Objectives
The aim of this project is to construct and utilize a new database entitled “Bark-cloth and Basketry in Maritime Southeast Asia and Oceania” for the basketry-related artifacts in Minpaku’s collection (the number of items is approximately 3,100, including 2-3 photographs of each item). Specifically, we will implement the following:
(1) Constructing a new DB in Japanese and English: Create a new database for Minpaku’s collection of basketry-related artifacts made from bark-cloth as well as other plant materials. Where necessary, update the photographs of the artifacts and create links to related items at other museums.
(2) Working together with local institutions in the collections areas to construct the new DB: Inquire about collaborating with local cultural administrative bodies, educational institutions and museums, make requests for provision of information, and conduct exchanges of opinion.
(3) Improving visibility among local residents: Post information about artifacts in the new DB on SNS.
(4) Host international symposia and workshops based on the collaborative ties with domestic and overseas researchers and research institutions strengthened through the construction of the new database.
Description
The aim of the project is to construct and utilize a new database entitled “Bark-cloth and Basketry in Maritime Southeast Asia and Oceania” for the basketry-related artifacts in Minpaku’s collection. The primary objective is to explore Maritime Asia and Oceania’s plant-based material culture – in particular the material culture related to bark-cloth and basketry – from a human history perspective, and to clarify the commonalities and differences in the plant-based material culture of the island worlds of Maritime Asia and Oceania.
This project is a follow-up to the previous Info-Forum Museum project, “Maritime Adaptation and Material Culture in Maritime Asia-Based on the museum materials from Southeast Asia” (project leader: Rintaro Ono). In the course of constructing a database for the results of this previous project, we found that fishing gear made from plant materials with relatively similar characteristics existed in both the Maritime Asia and Oceania regions. Of particular note were the fishing traps or baskets known as “bubu” in the Malay Indonesian language. These were produced from materials such as rattan and bamboo and were used across the region. However, this kind of basketry was not just used for fishing gear; it was also used inland and in mountainous regions for baskets worn as backpacks. It became clear that it would be difficult to itemize them all in the previous project’s database, whose primary focus was fishing gear. This project will therefore cover the plant-based material culture of inland and mountainous areas, focusing on basketry as a form of material culture that is widely distributed from coastal to inland areas of the island regions.
Bark-cloth made from the paper mulberry plant originated in human history in southern China. Archaeological research and recent genetic research on paper mulberry has begun to show how the technology and material culture of the Austronesian peoples spread from the Southeast Asian islands to various parts of Oceania through the process of migration and diffusion from the neolithic period onwards. This project aims to explore Minpaku’s rich collection of bark cloth artifacts, along with related ethnographic, video, archaeological and historical materials.
In order to achieve these research objectives, this project will focus primarily on materials in Minpaku’s collection from the island regions of Southeast Asia and Oceania, and will collect comprehensive information on materials, uses and functions, and manufacturing techniques. Through this analysis, we will reexamine the material culture of this region, taking into account the human history and ecological-cultural contexts, and adopting a comparative, inter-regional perspective. In addition to field studies, we are also planning to conduct case studies with domestic and overseas researchers to cross-examine the information about the materials. Through these efforts, we aim to comprehensively reexamine the bark-cloth and basketry culture in Maritime Asia and Oceania.
Expected results
We expect the following five outcomes from this project:
- Establish a methodology for regional comparison of basketry and bark-cloth cultures in Maritime Asia and Oceania.
- Clarify the regional characteristics and commonalities in basketry and bark-cloth cultures in Maritime Asia and Oceania.
- Construct a comprehensive, multilingual database of basketry and bark-cloth cultures in Maritime Asia and Oceania (featuring a total of 3,100 items, including approx. 2,100 basketry and approx. 900 bark-cloth-related items), and thereby provide the research community with an online environment where they can search for materials.
- Establish academic exchanges with domestic and overseas institutions and build a cooperative relationship with the source communities of the materials in question in order to create the organizational structure required for effectively implementing this project.
- Aside from constructing the database, host international symposia and publish the research results in order to promote Minpaku as one of the core institutions involved in the research of basketry and bark-cloth cultures in Maritime Asia and Oceania and increase the shared use of the museum.
- Encourage broad interdisciplinary research by involving young researchers and the source communities in the studies conducted during the course of this project, as a way of helping to train and nurture the next generation of researchers.