Introduction
On day 3 of #DSDW, we are assigned with the Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection API. It’s a free API, 4 endpoints to choose from, and no pagination. I have decided to explore the Malaysian art.
Malaysia is a relatively new country – only formed in the 1963. Prior to colonisation, there were separate countries like Malaya, Borneo, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and others. Today, after gaining independence, these regions formed modern countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Data Prep
The dataset was pulled from the Met API: Latest Updates | The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection API.
Using Alteryx, I made three separate API calls – Malay, Malaya, and Malaysian, to maximise search results. The Download tool downloaded all three endpoints, then parsed with JSON Parse, then transformed until the desired data form is achieved. The three lists of Object ID’s are then unioned and concatenated with Object base URL to retrieve the details of every object. The result was output as a hyper file.
The similar was done to retrieve information on constituents, although I ended up not using this dataset for the final dashboard.
Part 1: Making API calls for relevant endpoints
Part 2: Data transformation & output
Visualisation
Overview of dashboard
Centering the theme around minimalism, the dashboard is divided into three parts that look at separate sections. The charts filter one another to maximise exploratory capabilities.
Findings
- The kris is in the top 10 of all categories
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- The kris is one I’m personally fascinated by – always have been, just because of how cool it looks! Growing up, I have heard of stories of how somewhat magical powers than a kris possess, thus providing spiritual protection and such. The art of kris is heavily influenced by the Nusantara cultures like Malay, Javanese, Sundanese, and Bornean, amongst many others.
- In this dataset, it was found that the kris started existing in the 1500’s but so many more records were found in the 1700’s. Considering that this time period is significantly marked by colonial expansion, I believe it’s safe to assume that the increase in kris production is in response to this.
- Colonial encounters may have resulted in more weaponry productions
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- In the 1500’s the SE Asian region was a hotspot for trading routes between the East and West. By 1700’s, Malaya became one of the nations that were fully occupied by a colonial power.
- As a result, the popular arts that emerged from this period tend to be weaponry artefacts like knives, swords, guns, and even the krisses made it to the 4th most popular.
Limitations
- The political borders of the nations in Nusantara region have had significant changes in the past century. As a result, many of the region and country names may not have accurately track the current country and culture to their ancient versions.
- A lot of arts were missing in important details such as artist name, artist origin, region of origin, and date of creation.
Hope you enjoyed my little project on Malaysian arts. Should you want to explore more, head over to my Tableau Public.
