Bolumbuku

While exploring the NGV collection online, Nita Jawary found ‘Bolumbuku’, an ancestor figure of the Wahgi people of Papua New Guinea in the collection. The Wahgi come from the Western Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea and these central mountain ranges were some of the last areas to be discovered and still remain relatively isolated. The Highlands were only found quite accidentally by the Leahy brothers in 1932/33 while searching for gold. Many different tribes live in the region and most of their art forms relate to body painting, the decoration of weapons and shields, and woven works. In comparison with other parts of New Guinea, it is interesting to note the small number of traditional figurative sculptures among the Highlanders.

The NGV has 10 works from the Wahgi region in the collection and seven of these are shields – many featuring the comic book hero, ‘The Phantom’, as a motif – indicating the incorporation of western imagery into traditional design.

The NGV also has three ritual objects, two ‘Sorcery trap figures’ and and the ancestor figure, ‘Bolumbuku’. Ritual objects suggesting the human form were integral elements of Highlands’ sorcery and ceremonial practice. These were incorporated in house ridgepoles or placed in gardens to ward off enemies, trap malevolent spirits and keep pigs from destroying crops. For sorcery, the Wahgi traps would have been pegged into the ground to work against enemies, often placing poison in the top so that if the enemy stood on one, the poison would enter their foot. Figural forms were often adorned in the bilas (body decoration) of the peoples who created them.

The ancestor effigy or kund gale in the collection is dressed in festive adornments worn by men at Wahgi pig festivals. Constructed from an array of natural and manufactured materials, this kund gale is dressed in the ceremonial attire of a Wahgi male dancer, including the konzap kine, a traditional apron decorated with pearlshells. Made by men, the kund gale is used only during the major pig festival called konggar – an extended ritual cycle held once in a generation. The festival begins approximately every twenty years and lasts for several years. The early stage of the festival involves a series of rites that involve pig growth and the trading of ornaments – particularly feather plumes. In the final year of the festival, the men and some unmarried young women, dance two to three times per week on ceremonial ground, attracting courting partners. During the last days of celebration the correct bilas (body decoration) are worn, including bird of paradise plumes. On the day before the climax of the festival, when hundreds of pigs are killed and pork distributed to family and exchange partners, men perform ‘trampling the fence’. This involves rushing onto the ceremonial ground in a display of martial force with one dancer carrying the kund gale mounted on a pole above his head.