VCM

11Story

07 May 2009

The Toba House

The Batak

Contents
- The history and western discovery of the Batak
- Social and political life
- Religion and rituals
            * The beliefs
            * Tondi and begu
- The objects of the priest: the datu items
- The Death
- Synopsis of the exhibition
            * The Workd of the Dead
            * Singa
            * Musical instruments
            * The Toba House
          * Enclosing the world
            * Weapons and associated objects
            * The datu items
            * The protection
- Bibliography

The Toba House

The architecture of toba houses, built on stilts, fits a precise code. The front pattern of noble houses, rumah gorga, and the front of the rice granary, sopo, could be read like an illustrated book. The singa figure is declined in several variations: carved on the flat or in three dimensions, horned or with like leaf-like spreaded ears. When the singa is put at the end of a beam it becomes the Naga Padoha metaphor, a mythic snake who lives in the depth of the underworld and who holds the world on its back. There is a propensity for horror vacui, with an entanglement of floral and geometrical lines and a rhythmic composition.
Carved on granary doors and on houses lintels, Boraspati ni Tano, the goddess of the Earth, is represented by a benevolent lizard, who is keeping watch over the harvest. All these patterns protect the household against ordeals imposed by malevolent spirits.
Textiles and family heirlooms were stored in a chest, which could also be used as a bed. The rumbi, carved in a single piece of wood with teeth inlaid under the lid, is used as a rice storage place.