Mask "mwai" ("mvai" / "mwei")
Papua New Guinea, Iatmul
not available anymore
Provenance
field collected by Herbert Marc Lissauer, Melbourne, AustraliaHendrik Elias, Wieze, Ghent, Belgium
Jo de Buck, Brussels, Belgium
Size
H: 70 cm
B: 21 cm
H: 27.6 inch
B: 8.3 inch
Description
wood, clay, cowry and nassa snails,
“Mwai” masks, portraying clan ancestors, always appear in pairs.
They are are mounted on conical rattan and coconut fiber racks encased in painted palm leaf sheaths. The costumes are worn by younger, newly initiated men who hide under the rack, singing in howler pipes.
Women dance around the masks and try to recognize the identity of the mask wearer by the legs. Thus, the performances also serve the approach of the sexes and the love spell.