This mini-exhibition at the TRC is curated by Minsook Kang, who is an intern at the TRC. She is a visual artist and researcher working across textiles, moving images, installations and publications. She explores stories, memory, and embodied knowledge through forms of care, attention, and material engagement.
Images by courtesy of Minsook Kang on her research trip in 2026
A Language of the Hands - Embodied Knowledge and Transmitted Memory in Indonesian Buton Sarongs explores the Buton sarong as a form of embodied and transmitted knowledge. Buton is a small island in the southeat of Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Its capital is Baubau.
Drawing on TRC collections and fieldwork in Baubau, the exhibition traces how patterns, motifs, weaving practices, and memories that are transmitted across generations through speech, observation, and the hands. As a strong oral tradition culture, the sarong emerges as a living textile language shaped by everyday life, nature, and generations of makers.
A Language of the Hands can be visited until 30 Oct 2026. The TRC is open every weekday from 10.00 to 15.00.
