Ancestor figure "kawe" ·  Papua New Guinea, Central Asmat · ID: 3033176

Description

wood, dyed with white pigment, black paint at the coiffure, squatting posture, anthropomorphic head, scarification marks on body and face, accentuated by red pigment, slightly dam., traces of insect caused damage, cracks, on pedestal;
in the Asmats creation myth the big hero “fumeripit” carved a number of human figures. When beating his drum they came alive, forming the first clans. The rigid motionlessness of the “kawe” figures should remind of the initial inanimateness of the first human beings.

Littérature comparée

Helfrich, Klaus u.a., Asmat, Berlin 1996, p. 184, ill. 12.14