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Weaving Stories

Lower garment (kain panjang)
2006–2007
By Milla Sungkar (Indonesian, b. 1960)
Silk and dyes
Acquisition made possible by Mr. and Mrs. M. Glenn Vinson Jr., 2007.44.1-.2

In 2004 one of the most devastating natural disasters in recorded history occurred when an earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed more than a quarter million people in several countries around the Indian Ocean. The northernmost Indonesian province of Aceh was particularly devastated. Media reports were filled with stories of the tragedy. The batik artist Milla Sungkar, living hundreds of miles away in Java, saw the imagery of the inundated region and turned to her art to grapple with the subject. The result is a visual story of devastation and suffering depicted with narrative force and exquisite detail.