrant Torajans have made for major changes in the Toraja highland, giving the Toraja a celebrity status within Indonesia and enhancing Toraja ethnic group pride.
ETHNIC IDENTITY
The Torajan people had little notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic group before the 20th century. Before Dutch colonization and Christianization, Torajans, who lived in highland areas, identified with their villages and did not share a broad sense of identity. Although complexes of rituals created linkages between highland villages, there were variations in dialects, differences in social hierarchies, and an array of ritual practices in the Sulawesi highland region. "Toraja" (from the coastal languages' to, meaning people; and riaja, uplands) was first used as a lowlander expression for highlanders. As a result, "Toraja" initially had more currency with outsiders - such as the Bugis and Makassarese, who constitute a majority of the lowland of Sulawesi - than with insiders. The Dutch missionaries' presence in the highlands gave rise to the Toraja ethnic consciousness in the Sa'dan Toraja region, and this shared identity grew with the rise of tourism in the Tana Toraja Regency. Since then, South Sulawesi has four main ethnic groups - the Bugis (the majority, including shipbuilders and seafarers), the Makassarese (lowland traders and seafarers), the Mandarese (traders and fishermen), and the Toraja (highland rice cultivators).
HISTORY
From the 17th century, the Dutch established trade and political control on Sulawesi through the Dutch East Indies Company. Over two centuries, they ignored the mountainous area in the central Sulawesi, where Torajans lived, because access was difficult and it had little productive agricultural land. In the late 19th century, the Dutch became increasingly concerned about the spread of Islam in the south of Sulawesi, especially among the Makassarese and Bugis peoples. The Dutch saw the animist highlanders as potential Christians. In the 1920s, the Reformed Missionary Alliance of the Dutch Reformed Church began missionary work aided by the Dutch colonial government. In addition to introducing Christianity, the Dutch abolished slavery and imposed local taxes. A line was drawn around the Sa'dan area and called Tana Toraja ("the land of Toraja"). Tana Toraja was first a subdivision of the Luwu kingdom that had claimed the area. In 1946, the Dutch granted Tana Toraja a regentschap, and it was recognized in 1957 as one of the regencies of Indonesia.
Early Dutch missionaries faced strong opposition among Torajans, especially among the elite, because the abolition of their profitable slave trade had angered them. Some Torajans were forcibly relocated to the lowlands by the Dutch, where they could be more easily controlled. Taxes were kept high, undermining the wealth of the elites. Ultimately, the Dutch influence did not subdue Torajan culture, and only a few Torajans were converted. In 1950, only 10% of the population had converted to Christianity.
In the 1930s, Muslim lowlanders attacked the Torajans, resulting in widespread Christian conversion among those who sought to align themselves with the Dutch for political protection and to form a movement against the Bugis and Makassarese Muslims. Between 1951 and 1965 (following Indonesian independence), southern Sulawesi faced a turbulent period as the Darul Islam separatist movement fought for an Islamic state in Sulawesi. The 15 years of guerrilla warfare led to massive conversions to
CHRISTIANITY
Alignment with the Indonesian government, however, did not guarantee safety for the Torajans. In 1965, a presidential decree required every Indonesian citizen to belong to one of five officially recognized religions: Islam, Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism), Hinduism, or Buddhism. The Torajan religious belief (aluk) was not legally recognized, and the Torajans raised their voices against the law. To make aluk accord with the law, it had to be accepted as part of one of the official religions. In 1969, Aluk To Dolo ("the way of ancestors") was legalized as a sect of Agama Hindu Dharma, the official name of Hinduism in Indonesia.
SOCIETY
There are three main types of affiliation in Toraja society: family, class and religion.
FAMILY AFFILIATION
Family is the primary social and political grouping in Torajan society. Each village is one extended family, the seat of which is the tongkonan, a traditional Torajan house. Each tongkonan has a name, which becomes the name of the village. The familial dons maintain village unity. Marriage between distant cousins (fourth cousins and beyond) is a common practice that strengthens kinship. Toraja society prohibits marriage between close cousins (up to and including the third cousin) - except for nobles, to prevent the dispersal of property. Kinship is actively reciprocal, meaning that the extended family helps each other farm, share buffalo rituals, and pay off debts.
