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A Superb Old Vanuatu Malekula Island Ceremonial Mask Vanuatu


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Collection No. SOLD but see lots more Fine Oceanic & Aboriginal Art on my website
Size Height 42cm
A Superb Old Vanuatu Malekula Island Ceremonial Mask Vanuatu
A Superb Old Vanuatu Malekula Island Ceremonial Mask Vanuatu
A Superb Old Vanuatu Malekula Island Ceremonial Mask Vanuatu
A Superb Old Vanuatu Malekula Island Ceremonial Mask Vanuatu
A Superb Old Vanuatu Malekula Island Ceremonial Mask Vanuatu
A Superb Old Vanuatu Malekula Island Ceremonial Mask Vanuatu
A Superb Old Vanuatu Malekula Island Ceremonial Mask Vanuatu

A Superb Old Vanuatu Malekula Island Ceremonial Mask Vanuatu

This beautiful ceremonial Mask was field collected in South West Malekula Island in 1986. Malekula is one of the islands that make up the country of Vanuatu formerly known pre-independence as The New Hebrides.

The Mask is made from a bamboo frame and covered in a vegetable fibre paste that goes hard after mixing. The hanging part at the back is made of spider webs.  This can be worn as a mask as seen in the field photo or in a ceremonial display

In SW Malekula Island these masks and faces are known as “Temes Nevimbur” they are used during important ceremonies by members of a secret society, also called “Nevimbur”.  They are seen from behind the fence which is a sacred area.  Many of these ceremonies celebrate the attainment of higher status within the secret societies known as “grade taking ” or taking of a higher title.  Merit rather than birth determines the grade or rank of an individual within these societies. A man with strong determination can be elevated over a lifetime to the status of a living deity. Pigs are crucial to obtaining the higher status for the highest levels of the secret society, dozens of full circle tusked pigs are needed to be sacrificially killed on a single occasion to take the next level or grade within the society.

Malekula Island Artworks are one of my personal favourites’ out of all Oceanic Art and I was extremely lucky to have seen them in use in the village setting. The people I stayed with there were extremely warm and kind & generous.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Private Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art.

See my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY  showing the Museums and Art Galleries Exhibitions that I provided artworks for over the past 40 years. There is the link to the article about my artworks published in the prestigious Louvre Magazine in 1996

I have artwork for Museums and art Galleries but also for collectors at every stage of their collecting. I want to encourage people to explore the fine art of New Guinea & West Papua and the Pacific Islands and to be able to see and touch the artworks in a relaxed and friendly manner in my Sydney Gallery. I would like to invite you to visit my gallery and see the artworks in person and also look at my website www.oceanicartsaustralia.com where there are many Galleries & Sub Galleries to explore.

My Gallery of nearly 40 years is the last physical gallery in Sydney that specializes in New Guinea and Oceanic Art.  Sydney is very close to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbors.

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