Rustic Wood Arts from East Timor in Decoration

Carved wood art made by ethnic groups in Southeast Asia takes pride of place in interior decoration aimed at timelessness and warmth. And this warmth, which is attuned to any environment, is conquered, above all, by having an ancient aesthetic, inherited from its ancestral cultural traditions .

This openness and western demand, in turn, made the craft (more spiritual) of the craftsman , passed from generation to generation in the islands of the Malay Archipelago , give way to creations based on the concept of “art for art's sake” - like the arts from Bali , Lombok and, in particular, East Timor . In order to convert the richness of immaterial culture into something tangible for different parts of the world.

And it is in this context that carved wood , which gives materiality to panels , sculptures , masks and utilitarian objects, can enter and dialogue with other spaces and contexts, such as our own temple (home), in order to enrich the interior decoration of more meaningful way.

The natural wood arts are present in the Malay Archipelago as a form of historical and cultural conservation. And although they maintain ancestral traditions in essence, the artistic production of the different ethnic groups that share space between their islands, have strong influences from their colonizers. Like East Timor , in the eastern part of Timor, with the influence of the Portuguese, Dutch and Indonesians, leading the sense of art to the decoration of environments .

In this sense, the stylistic concern came to the fore, which increased the commercial viability of the pieces and allowed them to be inserted in Western cultures in different ways. While it fostered trade, it made it possible to generate income among the groups, restoring protagonism to local artists .

This understanding is of great importance in order not to reduce the current Timorese wood arts as primitive or purely ritualistic . Rather, seeing them as a language of resistance and a tool for disseminating ancestral culture that draws on elements from ancient spiritual practices .

Among the most representative ones is animism , the cosmovision that everything has a soul, which previously motivated the creation of pieces for ritualistic celebrations . Therefore, it is not surprising that figurative sculptures and wooden masks are the arts that best express Timor's spiritual symbolism.

East Timor artisans specialize in weaving textiles and carving sculpture . And while fibers and wood express the divine force of nature, the elements that decorate the works, in turn, enrich them with symbolism, such as the figure of the ancestor.

Just as the belief in the divine of everything that exists, ancestry takes on a place of hope for this territory marked by armed conflicts that spanned generations. Therefore, these roots are constantly a guide for contemporary decorative art .

The divine nature is also manifested through figurative animals and graphic patterns inspired by the surroundings of artisans and where Timorese history takes place. Thus, among the most common graphics are spirals and waves , which refer to the immense sea that surrounds the island and connects East Timor to other parts of the world.

The figurative sculptures have a great rustic aesthetic appeal, a way that local artists found to show the beauty of what resists time. In the same way, they made use of the representation of ancestral figures , in order to transmit the value of the cult to the ancestors in the wood arts .

The tradition of ceremonial dance in ritualistic celebrations, such as, for example, in military conquests or homage to a disembodied family member, brings with it the use of masks - in order to animate deities and ancestors (give them life). This, in turn, became one more of the wooden arts that represent the myths of East Timor that guide the culture in general.

The carvings of the pieces are also enhanced with the patina painting on the natural wood . Eventually, they print an aged aspect, bringing it to the forefront to preserve the “old”, such as ancestry , as what is most valuable and makes each decorative art unique.

When referring to Timorese wood arts , creating a rustic decoration goes beyond inserting the warmth of the natural raw material into the environment. It is learning to perceive East Timor 's work of art as a path of inner expansion , which relates the cultural values ​​inherent to it to those that guide its history. Therefore, building spaces with this style goes beyond what is visible, it says more about the value you want to involve your personal temple, your home.

In the same sense, it is of great importance to understand that including Timorese art in interior decoration is also a practice of social responsibility , since it encourages the artistic production of local artisans . And, in the face of so many cultural and religious conflicts and separatist movements around the independence of the territory, the works assume themselves as symbols of cultural resistance and serve as a historical preservation of the ancestry of East Timor .

As decoration is also about the aesthetics that are presented, it is inevitable not to consider the worn look , the warm tones and the carved textures as key elements that convert this style of decoration into something warmly livable. Since they wave a cozy look in interiors, with a mysterious “what” that yields good conversations at the reception of visits.

There's no denying it: Timor arts are great focal points and bring interest to any environment. In other words, they are typical decorative elements that first attract the gaze of those who enter the spaces. They make it possible to raise the temperature of the interiors without weighing them down too much - a detail achieved especially by presenting the white patina paint .

It is clear that the rustic style of East Timor 's decorative arts exposes decoration to the purest definition of its insular nature: natural materials and organic lines integrated with a stripped-down look, characteristic of coastal environments , which invite detachment from the structures maintained by the rustic of field, to then take possession of a movement that comes from the water.

Thus, carved waves, sculptures of oars , boats , fins , among other elements, give new meaning to the eye for vivid details, with an appearance recovered from the ancestors, almost vintage , which show that memory is invaluable for those seeking the cozy tone of the rustic Timorese .

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Namaste!

Milene Sousa | Art & Tune