Suai Media Space

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Few people have had the privilege of seeing what are still pretty much “hidden textiles” woven by the women of East Timor at all, not to mention being slipped out of their bright orange protective acrylic bags and rolled off a huge bolster, on to the polished cedar table in the bowels of the old St Kilda Town Hall, as I did last week.

Sara Niner was unrolling the Alola Foundation’s collection of Tais for an exhibition in the new St Kilda Town Hall Gallery. Not many have had the privilege of witnessing the skill and dexterity of these amazing artisans working on the ground in the backstrap looms in East Timor. But, many of those Australians who have, were at the opening of the Exhibition and Forum this weekend. We have seen the beauty and admired the skill but now we were gathering to see a collection from across the country and hear some of the best and most experienced minds apply themselves to questions about the meaning of the tais in Timorese life and what happens when you commercialise a craft grounded in culture and the sacred.

Exploring Meanings, Makers and Markets of Tais - The Speakers
Robyn Maxwell, Curator in the Department of Asian Art at the Australian National Gallery who is the author of ‘Textiles of Southeast Asia - Tradition, Trade and Transformation’ set the scene with an animated and interesting talk that situated the Timorese tradition within the Southeast Asian Region.
Joanna Barrkman who is the Curator, Southeast Asian Art and Material Culture at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, brought us her observations in response to the ancient objects and textiles she is preparing for an exhibition at that Museum in November. Ofelia Neves Napoleao gave us some insights to her experience growing up in East Timor with her Grandmother and Mother who were both weavers. Linda Chalmers - from Oxfam provided a revealing expose on the Oxfam retailing chain’s philosophy and approach to designing and marketing products for the purpose of producing the maximum income for the weavers while respecting their need to preserve their culture. Sara Niner wrapped the morning panel up by updating us about her research into the impact of commercialising tais on the makers lives by telling us about the different models of production and marketing she had unearthed.

The Exhibition
Most of us had seen the difference between tais woven with Timorese cotton and dyes and those woven with imported Indonesian cottons, and the difference is marked. The traditional colours speak of the soil, identity and place and the beautiful photographs by Sally Gray in the exhibition gave us some more insight into the process of tie resistance dying used in the making of futus designs. In contrast the Indonesian commercial cottons range from deep brown and red colours to the very bright watermelon pinks and sunflower yellows, greens and oranges.

When you see futus in today’s world, it’s difficult to imagine how complex the process of making is without seeing it. Difficult because it’s complex, but also because the time taken to produce it from growing the cotton to finished product is pretty unimaginable in the West too. But so is it difficult for us to imagine building a home in barefoot with a machete as our only tool. Timorese culture is alive and well and it has survived as a cutting, carving, tying, knotting, dying, and weaving culture using timber, bamboo, leaves, reeds, coconut fibre, palm fronds and grasses. Not only do they not need power drills they don’t even use a hammer and nails in traditional architecture. These people are actually able to live self sustaining lives eating clean food and drinking clean water in a world where it has become more a fantasy than a possibility.

For those who haven’t seen the tais on a loom, the Alola Foundation provided a beautiful hand carved loom with a lovely work in progress attached. On this, one could see the motif on the warp after dying but prior to weaving. There was just 12 centimetres of warp and weft woven together so we could view the completed pattern. Also hanging in the loom were all the variously shaped timbers and sticks used to weave the colours in and out and ram the warp and weft home.

For those of you who are familiar with tye resist dying and futus from your knowledge of Indonesian textiles and others in the Southeast Asian region much of this is not news. What is revealing to all, in an exhibition such as this though, is the variety of weaving patterns and embroidery styles across just the East Timorese side of the island of Timor which is home to 37 language groups. The diversity in styles and patterns comes not only from the traditions of the language groups but also the influences over centuries of travellers, migrants, colonialism and occupation. Of enormous interest to me was the discovery that the futus woven in Covalima, that are so familiar to me, were found by Linda Chalmers (Oxfam) and a collector, to be very unusual in context of all the other language groups of Eastern and Western Timor as well as the Southeast Asian Region.

Makers & Markets

The work of the makers was well represented in half a dozen stalls in a market run by volunteers selling the tais in their traditional form, as well as others cut and sewn into functional products. Products such as bags, purses and footy club scarves we for sale. St Kilda was a hot seller but there were some grim faces when Hawthorn was found to be unavailable until Christmas!

