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Tebe Liku Rai (Suai)

July 4th, 2011 jen Posted in Culture, Dance, Friends Share videos, News, Traditional Culture, Video Archive Comments Off on Tebe Liku Rai (Suai)

English:
This tebe was filmed during the Cultural Festival 2010 at the President’s Palace in Dili. It was filmed and edited by Victor Sousa for Tatli ba Kultura. TATOLI BA KULTURA is a research project that aims to gain the materials and knowledge necessary to establish the future Academy of Creative Industries in Timor-Leste. I have taken a copy from YouTube to share on Suai Media Space.  The work on the Tatloli ba Kultura YouTube channel shows just how far East Timor has come with its healing. The existence of the tais, the head dress the amount of work gone into recording and editing these videos, show the huge amount of work being done in the country to strengthen traditional culture and learn new communication skills.

“Tebe Liku Rai (dancing drum) consists of 8 -16 of women lined up in two rows with small drums under the armpit and two men in the middle with a Surik (sword), a white handkerchief up in hand while shaking, dancing and shouting while the women dance and play the drums”. TatolibaKultura YouTube Channel.

Tetun:
Tebe Liku Rai iha feto na’in 8 to’o 16 hamrik halo lina rua ho likurai iha kalilin no mane na’in rua iha oin/iha klaran ho surik ou lensu mutin foti ba leten ho tebe, dansa no hakilar wainhira feto sira dansa no baku liku rai. Filme ne’e halo iha Palacio Presidente iha Dili durante Festival Kultura 2010.

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Traditional House Suai – Uma Tradisional

October 1st, 2009 jen Posted in Architecture, Traditional Culture 1 Comment »

This is the construction Senor Felix Adriano variously describes in his interview on video as the Uma Tradisionale (Traditional House), the Salon Parochial (Parish Hall) and Uma Lulik (Sacred House)  in August,2000. This mix of language reflects the fact that he has built a traditional house on Church land with the help of Padre Rene Manubag, the priest in residence at that time. It is not strictly a sacred house in the traditional sense.  At the time Padre Manubag was planning to use it for community meetings and as a place to conduct training courses for local people.

It is possibly the largest traditional structure in East Timor. Situated on the grounds of the Our Lady of Fatima School  it is currently being used as a community meeting place. Video of the building of it to come.
traditional house 2000crop

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Felix Adriano – Preserving Culture

August 31st, 2009 jen Posted in Architecture, News, Traditional Culture, Video Archive 2 Comments »

This short oral history with Senor Felix Adriano a carpenter in East Timor Suai, subtley conveys the impact of colonialism and the international competition for rights to the oil and gas reserves  in the Timor Sea on the life and language of a Timorese who was born in to Portuguese Timor. Senor Felix lived through the Indonesian invasion and saw Independence arrive in 1999, only to suffer further through the Suai Church Massacre until there came a time when his skills came to the fore again in the re-building of Suai in 2000 as he over-saw the building of a large traditional house on the site of Our Lady of Fatima Church where the Suai Church Massacre took place. (Dur: 5 mins)


Check out the photograph of the finished building which is possibly the largest traditional structure in East Timor.

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Timorese Tais & Traditional Culture in Paintings by Suai Artists

July 3rd, 2009 jen Posted in Art & Tais, News, Traditional Culture 4 Comments »

These works show how Timorese traditional culture and their traditional textile the tais are appearing in the work of the artists from Cova Lima Suai and redefining Timorese culture for a new audience in the international art market. The slideshow includes more work of senior artist Natalino dos Reis Pires whose work featured in Melbourne at the recent Arte Moris Bundoora Exhibition, as well as the work of Rius, Mari and Gibrael. More about Natalino dos Reis Pires

There are over thirty images in this slideshow. They begin loading randomly at low resolution. When they have finished loading there is a slideshow controller at the bottom you will see by hovering or clicking the cursor there; there is also a small square where you click to view full screen images. (Recommended)

In 2006 Artists working in Arte Moris the free art school in Dili had already begun encouraging their students to paint on the tais. For those familiar with the culture of Timor and the tais the motifs in the paintings and drawings will be easily identifiable. For those  who are unfamiliar with the tais you can see a good selection of tais in our story about the Exhibition and Forum held in St Kilda in 2008 where there are many great examples of tais several from Suai Covalima and an article.

