Bali,Borneo in the 1910's, 1920's,1930's, 1940's, wandering around the Tropenmuseum website

Some beautiful images, photographs of Bali.

Bali in the 1910's, 1920's,1930s and 1940's

Wayang Wajang Wong Dancer "Ontoseno"

Western travelers there were pretty astonished by the Balinese lifestyle, the topless women, the extraordinary, tropical paradise beauty of the island and its interesting customs. The images below ere taken from the Wikimedia Commons site, which took them in turn from the Dutch Tropenmuseum library of images. About the Tropenmuseum. The Dutch colonized Bali and Indonesia for about 150 years, from 1800 to about 1950. It was once called the Dutch East Indies.

Here is a brief but interesting 1930's film, Legong: Dance of the Virgins


Setting the mood with a glimpse of the magic of the culture of Bali.
The Legong dance with young girls. A little about Legong.
This is a mesmerizing dance with gamelan music playing. 



Understanding Balinese dance

This is an amazing Balinese dance, called Kecak. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 150 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from theRamayana.

Wow.

Balinese Legong dancer

with the evil witch, Rangda

For images of vintage Bali I went to the Tropenmuseum online collections, which are really marvelous.

The Tropenmuseum (English: Museum of the Tropics) is an anthropological museum located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and established in 1864.

One of the largest museums in Amsterdam, the museum accommodates eight permanent exhibitions and an ongoing series of temporary exhibitions, including both modern and traditional visual arts and photographic works. The Tropenmuseum is owned and operated by the Royal Tropical Institute, a foundation that sponsors the study of tropical cultures around the world.

Balinese Legong dancer

Balinese girls heading to
the temple with offerings

Tropenmuseum, Balinese dancers, 1929

Memorial to Thomas Stamford Raffles wife Olivia, who died in Java 1814.Erected by him along theKanarielaan in Lands Plantentuin (now Bogor Botanical Gardens)  inBuitenzorg (now Bogor),West Java.

Balinese dancers

Rice fields near Yogyakarta

A farmer who carries a plow on his shoulders, in the middle: cattle crossing a ditch / cooling of in the ditch.
Photo: O. Kurkdjian & Co. - 1890-1916

Fishermen at the beach

Photo: O. Kurkdjian & Co. - 1910

Balinese dancer

(Love the cat, sitting patiently.) Tropenmuseum, traditional selametan. A Selametan in a mosque in Cibodas, with tumpeng as its main menu. ca. 1907. The slametan (or selametan, slamatan, and selamatan) is the communal feast from Java, symbolizing the social unity of those participating in it. 

Kris dancers in a trance, 1949

Kris dancers all fallen down in a trance, 1930-1940

Kecak Dance, Bali

In tropical countries,

 trees are often painted

with lime to protect them from "sun scald"

Below this are vintage photographs of the Dayak people, in Borneo


Tropenmuseum,Talini of Bawomataluwo in costume, unknown date

Tropenmuseum, "A headhunter with a skull on his belt, which is used at parties to drink, a woman with a big blangai pot and behind them piles of killing festival Tiwah, Borneo"

A group of children and a husband with megaliths1930

A Dayak from Apokajanstam of Makulits with a shield and a spear, East Borneo. Unknown date.

Tropenmuseum, Icon in a Dayak village 1898-1900

Tropenmuseum  Two Zaiwo male dancers with sword and shield, Sumba, 1930

Portrait of a Dayak warrier, 1900-1940

Batukaran village in Batak country, taken by Tassilo Adam.

Wandering around the http://collectie.tropenmuseum.nl/

Oohing and ahhing at their wonderful online collections.

Indonesian textile, sarong