In this little market run by volunteers with for compassion for the producers, the products for the emerging tourism market for East Timor were on display; serving to remind us of the serious business at hand in the forum, of considering questions of trade, tradition and security for the women, who were laboriously producing them to earn livelihoods for themselves and their families.

Saturday afternoon the issues for these women emerged as we heard of a woman with deep bruises on her hips, etched there by overuse of the loom, as she struggled to produce fast enough to keep up with school fees and other needs of a growing family. We heard of young girls who didn’t want to follow the tradition for a range of reasons, one of which was to prevent injury to their backs.

The Panel
The Panel discussion on Saturday afternoon raised dozens of interesting questions about trade, tradition and security. Among them: cotton growing, health and safety, fair trade practices, producer groups, micro-financing, economic and reading literacy, and the need for dialogue between weavers and those trying to assist them as well as many others.

Some interesting models of weaving groups working successfully in Bali and West Timor were put on the table by guest speakers. Joanna Barrkman outlined the success of the Yaneta Yameta (??) group in Boboke in West Timor which makes traditional high quality work and commercial products. In this case weavers gather together in collectives who weave together. The group maintain the quality by providing the collectives with good quality strong cotton grown locally using sustainable practices. This group has been operating successfully for sixteen years bringing a good income to the people involved because it was linked to a gallery and a market. The other model mentioned is the ‘Threads of Life’ a group based in Ubud in Bali who are successful. Threads of Life was founded by Jean and William Ingram, Pung and Lolet in 1998 in response to the Southeast Asian economic crisis. They run tours, curate exhibitions for their own gallery, conserve and run a shop for the weavers’ products. Both of these groups are said to be successful because of the way the links between the primary producers the market and the preservation and of culture had been set up.

Ego Lemos, is the co-author of a resource book for Permaculture Solutions for Sustainable Lifestyles written for the Timorese context and a community development student at Victoria University. Ego outlined his fears about the destructive power of commercialising what is essentially a cultural practice and said that his organisation would encourage farmers and weavers to grow their cotton in a fence line with other vines. In this way they could still grow large scale quantities without creating a monoculture that required pesticides. Balthasar Kehi emphasised the fact that in the past everybody grew cotton and nobody monopolised it and that the knowledge held among the weavers, who are generally illiterate, should be respected because of the wisdom and knowledge they have in their own culture. Ego pointed out the danger of using chemicals in the growing of the cotton is that it was not only dangerous for growers and weavers but could irritate the skin of weavers, handlers and buyers.

The Panel and workshops that followed on Saturday afternoon made suggestions and recommendations and Sara said she was planning to bring together these with the papers given in the morning session as a resource for friends of East Timor and other interested people.

Together the Exhibition and Forum left me with a the profound understanding that textiles are the art form of Southeast Asia and Timor. The work of making the art and conserving the tradition is important but the role of the work as an artform is by no means the highest role it plays, in fact that is a discursive practice of colonialist cultures that probably has both negative and positive effects.

Yesterday’s forum reiterated for me the necessity of protecting the weavers and their work. I came to appreciate the need to encourage weavers and nurture especially skilled and committed weavers, but more importantly I came to appreciate that weaving as a cultural practice is integral to the Timorese meaning of life. In considering the future of the Tais we need to be looking at the history and traditions in the context of the whole island, working to understand the Tais motif and symbolism as well as the Artisan’s histories.

The exhibition will be open until September 30. Monday to Friday 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. (Trams3,67 or Train to Balaclava Station turn left and walk down Carlisle street to the Town Hall).

Today and tomorrow mark the Ninth Anniversary of the Suai Church Massacre in which over 50 people were killed in Our Lady of Fatima Church in Suai, while up to 200 are said to have died in the Church grounds and the Unfinished Cathedral.

To mark the anniversary our film the Circle of Stones which is a call for justice for the people of East Timor and particularly Suai, will be uploaded to Suai Media Space.

A call for justice the film intercuts the re-enactment of the massacre with the ceremony around the Circle of Stones that grew outside the Church, that marks the place where the bodies of those killed were burned by the militia afterwards.

‘Stories from the Youth of Suai’- Suai-Covalima’s Tais was written by
Ajay, Densi & Ameu who were made up one of the collaborative groups in the YoMaTre Digital Stories workshop held in Suai in June 20008. (Densi and the women in her family are weavers from Kamenassa near Suai.)

