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Sepik River Art
| Article
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13655 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1988 |
5,211 Words |
| Author
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Perry Christiansen and Wendy Stone
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To understand the unique art of the middle and eastern Sepik regions of Papua New Guinea, and thereby the peoples who produce it, one must enter into a world of spirits where mysticism and ancestor worship prevail. Beyond the aesthetic appeal of Sepik River art lies its pragmatic utilization by villagers seeking to stay in harmony with the animistic forces of nature in which they believe.
The dominant feature of the Sepik district is the river itself. Winding from west to east in great looping bends, the Sepik River travels over seven hundred miles to the sea. Moving up from tributaries in the south, the river flows through the highlands of the Hunstein Range to the Ambunti Mountains, then northeast across a floodplain of swamp and rain forest. The plain is everywhere nearly at sea level. Rainfall is sixty inches or more a year, averaging three inches a month even in the dry season. Temperatures remain in the upper eighties throughout the year in most of the region.
As the river's depth ranges from a few feet in the dry season to twenty feet or more during the rainy season, flooding of the low-lying riverplain covers hundreds of square miles. Silt brought down from the highlands during floods will block the river's passage, changing its course and creating oxbow lakes that soon fill with fish, crocodiles, and water birds.
Scattered along the riverbanks and throughout the foothills are villages that until this century existed in nearly complete isolation. The world came to know the art of these villages from the vast collections of carvings, pottery, and paintings obtained, beginning in the early twentieth century, by anthropological expeditions intent on studying these primitive cultures. Though recognized for its beauty from the earliest days, and acquired aggressively now for its aesthetic properties, Sepik River art was originally gathered so its sociological implications could be examined.
To study this art, one must take into account the changes outside influences have brought to the region in recent years. For example, head-hunting, cannibalism, and warfare have come to an end. Religious activity is not as prevalent. Cash crops such as rice and coffee are being raised, and villagers no longer live at a purely subsistence level. Villages now see tourism as a welcome source of income, and outboard motors and light aircraft have decreased their isolation.
Nonetheless, the traditions of the villagers are sufficiently enduring that modern ways have been assimilated into the spiritual ethic, with places being found for new totems and new art techniques. Money or coins are now believed to be imbued with spiritual power as, much like the yam, they are seen as having life-enriching properties. Tinfoil and printed labels are used in the decoration of ritual art when the artist feels they can enhance traditional designs.
Sepik Villages and Clans
Sepik district villages and their social structure continue unchanged in many other ways, however. Founded on a basically egalitarian social order, the villages are divided into patrilineal, exogamous clans. These clans are composed of several nuclear families, tied together by male relations who generally stay in the same village. Women from nearby villages marry into
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