Each person belongs to both the mother's and the father's families, the only bilateral family line in Indonesia. Children, therefore, inherit household affiliation from both mother and father, including land and even family debts. Children's names are given on the basis of kinship, and are usually chosen after dead relatives. Names of aunts, uncles and cousins are commonly referred to in the names of mothers, fathers and siblings.
Before the start of the formal administration of Toraja villages by the Tana Toraja Regency, each Toraja village was autonomous. In a more complex situation, in which one Toraja family could not handle their problems alone, several villages formed a group; sometimes, villages would unite against other villages. Relationship between families was expressed through blood, marriage, and shared ancestral houses (tongkonan), practically signed by the exchange of water buffalo and pigs on ritual occasions. Such exchanges not only built political and cultural ties between families but defined each person's place in a social hierarchy: who poured palm wine, who wrapped a corpse and prepared offerings, where each person could or could not sit, what dishes should be used or avoided, and even what piece of meat constituted one's share.
CLASS AFFILIATION
In early Toraja society, family relationships were tied closely to social class. There were three strata: nobles, commoners, and slaves (slavery was abolished in 1909 by the Dutch East Indies government). Class was inherited through the mother. It was taboo, therefore, to marry "down" with a woman of lower class. On the other hand, marrying a woman of higher class could improve the status of the next generation. The nobility's condescending attitude toward the commoners is still maintained today for reasons of family prestige.
Nobles, who were believed to be direct descendants of the descended person from heaven, lived in tongkonans, while commoners lived in less lavish houses (bamboo shacks called banua). Slaves lived in small huts, which had to be built around their owner's tongkonan. Commoners might marry anyone, but nobles preferred to marry in-family to maintain their status. Sometimes nobles married Bugis or Makassarese nobles. Commoners and slaves were prohibited from having death feasts. Despite close kinship and status inheritance, there was some social mobility, as marriage or change in wealth could affect an individuals status. Wealth was counted by the ownership of water buffaloes.
Slaves in Toraja society were family property. Sometimes Torajans decided to become slaves when they incurred a debt, pledging to work as payment. Slaves could be taken during wars, and slave trading was common. Slaves could buy their freedom, but their children still inherited slave status. Slaves were prohibited from wearing bronze or gold, carving their houses, eating from the same dishes as their owners, or having sex with free women - a crime punishable by death.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
Toraja's indigenous belief system is polytheistic animism, called aluk, or "the way" (sometimes translated as "the law"). In the Toraja myth, the ancestors of Torajan people came down from heaven using stairs, which were then used by the Torajans as a communication medium with Puang Matua, the Creator. The cosmos, according to aluk, is divided into the upper world (heaven), the world of man (earth), and the underworld. At first, heaven and earth were married, then there was a darkness, a separation, and finally the light. Animals live in the underworld, which is represented by rectangular space enclosed by pillars, the earth is for mankind, and the heaven world is located above, covered with a saddle-shaped roof. Other Toraja gods include Pong Banggai di Rante (god of Earth), Indo' Ongon-Ongon (a goddess who can cause earthquakes), Pong Lalondong (god of death), and Indo' Belo Tumbang (goddess of medicine); there are many more.
The earthly authority, whose words and actions should be cleaved to both in life (agriculture) and death (funerals), is called to minaa (an aluk priest). Aluk is not just a belief system; it is a combination of law, religion, and habit. Aluk governs social life, agricultural practices, and ancestral rituals. The details of aluk may vary from one village to another. One common law is the requirement that death and life rituals be separated. Torajans believe that performing death rituals might ruin their corpses if combined with life rituals. The two rituals are equally important. During the time of the Dutch missionaries, Christian Torajans were prohibited from attending or performing life rituals, but were allowed to perform death rituals. Consequently, Toraja's death rituals are still practised today, while life rituals have diminished.
CULTURE
TONGKONAN
Tongkonan are the traditional Torajan ancestral houses. They stand high on wooden piles, topped with a layered split-bamboo roof shaped in a sweeping curved arc, and they are incised with red, black, and yellow detailed wood carvings on the exterior walls. The word "tongkonan" comes from the Torajan tongkon ("to sit").
Tongkonan are the center of Torajan social life. The rituals associated with the tongkonan are important expressions of Torajan spiritual life, and therefore all family members are impelled to participate, because symbolically the tongkonan represents links to their ancestors and to living and future kin. According to Torajan myth, the first tongkonan was built in heaven on four poles, with a roof made of Indian cloth. When the first Torajan ancestor descended to earth, he imitated the house and held a large ceremony.