Tetun Version: Tais Suai Covalima
The Suai-Covalima’s tais are very beautiful since they have a variety of types and colours. The Suai-Covalima’s tais look most beautiful when they are worn during the ceremonies especially by women for dancing.

“The models of tais Covalima”, “Cotton tree”, “Cotton wool”, Cristalina Moniz, Residential Address: Fatuk Laran. Occupation: spinning traditional cotton wool”.

The process of turning cotton wool into threads takes a long time. Because of that only very few people who still make tais from the traditional—locally grown—cotton, while many women make tais from imported modern threads, that is, threads from Indonesia.

Traditional Threads
The making of traditional threads required the following materials:

A special shape of wood—beautifully crafted from solid wood for spinning.
A small bowel—traditionally either made form wood or mud for spinning.

Process of making traditional threads
1. It takes at least one month to spin the cotton
2. Boiling and drying cotton take one week
3. Rolling the cotton takes four days
4. Making design on the thread (turning into futus) takes two months
Modern thread
The process of making tais from modern threads is faster. Therefore more women prefer to make tais from modern threads. It is faster to roll, to dye and design.

“Modern threads (threads made in Indonesia)”, “Tais designed with flowers”, “Tais designed with names.”

Process of making tais from modern threads:
1. Rolling the threads
2. Dyeing the threads
3. Designing the threads (turning it into futus)
4. Colouring the threads by way of boiling them with colourful modern liquids).

Tais Designs
Tais can be designed with flowers, with names of people or places. There are diverse designs.

“welcoming the visit from the government”, “sitting together”, “preparation to welcome guests.”
The Role of the Tais in Timorese life
1. For wearing during the traditional ceremonies
2. For covering the dead bodies (the dead bodies are covered with layers and layers of tais, the quality and quantity of tais depend on the social status of the dead person)
3. For gift exchanges
4. For bride prize
5. For welcoming the visit of the government or the head of the Church, and for welcoming the statue of the Blessed Mother Mary (usually during the procession months for the Blessed Mother Mary, May and October.

SUMMARY:
The traditional threads still exist, but nowadays not so many women use traditional threads for making tais. More and more women use modern threads. This is simply because modern threads do not need a long process for making tais.

Tetun Version: Krizi Hahan
Food crisis has considerably preoccupied the mind of the Timorese people as the price of the rice is skyrocketing beyond the purchasing power of majority of the Timorese. The price of one sack of rice is now US$32.00, more than twice higher than the price before the crisis. Many people cannot afford to buy even just one sack of rice. Consequently, many Timorese are forced to return to their indigenous diets, such as, corn, cassava, banana, papaya, and other locally grown foods.

Interview with Senor Antonio Moniz Mall - World Food Program - Suai

Q: “How and why does this food crisis happen in Timor Leste”?

A: “This crisis is happening because many people no longer want to work as farmers as they used to. They do not like to work in the farm simply because they are lazy. However, I believe that can survive on their indigenous diets.”

Q: “What are the impacts of this crisis on the ordinary people?”

A: This crisis has a considerable impact on the Timorese because the price of the rise is very high, US$32 per sack. People simply cannot afford it. In addition, they do not have money to buy other basic necessities. Other said this crisis is happening because the natural conditions, such as heavy rain, storm or drought.

Corn
Photos of traditional staples
Corn is the main indigenous Timorese staple. Although, people grow various types of beans, banana, papaya, cassava, taro and other root-crops, they grow and eat more corn as their main diet. Corn can be turned into different types of meal.

Banana
A photo of eatable fruits in Timor.
Banana is one of the eatable fruit in Timor. Banana is often eaten as breakfast. There are at 16 different types of banana in Timor with different forms, colours and tastes. Generally, the colour of bananas is green. But the colour turns yellow when the bananas turn ripe. But there is a type of banana that remains green when it is ripe. There is also another type of banana called “hudi hai” (fire banana) whose colour is dark red and remains so even when it is ripe. There is a special type of banana which becomes tasty only when it is boiled, baked or fried. This is the most consumed type of banana for breakfast, lunch or dinner at any celebration. The other types of banana cannot be eaten as the main meal as they are sweet.

