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Helmet-shaped mask with hair

    Information about the exhibit

    • Ethnic affiliation: Papuans
    • Place of creation: Papua – New Guinea
    • Geographic location of place of creation: Papua – New Guinea
    • Material: wood, plant fibers
    • Technique: handicraft production, carving, engraving, painting
    • Size: length – 40 cm, width – 17 cm
    • Date of creation: 2000s
    • Collector: private individual Pale Sofiya Evgenyevna (1976-2024)
    • Usage period: 2000s
    • Use: household interior object
    • Condition: good
    • Analogues from the Kunstkamera collection funds:MAE № 1641-1
    • Keywords: Papua – New Guinea, peoples of Australia and Oceania, Papuans

    Historical and cultural commentary

    The Papuans of the island of New Guinea widely use various masks in their rituals, symbolizing different spirits. It is believed that if a person puts on a mask, the spirit associated with it inhabits them. This mask is painted with white patterns. White color among the Papuans symbolizes death and the world of the dead.

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