Art of Indonesia

by Bambang Sumadio

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Summary

The Art of Indonesia presents the treasures of that country's National Museum to the world, covering a representative selection from prehistoric, classic, Islamic and colonial periods. The objects depicted include Neolithic chalcedony bangles and ceremonial adzes, ritual objects of eerie magical power from the Outer Islands, Javanese gamelan instruments, bronze cannon from Sumatra, several magnificent antique keris, and masterworks of representational art produced by the great Hindu-Buddhist civilizations of Mataram, Sinhasari, Kadiri and Majapahit. All parts of the Indonesian archipelago are represented, as are societies of varying degrees of technical and cultural advancement.
But this book is only partly a catalogue of beautiful objects, many derived from Indonesia's unique mixture of surrounding civilizations. Seven absorbing, authoritative essays by prominent intellectual and academic figures explore the arts and customs of traditional Indonesian societies. In the process, they throw a new and unexpectedly revealing light on the objects displayed. Informative captions supplement the text, offering further details of the more than 150 objects displayed in this book. The Art of Indonesia is a work of importance to the concerned scholar as much as to the collector or enthusiast.

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