Papaya
Papaya is also an eatable fruit in Timor. It is eaten when it is ripe. But it is also can be cooked or fried when it is not ripe. It can be used as vegetable. The flowers and the young leaves of papaya are cooked (boiled or fried) as vegetable. They are good, it is believed, for preventing and curing malaria as they are bitter, as bitter as the leaves of bitter melon which are also eaten as medication for malaria. And there are many different types and shapes of papaya. The local one is very small and round. It is very sweet. The others were introduced later by the Indonesians

This short story of foods in Timor is prepared by Group III (in the YoMaTre Digital Stories Workshop) concerning food crisis in Timor Leste. We believe that we Timorese to a great extent still eat our traditional foods.

Tetun version: Uma Lulik Tradisional Lakon Kalae?

This is the traditional sacred house of Timor, particularly in Covalima. The traditional sacred houses still exist. Our ancestors have passed on to us these traditional sacred houses from one generation to another. Traditional sacred house is very, very sacred. Therefore, whenever we are in the traditional sacred house, it is forbidden to talk, to chat and to put on hat. In addition, the elders are to be respected. People have to follow their words of wisdom. If not, then the punishment from the Above, the High in sky, would descend on you taking the forms of: death, being barren/having no children, becoming mad, or becoming confused and restless. Therefore, we Timorese really adore and respect our traditional sacred houses and our elders.

Sitting together in a sacred house

“Sitting Together”

The process of building a traditional house needs a very long time. It involves many meetings, working together and traditional ceremonies.

The community members have to sit together. All the members who belong to one sacred house or uma lulik get together to make plan for the construction of the uma lulik. This includes those who married to people of other tribes and to the non-Timorese—the white and non-white foreigners—but who have not abandoned, and should not abandon, their traditional practices. All members of the sacred house (community) get together to make preparation for the building and the completion of the sacred house which ends with a very big celebration that lasts several days, in the past, even weeks. During this celebration of uma lulik people from other communities are invited. Preparation for the celebration of the completion and the blessing (traditional blessing) of the sacred house involve the preparations of buffaloes, pigs, goats, rice, local alcohol, tais, cova (traditional male and female baskets called cova mane and cova feto) and others for the celebrations.

“Ceremony of slaughtering of pigs as an offering”

When the two main pillars for the sacred house have been found suitable, a small religious ceremony is conducted before the cutting of the trees for the pillars. A pig is slaughtered and the blood of the pig is sprinkled at the bottom of the trees and a prayer is said, led by an elder, before the trees are cut down. After that an offering of cooked heart of the pig and cooked rice, along with beetle nuts and beetle leaves are offered at the bottom of the trees. This is a sign of respect for the trees and a way of asking permission from the spiritual owners of the trees (the spirits of the land/the forest which is seen as being sacred).

“Cutting trees for the pillars”or“Putting the ‘bones’ of house.”

The two main pillars are named after the names of the Grandfather and Grandmother of the sacred house community. The Grandfather is the south pillar which becomes the place in the house for sacred adoration, prayers and offerings, for the elder of the use to bless the members of the sacred house by means of what is called kaba. The ceremony of kaba is as follows. The offering in the form of beetle nuts and beetle leaves putting in a specially made female koba/cova (small and beautifully made basket) is made to the ancestors and is put on the bottom of the Grandfather’s pillar. After a prayer was said by the elder, the beetle nuts and beetle leaves are eaten by the elders but not swallowed. The elder then makes a mark on the chests and foreheads of the members of community with the crushed beetle nuts and leaves from his mouth mixed with saliva. And this is called kaba. The female pillar with the name of the grandmother is on the north where the kitchen is. It is just referred to is grandmother or bei feto. It is here in this side of the female pillar—the grandmother—that sacred baskets, sacred pots, sacred spoons and plate, sacred inheritance and others are kept.

Collecting ropes/strings and leaves together and putting the bones of house.

Collecting together grass/palm leaves

Having putting together the bones (woods) of the house tied tightly with strings from the forest, the roof of the house is put. The roof consists of either certain type of grass called hae manu lain for the people in highland where there are no palm tress or the leaves of the palm trees for the people in the coastal area and lowland. All these are done together in the group.

Having putting together the bones (woods) of the house tied tightly with strings from the forest, the roof of the house is put. The roof consists of either certain type of grass called hae manu lain for the people in highland where there are no palm tress or the leaves of the palm trees for the people in the coastal area and lowland. All these are done together in the group.

About the Sacred House

The Result of the process of building sacred house

The result of the process of constructing a sacred house is as follows. All the members of the uma lulik (the community) are very happy, although the process of building a sacred house is very long—a one-year-long process.

