City of Armadale - History House > Records

BLOUSE - MODERN SUMATRAN DANCE COSTUME

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c. 2003

Overview

Yellow at top that blends into orange at the bottom organza blouse with long yellow sleeves with orange flounce sleeve end that has a slit up the side. Zipper at back of blouse than runs three quarters of the length of the blouse from the collar. In the middle of the front of the blouse is a seen on coral tear-drop shaped cloth, hollow in the middle. Onto the cloth orange, pink, yellow and green plastic crystals and sequins have been sewn into place to also form a hollow tear-drop shape.
Along the bottom of the blouse is a white ribbon, attached to the ribbon are gold coloured tassels. Each tassel is 5cm long and has a oval drop at the end of the tassel which is made up of round and cylindrical segments

Historical information

This Sumatran dance costume was hand made by Astit Olszowy in her Bedfordale home in the early 2000's. On trips back to Indonesia Astit would often by material with traditional patters to use when making dance costumes.
Astit moved from Indonesia to Bedfordale in 1991 when she married Richard. she quickly became active in the Perth Indonesian community, working for them as a secretary where she helped organise numerous events. This led to her becoming involved with promoting Indonesian culture in Western Australia and joining the Selendang Sutra (Silk Veil) Indonesian Dance Troupe. As part of the troupe Astit would perform, choreograph, train new dancers and help make the costumes.
This costume was used by members of the troupe when performing Sumatran and Sulawesie dances.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-33-COA2022.42a

Item type

Material

Keywords

Selendang Sutra Indonesian Dance Troupe

OLSZOWY Astit Mrs

Year

c. 2003

Statement of significance

This object is part of a collction that tells the story of individuals and families that either voluntarily or were forced to leave their home and migrate to Western Australia from 1829 to modern day. These stories relate to leaving family and a known lifestyle and culture behind, embarking on a journey that for some was long, and creating a new home in an unfamiliar land with an unfamiliar culture.

City of Armadale - History House

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