Ethnic Jewellery From Indonesia: Continuity And Evolution

This is a compelling introduction to the little-known and visually-powerful body adornments of the ethnic peoples of Indonesia’s outer islands, including Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Sumba and Maluku. The history of the jewellery is told from the perspective of the materials used, including gold, silver, brass, ivory, shell and animal teeth.

Illustrated with nearly 600 photographs of rare jewellery amassed over 30 years by collector Manfred Giehmann, this book explores the depth and breadth of an ancient and magnificent tradition of the Indonesian people. It provides information on the origin, meaning and purpose of the jewellery, as well as insights into the people who crafted and wore the jewellery for ritual or ceremonial functions. Ethnic Jewellery: Continuity and Evolution is a definitive work on the subject and a testimony to the living traditions of cultures usually shrouded in mystery.

Introduction: Dr Antonio J. Guerreiro
Text: Bruce W. Carpenter
Photography: Philippe Heurtault
ISBN: 978-981-4260-68-8
328 pp, 285 mm x 235 mm, hardback
Retail Price : Rp. 830.000

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Twilight in Djakarta

Mochtar Lubis, in this vivid dissection of social and political life in Jakarta at the beginning of the 1960s, reveals the dark currents of poverty, corruption and vice which course beneath the surface of one of the great cities of the Third World. Although set in Indonesia, the tale that unfolds has universal application as it describes the forces which determine the lives of rich and poor, politicians and criminals, intellectuals and simple rural immigrants alike, as they struggle for survival. Through the character of the central figure, Suryono, a young, Western-educated government official, the author depicts the complex web of threads which enmesh both individual and society in a newly developing nation, with compassion as well as insight.

This book is also available in e-book form.

Text: Mochtar Lubis
ISBN: 978-981-4260-65-7
232 pp, 195 mm x 130 mm, paperback
Retail price : Rp. 137.000

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Rimbaud in Java: The Lost Voyage

At eighteen, the French poet Arthur Rimbaud proclaimed: “My day is done; I’m leaving Europe. The sea air will burn my lungs; lost climes will tan my skin.” Three years later, in 1876, he joined the Royal Army of the Dutch Indies and sailed for Java, where he promptly deserted and fled into the jungle.

In the first book devoted to Rimbaud’s lost voyage to Asia, novelist and critic Jamie James reviews everything that is known about the journey; from there he imaginatively reconstructs what the poet must have seen and what he might have done, vividly recreating life in 19th-century Java along the way. Rimbaud in Java concludes with an inquiry into what the Orient represented in the poet's imagination. James’s intriguing book is a richly concentrated blend of biography, criticism and thought-travel, bringing into sharp focus this brief encounter between a great writer and a vanished world. An 8-page full colour insert showcasing the works of Rimbaud and artists of the era, as well as scenes of Java.

This book is also available in e-book form.

Text: Jamie James
ISBN: 978-981-4260-82-4
128 pp, 190 mm x 133 mm, paperback
Retail price : Rp. 138.000

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