The Buffalo Horns of Sumatra
Minangkabau is a striking style of archictecture identified with the Minangkabau ethnic group indigenous to West Sumatra, Indonesia. Minangkabau house styles are recognisable by their distinctive buffalo horn shaped roofs. Internally, typical homes, rumah gadang, rumah adat, feature lavish floral wall and window carvings.
Minangkabau culture, with its emphasis on the importance of learning, has played a significant role in the development of Indonesian society.
The endangered species of Sumatra
West Sumatra is special in another way as the forests are home to some of the world's rarest animal and plant species. It is the only place where tigers, rhinos, orangutans and elephants live together. But their habitats are at risk and many are becoming endangered and threatened species, risking extinction. Deforestation, to make way for oil palm plantations or commercial timber, and poaching of tigers, hunted for their skins, rhinos killed for their horns, and orangutans taken from the wild threaten the biodiversity of this region.
The products illustrated the beauty of West Sumatra whilst raising awareness of environmental threats to the region that organisations such as WWF address.
View the images of Sumatra on Gaia in the gallery and buy the products in the store.
Buffalo Horns Photo Gallery
Various styles of Minangkabau architecture on Sumatra on Gaia on the Openlife Grid
