Title: Troubling Trade: Provenance of Arts from Sumba and TimorSubmitted by: Jill ForsheeThis paper explores relations of an international arts trade to troubled conditions involving regions of the Indonesian islands of Sumba and Timor. Such trade manifests not only in a demand for objects from "violent" societies, such as the (historically) headhunting communities of eastern Indonesia, but in the current market for actual spoils of war coming out of East Timor. An association with "ferocious" cultures or times of war often enhances the ultimate value of objects to international collectors. However, local accounts of theft and deceit pervade Sumba and Timor, implicating different sorts of violence (the most extreme involving grave robbing or looting of homes) involved in the provenance of "arts" to an international market. Following this, people interpret and manipulate information and arts from a wide range of positions and places. Through considering objects, trade routes, and local accounts, I will uncover some formerly unexamined aspects of the provenance of things deemed as internationally collectible arts from this region of Indonesia. Return to Abstracts menuCarol Burnett Phone: 61 - 3 - 9349 1899 Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
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