Drum of the Asmat tribe

• Ethnic affiliation: Папуасы
• Place of creation: Индонезия
• Geographic location of origin: Западное Папуа
• Materials: дерево, кожа ящерицы, волокно пальмы, натуральная веревка, синтетическая веревка
• Techniques: кустарное производство, долбление, обтеска, плетение
• Size: длина – 53 см, ширина – 25 см
• Date of creation: начало 2000-х гг.
• Collector: частное лицо Пале София Евгеньевна (1976-2024)
• Period of use: начало 2000-х гг.
• Use: музыкальный ударный инструмент, атрибут праздников
• Condition: удовлетворительная
• Analogues from the Kunstkamera collection funds: MAE № 137-10 , MAE № 168-55
• Keywords: Индонезия, народы Австралии и Океании, папуасы, Западное Папуа, асматы

Made either in the early 2000s or earlier. The Asmat are a Papuan tribe numbering approximately 70,000 people, living in the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea in the province of Papua.
The legend of the origin of the Asmat says that one of the first people on earth named Fumeripitis once felt lonely. To get rid of his loneliness, he went into the forest and carved figures of men and women from wood. To bring them to life, he made a wooden drum and began to beat it, and then the men and women came to life and began to dance. Thus the Asmat appeared (“osamat” – “man of wood”), who consider themselves part of the tree: the legs are the roots, the body is the trunk, the head is the crown, and the blows of the wooden drum are the heartbeat. Until the mid-20th century the Asmat were almost completely isolated due to the notorious reputation of fierce cannibals. The Asmat became known to the whole world after in November 1961 the ethnographer Michael Rockefeller (son of the American billionaire Nelson Rockefeller) disappeared without a trace on their territory; he had arrived in the remote areas of the island of New Guinea with a research expedition to collect a collection of art objects of Papuan tribes untouched by civilization. Nowadays the Asmat earn their living by demonstrating their traditional way of life to tourists and offering for sale wooden items distinguished by a distinctive style.