I made these five costumes from barkcloth and I brought them to Sulawesi—to Lembah Bada at the national park Lore Lindu. I documented my costumes with the ancient sculptures named Patung Balindo through video and photography. This area in Sulawesi is where barkcloth is still produced and worn during special occasions and rituals. This is the site where the early field researchers like Kruyt and Andriani lived as missionaries at the beginning of the twentieth century (see ‘I Owe You’ concept). Here, they wrote extensively about the barkcloth while at the same time made efforts to try to get the people out of the barkcloth and eliminate Animism, which is closely linked to the manufacture of barkcloth and local beliefs related to this. Each costume contains a speaker which emits one sound. Together, the five costumes create a rhythmic soundscape related to the beating of bark which takes place during the production of barkcloth.
Links to Project: