Gold of the Gods from Java

The Javanese Kingdom remained closed to outsiders for over a thousand years, with only the statues hewn from lava rock at Borobudur displaying the wealth with which the Javanese rulers venerated their gods. This month, the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam premiered a dedicated exhibition to the splendor of Javanese ceremonial art entitled Gold of the Gods. The installation presents an extensive collection of gold items from the seventh to the eleventh centuries and is on view until April 6, 2015.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Image courtesy of the Wereldmuseum Rotterdam

East of the Wallace Line: Monumental Art from Indonesia and New Guinea

Newly opened at the Yale University Art Gallery is East of the Wallace Line: Monumental Art from Indonesia and New Guinea, an important new exhibition exploring the cultural characteristics of eastern Indonesia and coastal western New Guinea. Taking as its jumping-off point the “Wallace Line,” an ecological demarcation first recognized by British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace that runs through Indonesia between Bali and Lombok and west of Sulawesi, the exhibition presents intricately decorated, large-scale sculptures and textiles, as well as more intimate personal and domestic objects. With more than 120 works from the 17th to 19th century, the exhibition features highlights from the Gallery’s permanent collection and select loans, many either too large or too fragile to be regularly displayed.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Korwar figure  -  Irian Jaya

Woman's tunic  -  Sulawesi

Mask  -  Timor

Betel container  -  Timor

Neckrest  -  Irian Jaya

Images and information courtesy of the Yale University Art Gallery