12th May 2013, 05:09 PM | #28 | |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 188
|
Quote:
For me, collecting keris started as an interest to learn more about it beyond the usual stories, and as I started to explore and read, it soon turned into a starting point to dig deeper into Indonesian history and culture. It's allowed me to learn more about symbols and world views that I've been familiar with on a superficial level since I was young but am only now starting to understand on a deeper level. I suppose for me collecting keris is also somewhat of a personal journey in that regard. I've always had a vague and rather incomplete knowledge of Indonesian history, touching mainly upon the broader strokes of the existence of Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, the coming of Islam, the Dutch colonial period, the Japanese liberation/occupation, and finally independence. Delving deeper into these broad categories has always been somewhat of a daunting task but I find that the keris allows me to do just that. Perhaps because it is one of the, if not the, Indonesian symbol pur sang (or rather Javanese but to me - even if incorrectly - the two overlap to a significant extent). It's existed since ancient times and has undergone continues changes since then; changes that reflect the period and associated cultural values and world views that it was made in. It's a portal into Indonesian history and culture throughout the ages, a focal point, an eye in the storm of historical change. While within the keris community outside of Indonesia not many people will have a similar motivation for collecting keris, I do feel it is a motivation for at least a part of the community. This likely also holds true to a certain extent for people with other cultural backgrounds (e.g. an ethnic Japanese collecting katana or an ethnic Chinese collecting calligraphy scrolls). There are collectors on the outside, on the inside and everywhere in between. |
|
|
|