In the paintings and drawings shown here, sometimes the tais is used as a canvas in others the strong history of patterns that appear in tais and the stripe are prominent either as background or patterned into the figures.

In one painting by Gibrael it is painted as the thorny skin of a crocodile that floats on a background pattern depicted with geometric lines similar to those found in Covalima tais. Also there are the familiar traditional grass roofed houses above a man and a woman doing a traditional dance with cloth. In another work by Natalino a collection of traditional icons such as the golden buffalo horn head-dress are layered in oil on to a reed mat, a Biti that is used for sitting on the ground for conversation, hospitality and meetings.

Interestingly the majority of portraits in this collection that include the tais in some form are of women who are the primary producers of tais. In the portraits the transformation of  Timor’s culture is undeniable if you compare the view of Senora Pires in the black western suit and white shirt  in front of a bright tais featuring the synthetic colours of Indonesian cottons frequently used today, to the portraits of women clothed in tais or cotton sarongs or surrounded by tais in the more muted and subtle natural dyes of the traditional tais. Mari has created an interesting portrait of a man titled ‘The Culture Face’ in which he has used a variety of traditional pieces including the tais as the material of the head.

In his paintings Mari has used the tais to create political narratives. In the work ‘Together’ Mari has used the stripe, the crocodile symbol and a generic traditional house  woven together. In another titled ‘Imperialism’ he has used the tais to section the canvas in to nine areas at the centre of which are houses with varying shaped roofs that signify they are from different districts in East Timor. At the centre bounded by the tais is a rectangular Portuguese style house with the buffalo horn laid on the ground before it in the foreground.

East Timor’s tragic history is poignantly represented in Natalino’s tragic and poetic painting ‘Tragedia’ in which a traditional house is patterned entirely with red tais while a shredded red tais drips like blood from fragments of structural pieces in the background.

Rius has used the tais in more abstract form in his beautiful pieces titled ‘Timor Nabilan’ (2008) and ‘Rai Hamutuk’ (2007) but the influence of the tais on Timorese life is very clear.

Included in the slideshow is the work of Mari, Gibrael and Rius also from Suai. Unfortunately since Gabi just gave me copies of her files during a very busy visit, I don’t have the surnames of Mari Gibrael or Rius, so apologies to them we will put that right as soon as we can.

You can see the work of Natalino featured in the Arte Moris Exhibition in Melbourne recently and read more about him here.  All the work of the artists is for sale by contacting Gabi through the Arte Moris website.

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Orlando Hoar Berek Boavida Martins & the tais of Kamenassa

November 9th, 2008 jen Posted in News, Suai Tais, Tais of Kamenassa, Tais Weaving, Traditional Culture 1 Comment »

When Pat Jessen of the Friends of Suai went shopping to buy tais for the market stall to be set up for the Tais Forum held in St Kilda in early September she bought a tais mane (male tais) woven by Orlando Martins (centre photo), for the market stall at the Friends of Suai Weaving Forum: Exploring Meanings, Makers & Markets of East Timor. The beauty and technical excellence of the tais led to it being included in the  Friends of Suai Tais Exhibition: Exploring Meanings, Makers & Markets of Tais where it became an outstanding contribution  alongside another feto tais (female tais) from Kamenassa.   We are unsure who wove the female tais, but our photographs show Inveolata weaving a very similar one during the time we were there. The tais  have since been donated to the Alola Foundation Collection.

