Mask costume (Jipae) (of the rope type also called "Elder Brother")
A festival of insults
Rational appearances are challenged in a festival among the Asmat of southwest New Guinea. Men hurl insults at women: "She has red eyes, a long chin, wet nose and pot belly!" Women ridicule men, calling them outrageously bad names. This disruption stops when clouds of powdered lime dust are used to greet eerie, otherworldly performers. As seen here, their costumes resemble no identifiable being but combine nose shells, cassowary bird feathers, sago leaf tassels and wooden hornbill beaks. They are said to represent people who have recently died, giving the departed one last chance to visit and feast on handfuls of tasty sago grubs before disappearing forever into the bush.
Bark, rattan, sago leaf. nose shells, parrot feathers, cassowary feathers, hornbill beaks, wood, pigment, seeds, lime, ochre, and charcoal
Gift of Mark Groudine and Cynthia Putnam
94.114
