FIG. 5 (left): Protective figures, pagar. Toba Batak, northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Pictured on pp. 76 and 79. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Dallas Museum of Art. 151 FIG. 3 (below): Ceremonial textile, tampan. Lampung region, Sumatra, Indonesia. Pictured on p. 97. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Dallas Museum of Art. FIG. 4 (above): Altar figure depicting a female ancestor. Southeastern Moluccas, Indonesia. Pictured on p. 303. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Dallas Museum of Art. a general audience through detailed descriptions and interpretations of the objects it presents. There are fifty-five of these, selected from among the more than 300 objects in the collection. Augmenting the objects, the chapters that introduce and discuss stylistic evolutions should provide a better general understanding of the cultural and historical contexts in which the pieces were created. TAM: While anthropology has long had interest in the peoples of Southeast Asia, the history of their art remains a relatively unexplored subject. How did that inform the preparation of the book? RS: Each chapter was written by a specialist who knows the local context from personal experience. The most important thing was to find and engage the appropriate people. Personal contacts that the members of the editorial committee had were a determining factor in this respect. The result is a work whose individual chapters do not follow a rigid outline, but explain what, from each author’s point of view, are the essential and specific conditions in each culture that make them unique. TAM: Lastly, the title of the work, Eyes of the Ancestors, references the centrality of spirituality in Southeast Asian art. Could you talk about the relationship between the world of the ancestors and artistic production, and what the implications of that interaction are? RS: Each work of art from the cultures described in the book expresses a reverence for the ancestors. The latter establish the rules that are followed throughout life and also ensure that the stylistic canons imposed by tradition are respected, since these are what give the works meaning. The variety of works seen here shows that these canons do not condemn the art to absolute uniformity. On the contrary, the pieces in this book clearly demonstrate that each artist approaches determined themes with his own visual language and thus exposes himself to the critical examination of his peers, whose judgment will decide his success.
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