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IV. Masks: masked figures in woodcarving We also find two-dimensional and three-dimensional wooden figures representing mask wearers. Only one figure (a two-dimensional example) is present in a museum collection. [47]
This contrasts with the large number of masked figures appearing at the Kamoro Art Festival each year. Strikingly, these figures usually represent a snout-shaped mask (mamakoro), which is both extremely stylised and yet portrayed in recognisable detail. Now there also appears to be a high degree of artistic freedom: some of the masked figures are depicted holding one arm up, while others are shown with widespread arms. Sometimes these masked figures even wear fibre skirts.
The Leiden example has a loop-shaped notch in front of the body. This indicates the manner in which the penis was commonly 'worn', or arranged, at the beginning of the twentieth century. The penis was pulled upright, and the foreskin was drawn forward and tucked under the rim of a shell, which was pressed into the lower belly by a girdle. [48] This was the custom among older men, but after initiation, each young man wore a penis sheath made from a bamboo cylinder. | |
