Page 81

untitled

79 by Moriarty at these shows was a 2.4-meter-high dance banner worn by an Alekano dancer at the Goroka Show in 1968. Large ceremonial dance banners were once made as part of male initiation rites across the eastern highlands. Created secretly by men, they were worn on the final day of large pig festivals and signaled the end of the seclusion period for initiates. Known as gaheisi by the Alekano, they traditionally comprised a framework of bamboo lashed with cane over which barkcloth lengths were stretched and sewn onto the support. Bird feathers were mounted along the edges and apex of the frame and geometric patterns applied to the outer barkcloth surfaces. Strapped to the back, the dancer’s hands were free to carry drums and rattles, with the feathers bouncing vigorously on counterweighted springs. Today gaheisi are constructed from modern plastics and decorated with brilliantly hued commercial paints. Designs often incorporate political slogans or distinctly Western modes of representation.2 Throughout the astonishing variety of works collected by Moriarty and displayed in Plumes and Pearlshells, materials from the natural world are incorporated and combined in innovative and meaningful ways, reflecting the Highlanders’ deep respect for and understanding of their environment. Plant fiber of every description, including vines and rattan, are woven, coiled, and lashed to create everything from body adornments, such as intricately decorated belts and armbands, to sacred fertility figures known as yupini. Illness or misfortune among the Enga and Ipili peoples of the western highlands was customarily attributed to ancestral ghosts. The success of crops, welfare of pigs and children, or victory in battle could all be hindered by a restless ancestor, and sacred rituals to placate the ancestors were held at special sites with only ritual experts and certain tribal elders and novices present. The kepele ritual, whose influence spread across the western Enga and Ipili region, was the largest of all fertility rituals. Lasting for five to six days, the kepele involved singsings, sacrifices of pigs, feasting, and the ritual training of young men. The kepele culminated in the simulated “mating” of woven yupini figures with sacred stones, which represented the ancestors. The yupini and sacred stones were then fed pork, and magic “spells” were recited. At the end, the yupini and sacred stones were deposited in a cult house until the next kepele was called.3 Cults associated with sacred stones were once prevalent throughout the highlands. Establishing a direct link with the spiritual world, ancestral and other spirits resided in these earthly forms. The Enga believed sacred stones FIG. 6: Rimbu (ceremonial headdress, back view). Kewa people, Kagua-Erave District, SHP, Papua New Guinea. Mid 1900s. Coil-woven rattan, bamboo, plant fibers, metal “7UP” drink can, white clay, red and blue pigments. H: 77 cm. Collected by Stan Moriarty at the Mount Hagen Show in 1963. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of Stan Moriarty 1977, 613.1979/ M880. Photo: AGNSW/Jenni Carter. © Kewa people, under the endorsement of the Pacific Islands Museums Association’s (PIMA) Code of Ethics. FIG. 7: Man wearing rimbu. Mount Hagen Show, 1963. Photo: Stan Moriarty. © Stanley Gordon Moriarty Archive.


untitled
To see the actual publication please follow the link above