Magazines - Tribal Art Winter 2007

By Pauline van der Zee, curator of the ethnographic collections of the University of Ghent and specialist in Asmat and Kamoro art.

Written on the occasion of the exhibition of the same title at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, this article offers an introduction the art of the bisj, one of the most spectacular creations os the Asmat of Papua New Guinea.

Excerpts: The poles are made both for the bisj feast and for the inauguration of the men's house (yeu), where those who have the right to use the poles gather. Bisj poles for the yeu are permanent and are erected inside near the fireplace, where they are protected from rot and erosion. These poles measure between four-and-a-half and six meters in height, and gradually become darkened by smoke. The base becomes polished where members of the family lean against it. The Asmat use these poles to call upon their ancestral spirits before hunting or a battle. These ancestors serve as both protectors and advisors, and are available to assist with daily problems.
Ceremonial bisj poles measure six to fourteen meters in height and are made for temporary use, honnoring the recently deceased before their spirits travel to safan. The poles are displayed leaning against a scaffold-like structure outside the men's house. After the festival, the bisj poles are taken down and carried to the sago fields where they are left to rot, allowing the ancestral energy to stimulate the growth of the sago palms.
One of the most important purposes of the bisj cult is the ensure that the spirits of ancestors do not constitute a danger to the community. The fact that spirits of the recently deceased can visit the living is a source of fear, since these spirits may be lonely and wish to claim the life of one of their relatives. The cult's rites make visible that which should be hidden and are terrifying in their supernatural revelations. The sculpted figures on the bisj poles make the spirits perceptible and serve as part of an invitation to the recently deceased to join in a massive feast in which they are honored and praised. In doing so, the living demonstrate to the deceased that their places have been taken over in a worthy manner. They are encouraged to leave the village and travel to the ancestral world, where they will obtain great powers to help the living. Thus the cult brings about renewal of spiritual life while at the same time heralding the prominence of a new generation.
In the traditional culture of the Asmat, bisj festivals, headhunting expeditions, and initiation ceremonies occur in sequence. For the Asmat, headhunting and new life are inextricably linnked, since death is necessary for new life. The time for retribution for a headhunting death is appropriate in the period between the carvers approaching completion of the ancestor figures on the bisj pole and shortly after the entire pole is finished. The actual headhunting expedition could also take place later on, at the beginning of a new festival cycle, nao-pokmbui, when skulls were needed for the initiation of the young men who had become the successors of the deceased. If the obligation of revenge was neglected, life could not be renewed.
Headhunting was largely suppressed in the 1950s, although raids continued on a modest scale until 1960. It was believed that the pacification and Christianization of Asmat society would put an end to the ritual associated with headhunting, and anthropologists expected that traditional Asmat woodcarving would also disappear. Dutch ethnological museums began to acquire bisj poles before they vanished forever and proved eager to acquire as many examples as possible, whatever the source.