I filmed and photographed this ai toos — the Tetun term for the post or statue standing at a ritual altar — in front of a traditional house in West Timor, Indonesia. Altars of this kind stand outside dwellings, distinct from those set up in cultivated fields. Ceremonies are held at them for the harvest and on other significant occasions. During the ritual an animal is sacrificed, and a betel leaf with a slice of areca is sprinkled with the animal's first blood as an offering.

Filmed in 2019

Photographed in 2019