Tribal Art

Abelam Mask (N° 22806)

This ample basketwork structure, vaguely zoomorphic in appearance, is a mask from the Abelam, living in the region of the Sepik river, nicknamed the Nile of New Guinea. The initiated men compete there by cultivating yams of the highest size. During the harvest, the yams are displayed decorated with masks, fruits, shells and feathers during ceremonies involving the ancestors. Mask of the same type p.6 to 8 in "Masques, Masterpieces from the Quai Branly collections" in ed. Quai Branly Museum.
Melanesia , in the Pacific Ocean, includes Papua (Irian Jaya), Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and the Solomon Islands. The population is the result of successive migrations resulting in racial heterogeneity resulting in many languages ​​and great artistic diversity. Most of these communities were organized into male societies with ceremonial huts in which statues, masks and ritual objects were stored. The masks produced by these groups represent ancestral spirits in which they incarnate. Funeral rituals are used to honor spirits in order to reach their ultimate destination.