Joel Elgin. The influence of
the artwork of Oceania. Day 2
So did you decide if Rockefeller
was a collector or a looter? Do you think he was eaten or drowned?
Sorry, I don’t have an
answer but I can reveal to you how the art of the Oceania region influences the
art I produce at Athraigh Print Studio… please read on.
Today we need to look to an island just
west of New Guinea called the Island of Sulawesi and learn of the contents of
the Leang Timpuseng Cave, in Maros-Pangkep, Indonesia.
This matters to us because we want to
begin by looking at the ancient 37,900 BCE, Sulawesi Cave art. The cave
paintings of hands and animals in seven limestone caves on the Indonesian
island of Sulawesi may be as old as the earliest European cave art.
Video time:
World's oldest cave art in
Maros-Pangkep, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Oct 8, 2014 - Uploaded by SciNews
Melanesia
Melanesia includes New Guinea, the
islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia,
Vanuatu, and the Fijian Islands.
In the Asmat region, bis poles were
created to honor individuals who have recently died and become ancestors.
Each figure on the poles represents and
is named for a specific deceased individual.
New
Guinea, Irian Jaya; Asmat people, Omandesep
Bis
Pole
Wood,
paint, fiberH x W x D: 212 x 39 x 63 in. (538.5 x 99.1 x 160 cm)
The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection,
Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.1611)
Asmat
ancestral spirit poles (mbis), Faretsj River
University
of California, San Diego
The Asmat celebrate the artistry of wood carving. Fumeripits
is regarded as the first Asmat wood carver.
The Asmat people believe that they descended
from Fumeripits, the first man who lived on the land. The myth relates that Fumeripits,
as the first man, carved statues from wood to ease his loneliness. Further, he
carved a drum named Tifa.
Fumeripits played Tifa sung so loudly
that the statues he had carved came to life and danced. These now live statues
were the original Asmat people. Fumeripits made houses and villages for his people.
The artistry of carving drums, poles, boats,
statues is sacred and ritualistic to the Asmat.
Asmat Drum “Tifa”
Asmat Drum “Tifa” 2
Asmat Ancestor Figure
We
could easily spend weeks looking at the artwork of the Asmat people. The art
they produce is both beautiful and powerful. Their culture needs to be known
for more then the possible demise of Michael Rockefeller. Let me leave you with
two “light” dancing images from the Peabody collection at Yale.
Asmat
Women
dancing in front of men's house while men are cutting trees
Peabody
Museum of Natural History
Yale
University: Peabody Museum of Natural History
Asmat
Boys
dancing in men's house
Yale
University: Peabody Museum of Natural History
Check out
some additional info on the Asmat by going to:
Thanks for
reading! Catch you next time.
