Indonesia Comes to Ohio

David · 8th October 2009, 06:51 PM

I was pleasantly surprised last week when i found out that Middfest International, and annual international festival just 40 minutes from my house, was featuring Indonesia this year as their main country of interest. More than 100 dignitaries where coming all the way to a little town in Ohio to share their arts, music and other information with us. I called their offices to find out what they might be offering in the keris. Well, they had a complete gamelan orchestra (weighing over 5000 lbs.), wayang puppet theatre, dance, acrobats, textile displays and so on, workshops and lectures on many aspects of Indonesian life, but not a stitch of information on the keris. At first i was aghast. This seemed so wrong. It is, after all, an intrinsic part of the cultures of the area. I explained to them it's importance and the recent Unesco designation as a heritage masterpiece. Then i did something somewhat out of character for me. As many of you know i don't do too much show-and-tell on this forum. I tend not to post photos of my blades, though i do sometimes show images of dress. I believe in keeping my collection private, just for the viewing of close friends. But it just seemed a bit of an injustice for this big festival to go on with no display of keris at all. Sooooo....i offered them a loan for display. This all came down very last minute. I was setting up the display on Friday afternoon with the opening ceremonies just hours away. Nothing was ideal and they never got the individual name tags with the specific info i had given them on each keris printed up, but at least the attendees got a taste of what these wonderful weapons are all about. I tried to give them a selection as diverse as my meager collection would allow.
I do apologize for the photo quality. I only had my wife's point-and-shoot to photograph the display case and it doesn't do the professional job that i am used to with my big camera.

Here's a link to the event: http://www.middfestinternational.org/

Sajen · 8th October 2009, 09:41 PM

Very nice small keris exhibition! And crazy that a not Indonesian have to do it!

sajen

Rick · 8th October 2009, 11:12 PM

Very good job David , tres

!!

David · 8th October 2009, 11:29 PM

Thanks guys. I would have liked to have had the time to put together a display that was better designed, but i made due. When i arrived the case was already set like this so i went about trying to find a way to fit it together and make it look good. I also had a 2 more keris in a small case across the room and there was another local person who had a rather nice East Jawa keris that they loaned for the display, but i didn't get and photos of that. It really would have been nice if they had followed through and produced the labels they said they would, but with the festival already in full swing i guess my little display fell by the wayside. I was at the case for a couple of hours on Saturday and answered quite a few questions, but labels on each keris would have answered some of those questions without me. The only other keris i saw during the event was one carried by a Balinese dancer. I didn't see the blade, but it had a brass Bayu hilt.

David · 9th October 2009, 06:06 PM

Geez guys, 94 views and only 2 comments?! Where's the love?

BluErf · 9th October 2009, 06:36 PM

Hey David, it is indeed a rare opportunity to see your kerises!

And I think that the display shows a good variation of the keris archetypes, including the Malay keris!

And I see some very drool-worthy kerises in the picture. You won't happen to be posting any close-ups of those, would you?

8th October 2009, 06:51 PM	#1
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,121	Indonesia Comes to Ohio I was pleasantly surprised last week when i found out that Middfest International, and annual international festival just 40 minutes from my house, was featuring Indonesia this year as their main country of interest. More than 100 dignitaries where coming all the way to a little town in Ohio to share their arts, music and other information with us. I called their offices to find out what they might be offering in the keris. Well, they had a complete gamelan orchestra (weighing over 5000 lbs.), wayang puppet theatre, dance, acrobats, textile displays and so on, workshops and lectures on many aspects of Indonesian life, but not a stitch of information on the keris. At first i was aghast. This seemed so wrong. It is, after all, an intrinsic part of the cultures of the area. I explained to them it's importance and the recent Unesco designation as a heritage masterpiece. Then i did something somewhat out of character for me. As many of you know i don't do too much show-and-tell on this forum. I tend not to post photos of my blades, though i do sometimes show images of dress. I believe in keeping my collection private, just for the viewing of close friends. But it just seemed a bit of an injustice for this big festival to go on with no display of keris at all. Sooooo....i offered them a loan for display. This all came down very last minute. I was setting up the display on Friday afternoon with the opening ceremonies just hours away. Nothing was ideal and they never got the individual name tags with the specific info i had given them on each keris printed up, but at least the attendees got a taste of what these wonderful weapons are all about. I tried to give them a selection as diverse as my meager collection would allow. I do apologize for the photo quality. I only had my wife's point-and-shoot to photograph the display case and it doesn't do the professional job that i am used to with my big camera. Here's a link to the event: http://www.middfestinternational.org/ Attached Images

8th October 2009, 09:41 PM	#2
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 8,773	Very nice small keris exhibition! And crazy that a not Indonesian have to do it! sajen

8th October 2009, 11:12 PM	#3
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,291	Very good job David , tres !!

8th October 2009, 11:29 PM	#4
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,121	Thanks guys. I would have liked to have had the time to put together a display that was better designed, but i made due. When i arrived the case was already set like this so i went about trying to find a way to fit it together and make it look good. I also had a 2 more keris in a small case across the room and there was another local person who had a rather nice East Jawa keris that they loaned for the display, but i didn't get and photos of that. It really would have been nice if they had followed through and produced the labels they said they would, but with the festival already in full swing i guess my little display fell by the wayside. I was at the case for a couple of hours on Saturday and answered quite a few questions, but labels on each keris would have answered some of those questions without me. The only other keris i saw during the event was one carried by a Balinese dancer. I didn't see the blade, but it had a brass Bayu hilt.

9th October 2009, 06:06 PM	#5
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,121	Geez guys, 94 views and only 2 comments?! Where's the love?

9th October 2009, 06:36 PM	#6
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	Hey David, it is indeed a rare opportunity to see your kerises! And I think that the display shows a good variation of the keris archetypes, including the Malay keris! And I see some very drool-worthy kerises in the picture. You won't happen to be posting any close-ups of those, would you?