Marapu Tribal Arts materialized due to a passion, based primarily on unique circumstances, experiences, and research conducted by the proprietor, Geoffrey Bendel. For the last 25 years, Geoffrey has been traveling, living and collecting tribal art throughout South East Asia. He focuses his attention on Nusa Tenggara Indonesia, especially the amazingly dynamic albeit isolated island of Sumba, where
he now resides part of the year. The remainder of his time is split between Bali and Canada. The people, topography, and local traditions of Sumba all lend to creating a daily megalithic experience/atmosphere like few others to be found in this technological age. This uniqueness is best portrayed in these peoples' amazing artistic traditions, which include stone carving, primitive statuary, object du art, and the famed Sumba burial tapestry (ikat). Over the years, Geoffrey has associated closely with the various Sumba clans, enjoying a very special status within the local population. These close friendships and considerable time spent on Sumba have allowed him to amass, what has been stated by the curator at the National Indonesian Textile Museum, "as one of the largest, and most important private collections of Sumbanese textiles and artifacts". Geoff has held exhibitions in Canada and Indonesia, and has placed pieces with public and private collections worldwide. He continues to work diligently on various educational and promotional projects. In 2010, he was consulted by local government on a soon to be established museum in Waingapu, Sumba. We are proud to be able to offer the distinguishing consumer the opportunity to own these wonderful examples of rare museum quality ethnographic art. These are highly collectible pieces and have proven desirable to a very diverse demographic. For information on present projects, or to inquire about the price for a particular piece, contact Geoffrey.
