A Superb Old New Guinea Basket Hook Figure Kwoma People Waskuk Area Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea

A Superb Old New Guinea Basket Hook Figure Kwoma People Waskuk Area Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea

This rare and beautiful double-sided Basket Hook Figure was made from the intense creativity of a Kwoma artist, depicting either a power Bush or Water Spirit called sikilawos whose legs & arms are transformed into totemic birds.  It is beautifully painted with both ochre and trade paint.  This is the only Kwoma Sculpture or similar Basket Hook Figure that I have ever seen.

Basket Hooks were used to protect food or other objects, the hook would hang from the ceiling by a rope and string bags were hung from the hook with food or other important objects that then could not be reached by rats or mice, a simple effective technology used by cultures around the world.

Sepik River artists made many beautiful unitarian art objects like Basket Hooks that were both functional and a way of honouring and making visible their ancestors and spirits on a daily basis.

Birds in New Guinea art can be important clan totems and also anthropomorphic spirit beings that are half man; primordial bird-men and bird-women, who originally created the sacred musical instruments, consisting of bamboo flutes and slit gongs that were kept within the ceremonial houses and played a central role in the ritual life of their communities.

This very beautiful old Kwoma sculpture has been one of my favourite Oceanic Artworks that I have ever owned, it has a soft gentle surreal feel where often Middle Sepik artworks can seem aggressive, Waskuk/ Kwoma Art in my opinion is one of the great art styles of Papua New Guinea.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Art

Exhibited Oceanic Arts Pacifica: Oceanic Art from the Todd Barlin Collection at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre 2014

The Kwoma people and their closely related neighbors the Nukuma and Manambu share a unique tradition revolving around the cultivation of yams. An annual series of rituals associated with the yam harvest ensures the tuber’s continuing abundance and renders it suitable for human consumption. Clans sponsor the events, which are staged in a sequence of three rituals each involving different types of figures.

Yina is one of three distinct ceremonies held annually in the villages of the Kwoma, Nukuma, and Mayo speakers of the Upper Sepik River, in a region generally referred to as the Waskuk Hills. These ceremonies are associated with fertility and the harvesting of yams and the spiritual well-being of their communities.

There are two other Yam Harvest Ceremonies that are associated with a distinctive form of sculpture, Minja & Nogkwi, which specific artworks are and these three ceremonies run in a ceremonial cycle.

Ritual leaders organize the Yina ceremony at yam harvest time. The next two ceremonies feature their own sculpted images of Mindja and Nokwi and must also be performed before the full harvest.  Older Yina Figures are hidden in garden huts, away from the village as they have acquired power over time and through use. New carvings are required from time to time; power is not inherent, but develops in the process of carving and painting & ceremonial use.

For the annual ceremonies, both old and new sculptures are freshly painted, as their power lies in the bright polychrome ochre paint applied to their surfaces, for the Kwoma people the paint is a magical substance that endows the figures with supernatural power and beauty.

The ceremony takes place inside the men’s Ceremonial House (korob) a platform is built, and one major Yina figure is displayed as a focus along with lesser Yina and other associated figures and pottery heads may be used. The Yina is tied by the shaft to the poles of the platform and further decorated with shell wealth items, a ‘beard’ made of feather down, pig’s tusks, and sometimes a headdress.

I first went to Papua New Guinea in 1985 for an adventure & what I found was that I really enjoyed being with the people of New Guinea, over the next 38 years I spent extensive time collecting and documenting traditional art & ceremonies in remote areas of Papua New Guinea & West Papua, The Solomon Islands & Vanuatu & the other Pacific Islands countries. During these travels, I made major collections of New Guinea and oceanic Art for major Museums and Public Art Galleries

I was honoured by being in the prestigious Louvre Museum Magazine for the collections I made for The Museum of African & Oceanic Art Paris in 1996 (now the Musee Quai Branly) for the exhibition “Asmat et Mimika d’ Irian Jaya April 1996 At THE MUSEE NATIONAL des ARTS D’AFRIQUE et d’ OCEANIE, Paris

See all of the links & photos in my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY and there is the link to the article in the prestigious Louvre Magazine 1996

I have artwork for Museums & 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 specialises in New Guinea & Oceanic Art. Sydney is just a couple hours’ flight to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbours. 

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