Délicate tige de danse "bair" ·  Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée - Archipel Bismarck - Nouvelle Bretagne - Tolai · ID: 3051155

Description

wood, pigments (black, white, red and bright blue), rest., base

The Tolai people of northern New Britain create a great variety of ceremonial paraphernalia known collectively as “pokopoko”, which are worn or carried during dances and other performances.

This work is a dance wand “bair”. “Bair” are carried in pairs by men during a dance known as “kulau” (young coconut). However, the name of these objects changes with their context. They are called “bair” only when in use. When not in use, they are kept inside a sacred house “pal na pidik"and are called simply “pokopoko” (ceremonial paraphernalia).

“Bair” and other dance accessories are made, or designed, by “tena buai”, men and women initiated into the sacred knowledge of music. The central images represent spirits “tabalivana”.

Littérature comparée

Heermann, I. (Hg.), Form, Farbe, Phantasie, Südsee-Kunst aus Neubritannien, Linden Museum, Stuttgart 2001, p. 69