The construction of a tongkonan is laborious work and is usually done with the help of the extended family. There are three types of tongkonan. The tongkonan layuk is the house of the highest authority, used as the "center of government". The tongkonan pekamberan belongs to the family members who have some authority in local traditions. Ordinary family members reside in the tongkonan batu. The exclusivity to the nobility of the tongkonan is diminishing as many Torajan commoners find lucrative employment in other parts of Indonesia. As they send back money to their families, they enable the construction of larger tongkonan.
WOOD CARVINGS
To express social and religious concepts, Torajans carve wood, calling it Pa'ssura (or "the writing"). Wood carvings are therefore Toraja's cultural manifestation.
Each carving receives a special name, and common motifs are animals and plants that symbolize some virtue. For example, water plants and animals, such as crabs, tadpoles and water weeds, are commonly found to symbolize fertility. In some areas noble elders claim these symbols refer to strength of noble family, but not everyone agrees. The overall meaning of groups of carved motifs on houses remains debated and tourism has further complicated these debates because some feel a uniform explanation must be presented to tourists. The image to the left shows an example of Torajan wood carving, consisting of 15 square panels. The center bottom panel represents buffalo or wealth, a wish for many buffaloes for the family. The center panel represents a knot and a box, a hope that all of the family's offspring will be happy and live in harmony, like goods kept safe in a box. The top left and top right squares represent an aquatic animal, indicating the need for fast and hard work, just like moving on the surface of water. It also represents the need for a certain skill to produce good results.
Regularity and order are common features in Toraja wood carving (see table below), as well as abstracts and geometrical designs. Nature is frequently used as the basis of Toraja's ornaments, because nature is full of abstractions and geometries with regularities and ordering. Toraja's ornaments have been studied in ethnomathematics to reveal their mathematical structure, but Torajans base this art only on approximations. To create an ornament, bamboo sticks are used as a geometrical tool.
FUNERAL RITES
In Toraja society, the funeral ritual is the most elaborate and expensive event. The richer and more powerful the individual, the more expensive is the funeral. In the aluk religion, only nobles have the right to have an extensive death feast. The death feast of a nobleman is usually attended by thousands and lasts for several days. A ceremonial site, called rante, is usually prepared in a large, grassy field where shelters for audiences, rice barns, and other ceremonial funeral structures are specially made by the deceased family. Flute music, funeral chants, songs and poems, and crying and wailing are traditional Toraja expressions of grief with the exceptions of funerals for young children, and poor, low-status adults.
The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after the death so that the deceased's family can raise the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses. Torajans traditionally believe that death is not a sudden, abrupt event, but a gradual process toward Puya (the land of souls, or afterlife). During the waiting period, the body of the deceased is wrapped in several layers of cloth and kept under the tongkonan. The soul of the deceased is thought to linger around the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to Puya.
Another component of the ritual is the slaughter of water buffalo. The more powerful the person who died, the more buffalo are slaughtered at the death feast. Buffalo carcasses, including their heads, are usually lined up on a field waiting for their owner, who is in the "sleeping stage". Torajans believe that the deceased will need the buffalo to make the journey and that they will be quicker to arrive at Puya if they have many buffalo. Slaughtering tens of water buffalo and hundreds of pigs using a machete is the climax of the elaborate death feast, with dancing and music and young boys who catch spurting blood in long bamboo tubes. Some of the slaughtered animals are given by guests as "gifts", which are carefully noted because they will be considered debts of the deceased's family. However, a cockfight, known as bulangan londong, is an integral part of the ceremony. As with the sacrifice of the buffalo and the pigs, the cockfight is considered sacred because it involves the spilling of blood on the earth. In particular, the tradition requires the sacrifice of at least three chickens. However, it is common for at least 25 pairs of chickens to be set against each other in the context of the ceremony.
There are three methods of burial: the coffin may be laid in a cave or in a carved stone grave, or hung on a cliff. It contains any possessions that the deceased will need in the afterlife. The wealthy are often buried in a stone grave carved out of a rocky cliff. The grave is usually expensive and takes a few months to complete. In some areas, a stone cave may be found that is large enough to accommodate a whole family. A wood-carved effigy, called Tau tau, is usually placed in the cave looking out over the land. The coffin of a baby or child may be hung from ropes on a cliff face or from a tree. This hanging grave usually lasts for years, until the ropes rot and the coffin falls to the ground.