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Explora Significado-Produtora i Mercado Hosi Tais:Exhibition

November 7th, 2008 jen Posted in Explorar Significado 3 Comments »

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EXPLORAR SIGNIFICADO, PRODUTORA I MERCADO HOSI TAIS & FORUM

November 7th, 2008 jen Posted in Forum Tetun, News, Tais Homan Tetun 2 Comments »


English Exhibition Retratu


SEPTEMBER 2008, ST KILDA TOWN HALL, MELBOURNE.
La iha ema wain hanesan hau maka hetan privilegio atu hare exposisaun (pameran) tais kapas tebes ema feto Timor sira soru. Ba loron Sexta-Feira i Sabado, 5-6 Septembro 2008 hau kontente tebes tan bele hare tais kapas tebes nian mai hosi fatin barak iha rai Timor maka sai iha exposisaun iha St Kilda Town Hall (Prefeitura St Kilda), Melbourne, Australia. Iha kwartu bot kapas ida nia laran ema hatudu tais barak hosi rai Timor. Kwartu nee nian kadidin halo hosi ai maka maar tebes. Ema tara tais sira ba kadidin ai iha kwartu nee laran. Kadidin maar nee la halo tama kreta no bonde nia lian mai hosi Estrada bot St Kilda Road, i mos la halo tama lian hosi manu aman sira kokorek, lian hosi haok i nesun ba oras loro raik feto sira fai akar iha Suai.

Doutora Sara Niner (Post Graduate Research Fellow hosi Universidade Monash maka hakerek Xanana Gusmao nian biografia) organisar Exposiaun ho Forum nee kona ba tais Timor i tradisaun soru tais. Doutora Niner lori colesaun tais hosi Alola Foundation ba St Kilda Town Hall nian Galleria. La iha ema barak maka hetan sorti lao ba Timor bodik hare hodi matan i rona hodi tilun duuk nuunabe feto Timor sira tradionalmente soru tais. Ema nain atus ida karik maka hakara aprende tuaan tan teni kona ba tais i hakara fo apoio ba ema feto Timor sira soru tais presenta i tuir ceremonorio lacemento i forum nee: “Significado Soru Tais & Feto Soru Tais Sira hosi Timor Leste.”

Hau incluir tiha ona fotografia kona ba nuunabe feto sira halo futus i sui futus. Timor oan barak maka konese i hatene tais sira nee mai hosi distritu nabe. Futus i ahan hosi tais sira nee halo Timor oan sira bele hatene i konese hosi distritu nabe tais sira nee mai no mos sira hatene tais sira nee nia funsaun kona ba moris seremonial nian. Maibe, ema Malae sira sei la duun hatene dauk significado nosi tais nia futus. [Hau incluir informasaun koma ba tais sira nee iha sura fotografia tais nia ohak. Por favor, clicar ba fotografia siar nee si ita hakara fotografia siar nee sai bot. Por favour dada tun cursor centrimetro hira hosi leten too raik bodik atu ita bele hare bataun “proxima” i “anterior” ….]

Ita hare tiha ona beleza hosi tais sira nee i admirar feto Timor sira nian matenek tradicional kona ba soru tais nian. Agora ita hamutuk atu hare colesaun tais Timor hosi loro sae too loro monu, hosi tasi feto too tasi mane, maka feto matenek Timor oan sira soru, i significado sagrado, religioso, social i cultural hosi tais sira nee. Significado sira nee atu sai aat ou lakon si ita trata tais hanesan objeto mercadorio i commericio deit.

Desde 1999 ema Australiana sira barak maka ajuda feto Timor oan sira importar tiha ona tais wain bodik faan hanesan objetu commercial iha Australia neebe atu ajuda teni feto Timor oan sira soru tais ho halo sacu, bolsa, carteira, kusin falun ho cesta maka bele faan iha Australia i rai seluk sira. Agora organisadoras i participantes sira iha Forum tais nian nee atu buka hatene impactu ba feto matenek soru tais nian. Sira mos atu buka hatene impactu hosi colonialismu i aktividade pos-independencia bodik atu halo diak ou melhorar feto Timor oan sira nia moris.

