Asmat people's carvings

"Eme" drum : the tubular drum carved with low-relief head hunting patterns is the Asmat people main instrument. It refers to the object which thanks to Fumeripitz, the creator heroe and first carver gave life to wooden statues playing and singing with it. The drum which is held by the handle(s) between the arms and legs accompanies ritual songs and dances during each ceremony. "Eme" drum gave rhythm to Asmat people's religious and social life. They are trimmed in a log and engraved over the surface with the same symbolic patterns we can see on the shields. The drum skin beat is made from a lizard skin which is tight and sealed on with the carver's dry blood and damp lime mixed together, the whole firmly hold with a rattan tie.

The "Jamasj" shields : Those shields are made from mangrove large branches and painted with the traditionnal Asmat colours (white, red and black). Traditionnally, the Asmat people are giving the name of a recently died ancestor to their shield whose owner has the duty to avenge the death to permit the ancestor to reach the spirit's world. This ancestor's name, sometimes very powerful,  will give rise to a force which is going to protect the shield's owner beyond simple physical attacks (little arrows or spears) he could faced during head hunting raids.

It can take three or four weeks to make a shield before the shield fair. Every man must be able to make his own. With the adze blade, he digs a plank around 2 meters long and 1 meter wide within the root spur of the tree he chose. After having refined and reduced the imperfections of this plank, he is the only one who decides of the ornementations that will decorate his shield. The patterns which are reproduced by memory vary according to the areas. Simple or complex, they get a symbolic and precise meaning which is not always easy to identify.

The represented themes are often natural elements (various animals like flying foxes, insects, insects tracks, waves, nose ornaments, shells, abstract flowering patterns sometimes anthropomorphic ones more or less stylized). As a protection weapon during the fights, the shields have to be light to permit a quick move and large enough to cover the warrior's entire body.

Asmat people believed that death could not be natural and was always due to wars or black magic. In both cases, the deceased had to be avenged by his family's survivors. If not, he was condemned to always wander without being able to reach the ancestors spiritual world. It is during a collective revenge ceremony arranged by the village that the ancestors mast was especially carved.

This mast is considered as a canoe that takes the deceased souls to make the journey towards the country of the dead. It also represents the fecundity through a openwork wing which soared from the top.

The ancestors masts are the materialization of the Asmat faith in their ancestors to ensure the timelessness and the fertility of the group.

Top of an Asmat ancestor mast

Maro (or tapas) : In Papua New Guinea, several kinds of tapas exist reflecting the great cultural diversity of this country.

The Oro Province in the far South of Papua is one of the main area for tapas productions.

Unlike the big Polynesian materials, tapas from Papua are composed of small size pieces then put together according to the needs. So, it is possible to get blankets to protect oneself from mosquitoes and the cold,  shrouds to wrap deceased persons bodies or else ritual items like masks.