Indonesia · Woodcarving / Basketry
Kerajinan Bambu dan Kayu Minahasa
The Minahasa people of North Sulawesi — a Christian community with a distinct cultural identity from the predominantly Muslim Sulawesi mainland — produce a range of bamboo and wood craft traditions centered in Tomohon city and the surrounding volcanic highland plateau. The most technically distinctive are the carved wooden household objects (kancil deer figure carvings, lesung rice mortars, carved storage containers), bamboo musical instruments (kolintang precursor instruments), and the intricately woven bamboo baskets for the Minahasa festive market economy. The kolintang — a xylophone-like instrument made from resonant wood — is the musical identity of Minahasa culture; its instrument-making tradition involves both woodworking and acoustic knowledge. Kolintang was inscribed by UNESCO in 2021.
Risk level: Endangered · Kolintang inscribed on UNESCO Representative List, 2021
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