-
Details
- Place where the work was made
-
Okapa (Moke)
→
Okapa District
→
Eastern Highlands Province
→
Papua New Guinea
- Cultural origin
- Fore people
- Dates
- mid 20th century
collected 1964 - Media categories
- Ceremonial object , Mixed media
- Materials used
- tree fern, shells, remains of bird feathers, 2 pig tusks, 9 mammalian teeth, white and pale red natural pigments, plant fibre string
- Dimensions
-
36.5 x 17.0 x 21.5 cm
:
0 - Whole, 36.5 cm (14 3/8"), height including feather headband
0 - Whole, 17 cm (6 11/16")
0 - Whole, 21.5 cm (8 7/16")
- Credit
- Purchased 1977
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 290.1977
- Copyright
- © Fore people, under the endorsement of the Pacific Islands Museums Association's (PIMA) Code of Ethics
- Artist information
-
Fore people
Works in the collection
- Share
-
-
About
The Fore men carve human heads into fern trees ('amo ato') to make scarecrows. They are placed in the gardens especially during the season during which new crops are planted. Some of these fern heads are also placed outside houses to trick sorcerers ('tukavu'). When they see these figures, they believe that there is someone at home and they go away.
Alphonse Kona, University of Papua New Guinea, 2014
-
Exhibition history
Shown in 4 exhibitions
Melanesian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Apr 1966–22 May 1966
Aboriginal and Melanesian art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 Oct 1974 -
Plumes and pearlshells: art of the New Guinea highlands, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 30 May 2014–10 Aug 2014
Melanesian art: redux, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 17 Nov 2018–17 Feb 2019
-
Bibliography
Referenced in 3 publications
-
Tony Tuckson, Aboriginal and Melanesian art, Sydney, 1973. cat.no. H50
-
Tony Tuckson, Melanesian art, Sydney, 1966. cat.no. 245
-
Natalie Wilson (Editor), Plumes and pearlshells: art of the New Guinea highlands, Sydney, 2014, 138 (colour illus.), 163. cat.no. 80
-
