Creator[Unknown]TitleNew Guinea Fish MaskMediumWood, pigment, Tapa cloth, fibreDimensionsH. 99cm x W. 22cm x D. 30cmPlace MadeNew Britain, Papua New GuineaAccession NumberG2022.9.70Credit LineDonated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Philip Theobald in memory of Bronwyn and Stephanie TheobaldAccess AdviceFor research purposes only. No reproduction without permission of Yarrila Arts and Museum.
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Significance Statement
This donated piece is a Baining Tapa Cloth Fish Mask from New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
Baining masks are one of the most famous artefacts of New Guinean cultures, and are printed on tourism brochures and postage stamps and displayed in museums and galleries. They have become a symbol of Baining culture and society.
Each Baining clan has a right to make certain images. The most well known form of the Baining masks are those which show very large eyed creatures with bird-like mouths which are worn for night dances performed around and over fire.
Most Baining masking was done in connection with rituals related to crisis situations such as harvests, births, initiations, and mourning. Some of the rites were performed at night, others during the day. Each mask embodied a spirit, some were spirits of objects and animals, but others were of important segments of larger nature such as leaf spirits or the spirit of a pig vertebra.
