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Leiden museum hosts Mentawai cultural exhibition
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A Mentawai child heads up river in the Siberut rain forest. An exhibition focusing on the Mentawai people from Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra is being held at the Volkenkunde Museum in Leiden, Netherlands, until May 28 next year. (Indigenous Education Foundation/Rob Henry)
A
n exhibition focusing on the Mentawai people in the Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra is being held at the Volkenkunde Museum in Leiden, Netherlands, until May 28 next year.
Antara news agency reported that the exhibition is part of Leiden Asian Year 2017 and Europalia Indonesia Arts Festival.
During the exhibition, visitors to the museum can take a closer look at the tribe's art, history and traditional equipment, such as farming and hunting tools and accessories for special occasions. Moreover, the event will also screen a documentary film about the Mentawai people, allowing visitors to learn more about their culture.
Read also: By Mentawai for Mentawai: How community-driven education can save a tribe
Reimar Schefold, the University of Leiden’s professor emeritus of the anthropology and sociology of Indonesia, said that the exhibition aimed to showcase the Mentawai people’s efforts to maintain their traditions over the centuries.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague’s education and cultural attaché Bambang Hari Wibisono explained that the museum actually owned the Mentawai collection.
Indonesian Ambassador to the Netherlands I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja and the museum’s director Stijn Schoonderwoerd reportedly attended the opening ceremony, which was held on Saturday. During the event, the committee handed the first copy of the book Toys for the Souls: Life and Art on the Mentawai Islands to Juniator Tulius, a native Mentawai and an anthropology graduate from the University of Leiden. (jes/asw)
