Ngaju or Ot Danum people
Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia  

Ritual mat [amak dare] early 20th century
bamboo, natural dyes
205.3 (h) x 88.8 (w) cm
Purchased 1994
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
NGA 1994.1451

For centuries, Indian textiles have been valued as sacred heirlooms throughout island Southeast Asia. Traded up rivers and into mountainous regions, the influence of the Indian cottons on local technique and design has been profound. The flowering tree of Indian chintzes is a popular inspiration for representing the Tree of Life, the mythical tree which serves as an axis mundi between the world of humans and the heavenly realms of ancestral deities. The Tree of Life on this rattan ceremonial mat is a recurring symbol of the cosmos in the ancestral art of Borneo.