English Version Traditional House Story

“Uma lulik Tradisional Fohorem”

Ida ne’e mak uma lulik tradisional ami Timor nian, liu-liu iha Covalima no uma lulik tradisional Timor sei la lakon tamba bei ala sira rai hela mai ami no sei lahalakon hosi jerasaun ba jerasaun.Uma lulik tradisional lulik tebes. Tamba sei wainhira ita tama ba uma lulik laran labele kanta,halimar,no labele uja sapeo,no tenqui respeito ema katuas ou halo tuir sira nia lia fuan,se karik lahalo tuir lia fuan nebe iha leten mak sei fo malisan mak hanesan: mate,oan la iha,bulak,moris la hakmatek nebe ami timor adora teb-tebes uma lulik.

Tur hamutuk iha uma Lulik

“Tuir Hamutuk”

Prosesu halo uma lulik tradisional persija tempo naruk teb-tebes no tenqi lao hamutuk ho serimonia adat.

Tenki tur hamutuk tamba,liu hosi tur hamutuk mak bele halibur famalia tomak maski balun kaben ho ema malae mutin maibe sei lahaluha iha uma lisan ida ne’e nia laran hodi tau hamutuk ideia hodi harin uma ida ne’e no oinsa preparasaun hanesan karau,fahi, fos, no seluk-seluk tan hanesan material dapur.

Serimonia oho Fahi

“Sermonia oho fahi”

Molok ta,a ai rin tenki oho fahi,hodi hisik fahi ran iha ai hun nebe mak atu ta’a.

‘Ta airin” “Halas uma”

Ai rin ne’e mak hanaran bei mane no Bei feto, Bei mane iha lor ,no nia hanesan fatin adora lulik, kaba, mak hanesan simbolu ida ou marka hatudu katak ema ne’e uma lisan ida ne’e nian Bei feto mak iha ahi matan rai matrial lulik ba hanesan tanasak lulik,sanan lulik no seluk tan.

“Halibur tali”

Tali halibur hamutuk ho halas

Halibur hamutuk

Tali tahan ou du,ut mak hanesan material nebe atu usa hodi sor uma lulik, prosesu halibur tali ou du,ut (lata hae/du ,ut), molok lata dut/hae uma halas hotu ona.

Resultadu hosi prosesu uma lulik

Resultado hosi prosesu halo uma lulik mak ne’e.Ami familia uma lisan ida ne,e sinte kontente teb- tebes maski iha prosesu halo uma lulik ne’e naruk no bele han tempo tinan ida.

English Version: Food Crisis
Krizi hahan ne’e prekupa bot ida tebes ba ema Timor tamba fos folin sae halo ema barak labele sosa fos. Ema nebe mak laiha osan labele sosa fos tamba fos folin caru liu hanesan saco 1 $32.00. Ho rasaun ida ne’e ema Timor barak fila fali ba hahan tradisional hanesan batar, Aifarina, Hudi, Aidila ho buat seluk nebe mak ema Timor bele han.”

Intervista Senhor Antonio Moniz Mall - World Food Program - Suai
Tambasa mak krizi mosu iha timor leste?
Tuir Sr. Antonio nia hanoin katak krizi hahan ne’e mosu hosi ema ida-ida nia a’an rasik tamba lakoi halo serviso hanesan ema agrikultur; lakohi halo to’os ou baruk ten. Maibe hau fiar katak ema Timor bele moris ho hahan tradisional.

“Oinsa impakto kona ba krizi ne’e?
Krizi ne’e impakto bo’otba povo Timor tamba sasan folin sae no ema barak osan menos no labele sosa fos, tamba fos karon ida $32, nomos sasan seluk tan. Tuir ema seluk nia hanoin, hare, nomos rona katak krizi hahan ne’e mosu tamba, kondisaun naturais mak hanesan udan bot, anin, bai loro naruk.

“Batar”
Foto hahan Tradisional
Batar mak hanesan hahan original Timor nian, maski ema Timor iha hahan oin-oin hanesan hudi, aifarina, aidila. aibe ema timor hare liu ba batar, Batar ne’e ema Timor mengola sai ba oin-oin atu hodi susutenta sira nia moris loro-loron.

