The highly diverse East Indies – over 17,000 islands – has preserved a multitude of tribal societies, in which power is linked to the magical practices in the cult of nature deities and ancestor spirits. It includes the island of Borneo as well as the archipelagos of Indonesia and the Philippines. According to its constitution, Indonesia is monotheist and the animist religion is classed by default within Islam, which makes it the biggest Muslim country in the world.
© 2021 Musée d'ethnographie, Genève