Belun Suai (Friends of Suai) servisu hamutu ho ONG barak iha Australia ho Universidade Monash bodik organisar Forum kona ba tais Timor maka accontese ba loron 6 fulan Septembru 2008, ba anniversario dalam siwi hosi massacre iha Igreja Suai 6 Septembro 1999. Bodik hanoin, hadomi i hakneter (respeitu) matebian sira i familia hosi matebian sira maka terus susar, Balthasar, membru ida hosi Commissaun Friends of Sui desde 2000, hananu lia nain (poema) ida iha lia Tetum ho Ingles maka nia hakerek iha Dili iha Fulan Septembru 2006 kuando nia visita refugiaun sira maka susar iha campu refugiaun. Iha poema nee Balthasar hanoin i hafolin Timor oan sira nia unidade, solidaridade ho optimism durante funu laran. Poema nee mos kona ba tan sa ida Timor oan sira la hamutu ona, tan sa ida sira fahe malu i halo funu malu, loro sae contra loro monu, tan sa ida ulun sir oras independecia ona, tan sa ida la servisu hamutu ona, tan sa ida ulun sira la besik ona ba ema kiik sira durante independencia laran. Poema nee mos husu ba Timor oan sira, especialemente ba nai ulun sira, atu servisu hamutu hodi halo rai Timor ba oin, ba diak. Timor atu sais a ida si Timor oan sira la hamutu, si nai ulun sira foti aan i fahe malu, si nai ulun sira haluha ona matebian sira i povo kiik sira nia susar, si nai ulun sira taka tilun no matan povo kiik sira. Timor atu sai sa ida se Timor oan sira la hamutu, se nai ulun sira la hamutu, si nai ulun sira la hamutu ho povo kiik sira ona?

Ema hare iha exposasun (pameran) nee tais rua maka kapas tebe-tebes mai hosi Suai-Kamanasa, Covalima. Coordinador hosi Friends of Suai, Pat Jessen, i membru commisaun Friends of Suai ida naran Desleigh Kent hola tais rua nee iha Kamanasa ho tai seluk sira iha Suai kuando sira visita Suai iha fulan Junho 2008. Sira hola tais nee bodik Friends of Suai nian pameran iha programa pameran i forum tais Timor. Friends of Suai kleur ona halo promosaun no faan cafe Timor, maibe foin isin dala uluk ba tinan nee sira halo promosaun i faan tais Timor iha progama pameran tais Timor. Sei daun la hatene si Friends of Suai atu continua tinan ba tinan halo promosaun i faan tais Timor iha sura opportunidade maka mosu bodik atu ajuda feto sira iha Covalima tan sira halo actividade barak kona ba halo belun ho ema rai Covalima particularmente ema cidade Suai. Contudu, insiativa primeiru hosi promosaun no faan tais Covalima iha Pameran tinan nee atu loke oda matan bodik povu sira iha Cidade Port Phillip maka hakara atu apoiu feto sira iha Covalima kona ba sira nian actividade cultura soru tais.

Exposisaun ou Pameran ho Forum kona ba Tais Timor nee halo hau hatene tebes i hakara hatene liu tan teni katak tais nee forma artistic ida hosi Sudeste Asiastico (Asia Tenggara), particularmente hosi rai Timor tomak—Timor Loro Sae (Timor Timur) i Timor Loro Toba/Monu (Timor Barat). Hau aprende hosi hau nian observasaun no experiencia katak cultura tradicional ema Timor kona ba soru tais moris hamutu ho cultura tradicional kuda kabas, hahoris kabas, kuu kabas, hamos kabas, tesi, futu, hiri, kesi, hametan, hamean, hamodok kabas, ai tahan, ai kulit, ai funan oi-oik bodik cermoniu tradicional, la hos bodik practica economica deit. Agora hau hatene diak liu teni nuunabe procesu soru (halo) tais i daka (conservar) tradisaun Timor importante tebes tan (porque) tradisaun nee culturalmente hahoris ou fo identidade ba feto Timor, i tan tradisaun nee significa tebes bodik relasaun i cohesi social. Forum kona ba tais Timor nee reiterar katak ita tengki daka i bali (proteger) feto matenek badaen soru tais nian i tais maka sira soru. Hau hanoin importante tebes ba ita atu foti sae i hametin feto matenek badaen soru tais sira nia neon i kaliuk halobot, halometin i foti sae feto soru tais sira maka matenek i badaen tebes. Importante liu, hau hafolin katak soru tais hanesan practica cultural ida fo significado hosi moris (makna hosi moris) ba ema Timor oan sira, kaliuk ba feto Timor oan sira.

