Ataúro sculptors
Ataúro Island, Timor-Leste

Agusto, Wetarese language group (Hresuk, Beloi and Biqueli Hrasua), b.unknown, Maquili, Ataúro / Ataúro Carver, b./d.unknown, Ataúro / José da Costa, Wetarese language group, b.unknown, Maquili / Gonçalo da Costa Pereira, Wetarese language group, b.unknown, Maquili / Gonçalo da Costa Soares, Wetarese language group, b./d.unknown, Maquili / Joanico da Costa Soares, Wetarese language group, b.unknown, Maquili / António Saldanha, Soluan/Maunua people, b.1972, Ataúro / Mário Saldanha, Soluan/Maunua people, b.1976, Maquili / Mário Soares, Wetarese language group, b.unknown, Maquili / Paulino Ximenes (Lia Na'in [Elder/Guardian]), Wetarese language group, b.unknown, Maquili
Live and work in Dili, Timor-Leste, and Ataúro Island

A group of islands in the Banda Sea, south-east of Indonesia, were once one landmass. Local oral histories recall that a giant eel’s tail slapped against this larger island and fragmented it into smaller ones — known today as Alor, Ataúro, Kisar, Lira, Timor and Wetar.

One of those islands — the mountainous Ataúro — is one of only a few areas in Timor-Leste where the creation of carved wooden sculptures continues. Hewn from local timber species, the figurative sculptures descend from a tradition of men whittling ancestor figures to memorialise the original founders of their communities. Leaders would perpetuate each clan’s history through the recitation of extensive genealogies, reaching back to their forebears. Innovations on these carving traditions allow Ataúroans to maintain prior values and beliefs whilst engaging with a rapidly changing world.