A Shield for the Rajah – a Gift from the Kenyah Badeng of Borneo in Rome
Abstract
Exotic objects are often displayed in western museums for their powerful aesthetic rather than
historical value because little is known regarding the provenance and history of the object. A chance encounter with a colleague’s photograph of a shield in the Vatican Anima Mundi Museum reveals a series of transactions. A trusted Madang (Badeng) chief Saba Irang gave a shield in 1899 to Resident Charles Hose to be presented to Rajah Charles Brooke as a sign of peaceful acceptance of Brooke Rule, in Sarawak, Borneo. This came after a series of uprisings, punitive expeditions, displacement and reconciliation. The context and act of giving this shield is examined in the context of peacemaking and trade. This gift did not stay in Sarawak as a reminder of the relationship this chief had forged with the Rajah but disappeared only to be found exhibited in the Vatican Museum some 120 years later. A case is made for this object to be exhibited in Sarawak for its story to be told with the source community who have spent the intervening time straddling the borderlands in Borneo between Kalimantan Indonesia and Sarawak Malaysia, vying for recognition and their rights as citizens of the state of Sarawak. Their story on the borders of the state is encapsulated in the provenance of the shield and its presence in an exhibition in Sarawak can provide a voice for the telling of an alternative history of peace-making from the margins.
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