Bye-Bye Boat

Revisited

No.78 Issue 2/2011

Title

Rituals on Savu

Text

Khong Swee Lin

Photos

Carl-Bernd Kaehlig A riot of mystical symbols and shapes dances across the weavings. Undulating lines, geometric motifs, animals, birds and blossoms loudly proclaim the unspoken within the confines of woven threads. To the melodic strains of a sasando, a musical instrument made from the leaf of a lontar palm, a party of villagers clad in these cloths (known as ikat) sing and dance on the white sand beach of Bodo. Ritual and ceremony bind and define a society. Nowhere is this observation truer than on the tiny but fascinating island of Savu. Once upon a time it was one of the myriad water-based kingdoms scattered around the azure waters of Nusa Tenggara – the paradisiacal islands of southeast Indonesia. Yet its warriors were fearsome; its horses (once traded for sandalwood) are feisty; and its people are spirited.