Papua - New Guinea

The primary arts of Papua are masking wood carvings and fibre work. For this reason little is known before European discovery, although rock art has been found.

The most striking of all the Oceanic arts because of its decorative brilliance and imaginative ornament it is usually associated with ancestor and spirit cults, headhunting, and cannibalism

Masks are not for adornment, they are cult figures held to be the seat of supernatural creatures who take possession of the wearer.

The masks were elaborate, some as large as the wearer and decorated with feathers, hair, cloth, paint and wicker work.

Totems represent connections between certain types of images, kinships and groups.

Mostly this involves representation of animals in masks, statues and cult objects, outsiders are forbidden to use such things.

Wood carvings outside everyday use could be spectacular with intricate patterns; some of these are spatulas, head rests and storyboards.

The slit drum is an enormous undertaking, firstly it beaten to flatten the top, then hollowed out and tuned.

Women were responsible for the soft material arts of fibre craft and pottery. The main types are tapa cloth, bilums and skirts.

Tapa cloth is made from beaten mulberry bark, then decorated is used for clothing, canoe sails, sheets, masks and diapers.

Bilums, essentially baskets are to carry anything from food and babies to bones of the deceased.

Skirts, another type of textile and depending on the area is made from sago leaves, banana leaves, possum fur, feathers and raffia palm.

Dance is an important part of life, and the variation of performance is wide, from the mud man dancers to the elaborately attired highlanders.

The performances have political, economical, and mythical components.

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