In the ritual called Ma'Nene, that takes place each year in August, the bodies of the deceased are exhumed to be washed, groomed and dressed in new clothes. The mummies are then walked around the village.
DANCE AND MUSIC
Torajans perform dances on several occasions, most often during their elaborate funeral ceremonies. They dance to express their grief, and to honour and even cheer the deceased person because he is going to have a long journey in the afterlife. First, a group of men form a circle and sing a monotonous chant throughout the night to honour the deceased (a ritual called Ma'badong). This is considered by many Torajans to be the most important component of the funeral ceremony. On the second funeral day, the Ma'randing warrior dance is performed to praise the courage of the deceased during life. Several men perform the dance with a sword, a large shield made from buffalo skin, a helmet with a buffalo horn, and other ornamentation. The Ma'randing dance precedes a procession in which the deceased is carried from a rice barn to the rante, the site of the funeral ceremony. During the funeral, elder women perform the Ma'katia dance while singing a poetic song and wearing a long feathered costume. The Ma'akatia dance is performed to remind the audience of the generosity and loyalty of the deceased person. After the bloody ceremony of buffalo and pig slaughter, a group of boys and girls clap their hands while performing a cheerful dance called Ma'dondan.
As in other agricultural societies, Torajans dance and sing during harvest time. The Ma'bugi dance celebrates the thanksgiving event, and the Ma'gandangi dance is performed while Torajans are pounding rice. There are several war dances, such as the Manimbong dance performed by men, followed by the Ma'dandan dance performed by women. The aluk religion governs when and how Torajans dance. A dance called Ma'bua can be performed only once every 12 years. Ma'bua is a major Toraja ceremony in which priests wear a buffalo head and dance around a sacred tree.
A traditional musical instrument of the Toraja is a bamboo flute called a Pa'suling (suling is an Indonesian word for flute). This six-holed flute (not unique to the Toraja) is played at many dances, such as the thanksgiving dance Ma'bondensan, where the flute accompanies a group of shirtless, dancing men with long fingernails. The Toraja have indigenous musical instruments, such as the Pa'pelle (made from palm leaves) and the Pa'karombi (the Torajan version of a jaw harp). The Pa'pelle is played during harvest time and at house inauguration ceremonies.
LANGUAGE
The ethnic Toraja language is dominant in Tana Toraja with the main language as the Sa'dan Toraja. Although the national Indonesian language is the official language and is spoken in the community, all elementary schools in Tana Toraja teach Toraja language.Language varieties of Toraja, including Kalumpang, Mamasa, Tae' , Talondo' , Toala' , and Toraja-Sa'dan, belong to the Malayo-Polynesian language from the Austronesian family. At the outset, the isolated geographical nature of Tana Toraja formed many dialects between the Toraja languages themselves. After the formal administration of Tana Toraja, some Toraja dialects have been influenced by other languages through the transmigration program, introduced since the colonialism period, and it has been a major factor in the linguistic variety of Toraja languages. A prominent attribute of Toraja language is the notion of grief. The importance of death ceremony in Toraja culture has characterized their languages to express intricate degrees of grief and mourning. The Toraja language contains many terms referring to sadness, longing, depression, and mental pain. Giving a clear expression of the psychological and physical effect of loss is a catharsis and sometimes lessens the pain of grief itself.
ECONOMY
Prior to Suharto's "New Order" administration, the Torajan economy was based on agriculture, with cultivated wet rice in terraced fields on mountain slopes, and supplemental cassava and maize crops. Much time and energy were devoted to raising water buffalo, pigs, and chickens, primarily for ceremonial sacrifices and consumption. Coffee was the first significant cash crop produced in Toraja, and was introduced in the mid 19th century, changing the local economy towards commodity production for external markets and gaining an excellent reputation for quality in the international market .
With the commencement of the New Order in 1965, Indonesia's economy developed and opened to foreign investment. In Toraja, a coffee plantation and factory was established by Key Coffee of Japan, and Torajan coffee regained a reputation for quality within the growing international specialty coffee sector Multinational oil and mining companies opened new operations in Indonesia during the 1970s and 1980s. Torajans, particularly younger ones, relocated to work for the foreign companies - to Kalimantan for timber and oil, to Papua for mining, to the cities of Sulawesi and Java, and many went to Malaysia. The out-migration of Torajans was steady until 1985. and has continued since, with remittances sent back by emigre Torajans performing an important role within the contemporary economy.
