The Flourishing of Island Cultures: The Art of Oceania
    
       
  The Islands of Oceania :: Melanesia :: Micronesia :: Polynesia :: Australia :: Oceanic Art Today  
       
       
  MELANESIA

Diverse ecosystems:

Melanesia includes New Guinea, the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and the Fijian Islands. The art forms of Melanesia suggest a variety of historical overlays of styles and symbolism. Their cults and art forms address a host of legendary ancestral and nature spirits.

New Guinea consists of parts of two countries—Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea. The various ecosystems afford numerous adaptations for survival, including agriculture and husbandry, as well as hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild plants and animals.

Power, privilege, and art:

The descendants of early settlers in New Guinea speak a language group called non-Austronesian. Egalitarian social units vest political power in groups of elders. Within some of these groups are "Big Men," renowned for their political, economic, and warrior attributes. Later migrants to the Melanesian islands speak Austronesian languages and tend to stratify more. The Asmat, Iatmul, and Abelam peoples, who all speak non-Austronesian languages, represent just three of the hundreds of art styles found on New Guinea. Asmat Art (West New Guinea)

Asmat culture and arts revolve around mythological ancestral beliefs associated with competition, warfare, and head-hunting. Their art is filled with symbols of ancestors, as well as animals and insects associated with head-hunting.

The Iatmul (Papua New Guinea)

A symbolic female ancestor:

Villages of the Iatmul includes extended families as well as defined clans.  In both function and form, the men's house reveals the primacy of the kinship network.  Because advancement in Iatmul society is limited to men, women and uninitiated boys are denied access to the house.  Access to knowledge (and therefore power) is controlled. 

Traditionally the house symbolizes the protective mantle of the ancestors and represents and enormous female ancestor. The Iatmul house and its female ancestral figures symbolize a reenacted death and rebirth when a clan member enters and exits the second story of the house.  The interior reflects the social demographic of the village and is subdivided into parts for each clan.

31-1: Exposed interior of ceremonial men's house, Iatmul, Papua New Guinea, photographed in 1953—1954.
  1. Exterior
  2. Exterior
The Abelam (Papua New Guinea)

A complex yam cult:

The Oceanic art relates not only to fundamental spiritual beliefs but also to basic subsistence is highlighted by the yam mask produced by the Abelam people, agriculturists living by the Sepik River.

31-2: Yam masks, Abelam, Papua New Guinea. 
  1. Similar Yam Masks
  2. Similar Yam Masks
  3. Similar Yam Masks
  4. Similar Yam Masks
The Asmat (Irian Jaya)

The art of warfare:

In contrast with the Abelam, with their relatively peaceful agricultural pursuits, the Asmat face a much harsher life. To restore the balance of spirit power, an enemy's head had to be taken to avenge a death and to add to one's communal spirit power.  Head –hunting was effectively abandoned by the 1960's.

Avenging a death:

When they still practiced head-hunting, the Asmat erected bisj poles that served to avenge a relative's death.  Carved from  the trunk of the mangrove tree, bisj poles included superimposed figures of individuals who had dies.

31-03: Bisj poles, Buepis village, Fajit River, Casuarina Coast, southwest New Guinea.
  1. Bisj Poles
  2. Bisj Poles
The Elema (Papua New Guinea)

Visiting water spirits:

Central to the culture of the Elema people of Orokolo Bay in the Papuan Gulf was Hevehe, an elaborate cycle of ceremonial activities.  Conceptualized as the mythical visitation of the water spirits (ma-hevehe). The Hevehe cycle involved the production and presentation of large, ornate masks (also called hevehe).  The Elema held ceremonies to initiate male youths into higher ranks.

31-3: Hevehe masks retreating into the eravo (men's house), Elema, Orokolo Bay, Papua New Guinea.
  1. Hevehe Masks
The Trobriand Islands (Papua New Guinea)

Trading places:

Because of the isolation imposed by their island existence the Trobriand Islanders had to undertake potentially dangerous voyages to participate in kula (anexchange of white conus-shell arm ornaments for red chama-shell necklaces) trading.  The Trobrianders lavish a great deal of effort on decorating their large canoes.

31-5: Canoe prow and splashboard, Trobriand Islands, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Wood, paint, 1' 3 1/2" high, 1' 11" long. Musée de l'Homme, Paris.
  1. Prow and Splashboard
  2. Splashboard
  3. Splashboard
  4. Canoe
New Ireland (Papua New Guinea)

Honoring the dead:

Mortuary rites and memorial festivals are a central concern of the Austronesian-speaking peoples who live in the northern section of the island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea.  The term malanggan refers to both the festivals held in honor of the deceased and the carvings and objects produced for these festivals.  Among the many Malanggan carvings produced – masks, figures, poles, friezes, and ornaments – are tatanua masks. Tatanua represent the spirits of specific deceased people.

31-6:     Tatanua mask, New Ireland. Wood, shell, lime, fiber, 1' 5 3/4" high. Otago Museum, New Zealand.
  1. Similar Northern New Ireland Mask
  2. Similar Northern New Ireland Mask
  3. Similar Northern New Ireland Mask
   
       
 
 
       
       
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