Information about the exhibit
- Ethnicity: Papuans
- Place of creation: Indonesia
- Geographic location of place of creation: West Papua
- Material: Albizia wood, jute rope
- Technique: factory production
- Size: length – 37 cm, width – 10 cm
- Date of creation: early 2000s
- Collector: private individual Pale Sofia Evgenievna (1976-2024)
- Period of use: early 2000s
- Use: household interior item
- Condition: good
- Keywords: Indonesia, peoples of Australia and Oceania, Papuans, West Papua, Asmat
Historical and cultural commentary
Indonesians treat their Papuan compatriots, who live in the Indonesian western part of the island of New Guinea, with humor, and make amusing figurines inspired by their tribal life. The figurine series «Asmat» was produced in Indonesia from the early 2000s and enjoyed popularity around the world. 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, the son of one of America’s wealthiest men, Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared forever in the lands of the Asmat 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 museums of Asmat art in Indonesia (one – on the island of New Guinea in the city of Agats, which is the administrative center of the Asmat lands, the second – on the island of Java, in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta). Extensive collections of Asmat art objects are presented in leading museums around the world; the largest collection (2,2 тыс. предметов) is located in the American Museum of Asmat Art (American Museum of Asmat Art) in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
