Carvings
The Mah Meri is an Orang Asli community who live in Carey Island, about 40 kilometers from the capital city, in the southern part of Selangor Darul Ehsan. In a plural society like Malaysia, the existence of Orang Asli art complements the country's history and heritage. The Orang Asli, as the original inhabitants of Malaysia, provide the foundation for art and culture in Malaysia.
This view is supported by anthropologigal researchers (such as Moorehead: 1957, Gustave Schnek: 1961 and Tony Bemish: 1953). The Peninsular Orang Asli descended from the Paleolithic and Neolithic men who inhabited the Southeast Asian region around 8000 BC.
According to a census by the Department of Orang Asli, in 1997 there were 92,529 Orang Asli in the whole of the Peninsular. Although small in number, the Orang Asli produce prolific art works which are unique to their community.
Each artwork has its own mythological story told by the medicine man or the shaman (moyang). The story helps the childlike mind to understand the secrets of life and nature without the use of abstract reasoning. Through myths and beliefs in the spirits, thay are able to create their concept of cosmology. The belief in ancestral spirits has made the Orand Asli more creative compared to other communities.
Orang Asli Carving
Photo shows Willard Van De Bogart, owner of the Portal Market, receiving the "Wind Spirit" from the Orang Asli wood carver "Mori" on a recent expedition to the jungle community. The "Wind Spirit" piece was aquired for its flow of lines depicting the wind as it decends onto the land. It is a one of a kind piece, and is enscribed on the bottom with the artists signature and name of piece. The shape of the sculpture reflects to a certain extent the characteristics and essence of the Orang Asli communities. Each sculpture is carved according to the character portrayed.
The process of carving takes a long time because each item must retain the original shape created by an earlier carver. This does not mean making direct copies without any variations. The younger carvers, like Mori, are innovative in shaping their figures. In the Orang Asli community, the character represented by a carving is not owned by particular individual. A carver establishes his identity by his mastery and expertise in using the medium to produce a difficult shape.
The Mah Meri are from the Senoi racial group and most of them are animists. They believe in ancestral spirits which they call "Moyang", "Hantu" and "Bes". Because of their different habitats, their environmental experience helps produce artworks with different chracteristics. The Mah Meri live along the coast of Selangor, that is the reason why most of their carvings are based on the mysteries of the sea and the beings that live in and on the surface of the deep.
Although without formal training, the Orang Asli carvers have produced impressive works of art. Almost all their artwork shows an awareness of the formalistic elements where space, line, form and shape are combined by the sculptors spontaneously and naturally to produce a harmonious piece.
Below are various views of the "Wind Spirit" depicting the mystery of the wind as it decends into their vilage from the sea.
If you are a collector, and would like more pieces that represent the Orang Asli mythology, arrangements can be made wherby an expedition to the jungle can take place and pieces can be aquired. For more information please write to the Portal Market.
Perspectives of the "Wind Spirit"
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