Tourism commenced in Toraja in the 1970s, and accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. Between 1984 and 1997, a significant number of Torajans obtained their incomes from tourism, working in and owning hotels, as tour guides, drivers, or selling souvenirs. With the rise of political and economic instability in Indonesia in the late 1990s - including religious conflicts elsewhere on Sulawesi - tourism in Tana Toraja has declined dramatically. Toraja continues to be a well known origin for Indonesian coffee, grown by both smallholders and plantation estates, although migration, remittances and off-farm income is considered far more important to most households, even those in rural areas.
TOURISM AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Before the 1970s, Toraja was almost unknown to Western tourism. In 1971, about 50 Europeans visited Tana Toraja. In 1972, at least 400 visitors attended the funeral ritual of Puang of Sangalla, the highest-ranking nobleman in Tana Toraja and the so-called "last pure-blooded Toraja noble." The event was documented by National Geographic and broadcast in several European countries. In 1976, about 12,000 tourists visited the regency and in 1981, Torajan sculpture was exhibited in major North American museums. "The land of the heavenly kings of Tana Toraja", as written in the exhibition brochure, embraced the outside world.
In 1984, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism declared Tana Toraja Regency the prima donna of South Sulawesi. Tana Toraja was heralded as "the second stop after Bali". Tourism was increasing dramatically: by 1985, a total number of 150,000 foreigners had visited the Regency (in addition to 80,000 domestic tourists), and the annual number of foreign visitors was recorded at 40,000 in 1989. Souvenir stands appeared in Rantepao, the cultural center of Toraja, roads were sealed at the most-visited tourist sites, new hotels and tourist-oriented restaurants were opened, and an airstrip was opened in the Regency in 1981.
Tourism developers have marketed Tana Toraja as an exotic adventure - an area rich in culture and off the beaten track. Western tourists expected to see stone-age villages and pagan funerals. Toraja is for tourists who have gone as far as Bali and are willing to see more of the wild, "untouched" islands. However, they were more likely to see a Torajan wearing a hat and denim, living in a Christian society. Tourists felt that the tongkonan and other Torajan rituals had been preconceived to make profits, and complained that the destination was too commercialized. This has resulted in several clashes between Torajans and tourism developers, whom Torajans see as outsiders.
A clash between local Torajan leaders and the South Sulawesi provincial government (as a tourist developer) broke out in 1985. The government designated 18 Toraja villages and burial sites as traditional tourist attractions. Consequently, zoning restrictions were applied to these areas, such that Torajans themselves were barred from changing their tongkonans and burial sites. The plan was opposed by some Torajan leaders, as they felt that their rituals and traditions were being determined by outsiders. As a result, in 1987, the Torajan village of Kété Kesú and several other designated tourist attractions closed their doors to tourists. This closure lasted only a few days, as the villagers found it too difficult to survive without the income from selling souvenirs.
Tourism has also transformed Toraja society. Originally, there was a ritual which allowed commoners to marry nobles (puang) and thereby gain nobility for their children. However, the image of Torajan society created for the tourists, often by "lower-ranking" guides, has eroded its traditional strict hierarchy. High status is not as esteemed in Tana Toraja as it once was. Many low-ranking men can declare themselves and their children nobles by gaining enough wealth through work outside the region and then marrying a noble woman.
WIKIPEDIA
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, California -- The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center suspended classes on June 16 for a Resiliency Day held on Presidio's Soldier Field. Service members were treated to a variety of culinary options from food vendors while the 517th Training Group Rifle Drill Team performed, followed by a flag-football tournament. Coins and awards were presented to recipients by visiting TRADOC Command Sgt. Maj., David Davenport. The day was capped by a parachute demonstration jump from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Black Daggers parachute team.
Official Presidio of Monterey Web site
Official Presidio of Monterey Facebook
PHOTO by Steven L. Shepard, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.
An estimated 5,000 people attended DLIFLC’s annual Language Day Open House event on Friday, May 12th, on the Presidio of Monterey. It was a fun filled day with many cultural dances, songs, food, performances, special presentations and classroom demonstrations. (U.S. Army photo by Amber K. Whittington)