Information about the exhibit
- Ethnicity: Papuans
- Place of creation: Indonesia
- Geographical location of place of creation: West Papua
- Material: albizia wood, jute rope
- Technique: factory production
- Size: length – 12 cm, width – 15 cm
- Time of creation: early 2000s
- Collector: private individual Pale Sofia Evgenyevna (1976-2024)
- Period of use: early 2000s
- Use: home interior item
- Condition: good
- Keywords: Indonesia, peoples of Australia and Oceania, Papuans, West Papua, Asmat
Historical and cultural commentary
Indonesians treat their Papuan fellow citizens living in the Indonesian western part of the island of New Guinea with humor and make amusing figurines inspired by their tribal life. The series of figurines «Asmat» was produced in Indonesia from the early 2000s and was popular worldwide. The figurines depict members of the Papuan Asmat tribe in various life circumstances. For a long time the Asmat were reputed to be uncompromising cannibals and lived almost in isolation up until the 1950s. In 1961, 23-year-old Michael Rockefeller, son of one of America’s wealthiest men, Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared forever in Asmat lands during an ethnographic expedition, and the tribe suddenly gained worldwide notoriety. The Asmat are distinguished by a unique style of woodcarving: today there are two Asmat art museums in Indonesia (one – on the island of New Guinea in the town of Agats, which is the administrative center of Asmat lands, the second – on the island of Java, in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta). Extensive collections of Asmat art objects are exhibited in leading museums around the world; the largest collection is located in the American Museum of Asmat Art (American Museum of Asmat Art) in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA (2,200 items).