Timor oan sira i Australia oan sira maka presente iha Exposisaun no Forum nee, hamutu ibun, hamutu lia katak importante tebes crear mercado (ciptakan pasaran) bodik tais maka feto Timor sira soru neebe sira bela financialamente moris diak hodi soru kapas i creativo tan teni sira nia tais. Maibe Timor oan ida naran Ego Lemos maka agora aprende iha Universidade Victoria, Melbourne, hatauk katak signaficadu cultural ho sagrado hosi tais no practica soru tais bele lakon si ema halo tais i matenek soru tais sai ba simplemente objetu i pratica commercializada ou mercadoria. Tebes, tuir Doutora Sara Niner nia hanoin, experiencia iha Australia i iha rai seluk hatuda katak importante tebes ba ema keta halo practica cultural maka fo significada de vida (makna hidup) sai ba practica industria ou commercializada deit. Problema ou dificuldade maka nee: Feto Timor oan sira, especialmente feto tradisional sira, matenek tebes ba soru tais, maibe sira nee vulneravel tebes tan influencia bot tebes mai hosi anin bot globalisaun mercado. Anin bot globalisaun mercado nee bele halo lakon feto Timor oan sira nia sabedoria ho saber tradicional. Si sabedoria ho saber tradicional nee lakon, sira nia significado de vida ho amor-propria (harga-diri) mos lakon. Agora ema mane nurak barak maka eskola tiha ona la hakara halo toos ona hanesan nuudar uluk sira nia avo sira. Sira nia saber ho sabedoria tradicional bodik atu buka moris lakon tiha ona tan influencia mai hosi luan. Educasaun colonialista ho educasaun moderno halo sira sai hanesan malae maka alienado hosi sira nian saber ho sabedoria local ou tradicional. Tan nee sira hakara hola hahan commercializada maka mai hosi rai seluk (hanesan vos, supermi, mina tenin, cha midar, coca cola) hanesan Indonesia. Maibe sira la iha osan tan sira la iha servisu. Tuan tan teni, la hanesan tempo sira nia avo sira, sira presija osan bodik hatama sira nia osan ba escola. Iha dificuldade nee laran, famili balu halo sira nia oan feto sai hanesan puta (pelacur) bodik atu hetan osan. Tan nee importante tebes atu buka dalan nuunabe bele ajuda Timor oan feto tradicional sira soru tais bodik hetan osan maka bele halo sira bele apoio sira nia aan financialmente, maka bele apoio sira continua sira nia aktividade soru tais bodik tradicionalmente conservar sira nia significadu de vida ho practicamente bodik bele moris. Tan nee mos importante ba ema ONG sira halo dialogo ho feto matenek soru tais nian sira iha Timor atu buka dalan diak bodik conservar ho desonvolver sira nia matenek i sabedoria tradicional iha contextu modernu.

Resultadu hosi Forum nee sai maka nee: estrategia rua. Estragegia primeiru estrategia cultural. Strategi nee kona ba conservar ho desenvolver matenek soru tais bodik valor cultural maka fo significadu de vide. Estrategia segunda estrategia commercial. Strategia nee kona ba buka dalan atu bele hetan moris financialmente hosi matenek soru tais nian. Estrategia cultural ho estrategia commercial tengki kawen malu. Timor oan feto ferik sira tengki hanorin Timor oan feto foin sae sira neebe atu hafoli (valorizar) sira nia matenek tradicional soru tais ho valor cultural hosi tais ho actividade soru tais. Tan nee ita presija aprende tradisaun soru tais ho historia kona ba practica tradicional soru tais iha rai Timor tomak hosi loro sae to loro toba, hosi tasi mane too tasi feto. Ita tengki apprende i hatene simbolu ou significadu religiosu, mitocu, cultural ho historicu hosi tais sira nia futus iha rai Timor tomak. Resultadu ida seluk seluk teni hosi Forum nian mak nee: Plano ida bodik atu organisar Forum ida iha lia Tetum ho Ingles iha Timor maka feto matenek soru tais nian sira iha Timor bele participar.

