ART on view kept or the groups they belonged to. This approach progressively reveals the meanings and significance that the objects held for their owners. The Sepik village is made up of small groups of houses or hamlets, which themselves are made up of family residences. Usually the inhabitants of each of these hamlets claim to be the descendants of a common founding ancestor. In addition, the village has its ceremonial areas and paths, and it is in these places that the prestigious men’s houses are erected. Access to the village is by river, so two large canoes open the show and represent arrival in the village. In the first gallery, the objects from family dwellings are displayed. These houses are where women reign, and they generally remain close to the family hearth, around which their social role centers. Here they produce, nurture, and nourish the family. Objects of daily life are kept in these houses, including the headrests that are reserved for use by men and the hourglass-shaped drums that accompany the singing on ceremonial occasions. A separate space is devoted to the clan chiefs’ houses, in which the large hooks that feature representations of the clans’ ancestors are kept. Offerings are hung from these hooks. The exhibition’s central gallery space is dedicated to the architecture of the men’s houses and to the objects that are housed there. Depending on the particular area, these houses are a metaphor for the male or female body of a primordial ancestor. In the Middle Sepik area, their façades are decorated with masks that bring to mind the founding mother. These men’s houses are at the heart of male and ceremonial life. All of the objects associated with the most important rituals are kept beneath their roofs, and some of these objects are deemed to be so sensitive that they are kept hidden from view. In respect for this custom, the exhibition devotes a special gallery to such pieces. Certain types of masks, ancestor figures, and figures and charms associated with magic and seduction are presented here. When a ceremony takes place, the spirits are called FIG. 7 (above): Mwai mask. Iatmul, Papua New Guinea. Wood, ocher, black and white pigments. H: 33.5 cm. Acquired in 1939. Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, inv. 71.1939.127.20. © Musée du Quai Branly. Photo: Claude Germain. FIG. 8 (right): Yipwon figure. Alamblak, Papua New Guinea. Wood. H: 184 cm. Collected by George C. Kennedy between 1963 and 1966. Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, inv. 70.2007.41.1. © Musée du Quai Branly. Photo: Thierry Ollivier, Michael Urtado. FIG. 9 (left): Crocodile. Duor village, Papua New Guinea. Fiber, wood, hair, shell, teeth, bone, seeds, fragments. L: 114 cm. Acquired in 1967 by Jean Guiart at the Marienberg mission, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, inv. 72.1966.12.14. © Musée du Quai Branly. Photo: Patrick Gries, Bruno Descoings.
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