“Hudi”
Foto Ai Han timor
Hudi mos hanesan aihan Timor, maibe hudi dala ruma ema Timor usa hanesan hahan mata bisu, Ema barak mak hudi hodi halo dosi, pisang goreng no buat seluk nebe sira bele halo tuir kapasidade ema ida-idak nian.

“Aidila”
Aidila mos hanesan ai han ida nebe mak ema Timor bele han, Nomos sira bele halo modo liu hosi nia tahan ho fuan. Aidila nia tahan mos bele halo aimoruk hodi halakon isin kole, laran beik no malaria.

SUMARIO
Istoria badak ida ne’e hosi ami gropu III kona Ba krizi hahan iha Timor Leste. Maibe ami fiar katak ami timor sei moris nafatin ho aihan tradisional.

Hakerek Grupu 8 Istoria Digital Workshop by Ajay, Densi ho Ameu. Densi ho famili halo tais ba Kamenassa Suai besik.

English Version - Tais Suai Covalima

Tais suai Covalima, tais nebe furak no kapas tamba, nia modelo oin-oin no nia kor mos kapas. iha sira nia isin lolon, bain hira sira hatais hodi halo sermonia.

“ Modelu Tais covalima”“Kabas hun”“Kabas rahun” Cristalina Moniz; Hela fatin: Fatuk Laran Servisu: Halo tiris, kabas tradisional.”

Sasan atu hodi halo Kabas Tradisional iha maibe nia prosesu han tempu.ida
ne’e ema balu halo Kabas Tradisional, balu lahalo. tamba, nia prosesu ne’e kleur.
Ne,e mak ema barak uja kabas moderno, ne’e nia prosesu la-lais. .(benang buatan Indonesia).

Kabas Tradisional
Halo Kabas tradisional persija material:
- Tiris kabas hodi ai.
- Mankok ki’ik.

Prosesu Kabas Tradisional:
1. Halo tiris nia han tempu fulan 1
2. Tein no habai’I kabas han tempu semana 1
3. Hurun kabas han tempu loron 4
4. Tiha atu kesi sai ba futus fulan 2

Kabas Moderno:
Kabas moderno nia prosesu lais, ne,e mak ema
barak liu hakarak uja kabas moderno.
tamba, lalais hurun,tiha,kesi ba futus mos lais.

“Kabas moderno (benang buatan Indonesia)”“Tais futus ho aifunan” “Tais futus ho naran”

Prosesu Kabas Moderno:
1. Hurun kabas.
2. Tiha kabas.
3. Kesi kabas sai ba futus.
4. Tein kabas hodi aiwen. sai ba kor oin-oin.

Modelu Tais:
Tais beleh halo ba gambar aifunan,
beleh halo ba ema nia naran, ho
modelu oin-oin.

“simu visitasaun hosi governo”“tu’ur hamutuk”“preparasaun atu simu ema”

Fungsi Tais:
1. Hodi halo sermonia adat.
2. Hodi falun ema mate.
3. Hodi troka perenda.
4. Hanesan mak visitasaun hosi governo, ho nossa senhora.

Sumario:
Kabas tradisional sei iha nafatin mai be to’o agora ema ladun uja kabas tradisional, ema barak uja kabas moderno. Tamba, nia prosesu lalais.

One of the tasks of this site is to help bring justice to the people of East Timor by keeping memories of the atrocities against them alive through ‘Acts of Remembrance’. My friendship with East Timor began with a massacre - the Suai Church Massacre. My first post on this website coincides with another very sad anniversary.

 

Veronica carrying her commemorative tais in a massive procession from St Motael Church to the Santa Cruz Cemetry November 12, 2000

This November 12, 2007 is the 15th Anniversary of the Santa Cruz Massacre. Follow this link to learn the published history www.etan.org/timor/SntaCRUZ.htm. This moment in East Timor’s history is particularly sad, for East Timor lost 271 young teenagers and students. Either dead or missing it left many people with the loss of all their children and no bodies around which to build a mourning process.

The woman in the procession carrying the tais is Veronica Pereira. In an extraordinary act of love and remembrance Veronica wove five tais with the names of all the youth who died or disappeared into them, to create an everlasting symbol of their sacrifice. The documentary about Veronica will be uploaded next year under the title ‘Returning the Tais’ to Timor.

Social Events
This weekend about twenty young Timorese who are in Melbourne are performing a play written by Filomena dos Reis that she describes as “telling the story of the Timorese youth of the past, present and future.“