Exposisaun Tais Timor iha St Kilda Town Hall nee hahu ba Sexta-Feira 5 Septembru too 30 Septembru, Segunda-Feira too Sexta-Feira tuku 9.00 dader too tuku 5.00 loro raik.

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Introdusaun kona ba Tais Timor

November 7th, 2008 jen Posted in Introdusaun Kona ba Tais Timor, Suai Tais, Tais Homan Tetun, Tais Weaving, Traditional Culture 4 Comments »

2 Outubro 2008 Jen Solok tuir Internet Istoria kona ba Soru Tais
English

Isin primeiru hau hare tais maka ema Feto Timor oan sira soru ba loron ida iha fulan Marsu 2000 kuanda City of Port Phillip (Cidade Port Phillip) lancar projeto Belun Suai (Friends of Suai) iha Jardim bot ida besik Luna Park, St Kilda. Hau hare tais maka ema pamer (expor) hamutu ho sasanan ceramica, pintura, escultura hosi ai ho arte seluk sira. Hau hatene impaktu hosi hare arte sira nee ikus mai bah au nia hanoin. Hare arte sira nee hosi Timor hau hanoin katak cultura Timor la hanesan cultura Indonesia Loro Monu (Indonesia Barat) nian, por examplo, cultura Java ho cultura Bali. Isin segunda hau hare tais kuando Sara Niner organizar eksposisaun (pameran) ida kona ba Alola Foundation iha Gasworks iha Port Phillip durante Melbourne Festival of Arts (Melbourne nian Arte Festival). Read the rest of this entry »

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Introducing the Tais

October 2nd, 2008 jen Posted in Introducing the Tais of Timor, Tais Weaving 4 Comments »

Tetun

I first saw a tais, the hand-woven textile of Timor, at the launch of the Friends of Suai in March 2000 in the gardens next to Luna Park in St Kilda. The tais was displayed in an exhibition with pottery, paintings, wood carvings and other craft objects. I understood the impact of seeing these objects much later when I realised how different Timorese culture is to Indonesian culture. The next time I saw tais was in an exhibition mounted by Sara Niner for the Alola Foundation, at Gasworks in Port Phillip for the Melbourne Festival of Arts in October 2000.

Since 2000 Sara has been touring Timor researching and buying tais for the Alola Foundation collection  she has learned much about it. Since information about the tais is difficult to find I will use her words to describe a little of what the tais is, its meaning to the men and women of East Timor and a little about its role in Timorese culture. Sara wrote this for the Forum she convened in September 2008 titled: Exploring Meanings, Makers and Markets of Tais, the Hand-woven Textiles of East Timor. The Forum was accompanied by an extensive exhibition in the St Kilda Town Hall Gallery in Port Phillip and there is a comprehensive slideshow here. Don’t miss the response to this article by Cova Lima expatriate Balthasar Kehi  in the comments field
Read the rest of this entry »

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Exploring Meanings, Makers & Markets of Tais: Exhibition

October 2nd, 2008 jen Posted in Exhibition, Tais Weaving 1 Comment »

Titled ‘Exploring Meanings Makers & Markets of Tais‘ an exhibition of tais (the traditional cloth of East Timor) was held in the St Kilda Town Hall Gallery in September,  2008. It was held alongside a Forum to discuss the issues facing Timorese weavers since the referendum for independence in 1999. The exhibition was initiated by Dr Sara Niner and the Alola Foundation in mounted in partnership with the Friends of Suai, the East Timor Womens’ Association and the Melbourne East Timor Activities Centre.  Read more about the exhibition and the tais in Introducing the Tais of East Timor an article written by Jen Hughes with extensive quote from Dr Niner and an interesting response in the comments by expatriate Timorese Balthasar Kehi.

Note: on the first photograph and follow the next buttons by hovering the cursor a small distance from the top on the right hand side of the image. There is also a previous button opposite it on the left hand side of the image. For those who want to keep informed about the weaving stories you should click the RSS Feed button at the bottom of the post and you will receive an email each time I post a new story about weaving.




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