The Art of the Asmat

THE ART OF THE ASMAT

Posted by My Own on Pebruaryl 16, 2009

Inhabiting the south coast of the Pacific island of New Guinea, the Asmat of Irian Jaya were virtually isolated in their Neolithic culture until the 1950s. Until that time, Asmat culture was largely protected from the influences of the modern world by its remote location and the general perception that their land had no marketable resources. After their "discovery" by the outside world, the Asmat have experienced deliberate governmental repression to discourage some of their deeply ingrained customs and beliefs such as headhunting and ritual warfare. While this intervention caused the loss of some of their traditional practices, there has lately been a resurgence in Asmat culture through outside interest in their art and art forms.

The Asmat are widely known for their skill in woodcarving. In recent years their art has had a great appeal in the West-espeically the strikingly modern, abstract geometric designs they use in objects such as war shields. But Asmat art is intricately tied to complex religious and cultural beliefs which are less easily accessible to the average western viewer. Integral to an understanding of traditional Asmat culture are the subjects of warfare, headhunting, and ancestor worship. For the Asmat, living and killing (rather than simply life and death) are two inseparable aspects of existence. Since all deaths are thought to be attributable to someone-either directly (through warfare) or indirectly (through magic)-they believe that the dead demand vengeance from the living. in the past, the taking of another life in revenge was the duty of the deceased's surviving family or village. if not avenged through death, it was believed that the spirits could harm or even kill their living relatives.

Traditionally, all carved ritual objects such as the imposing bis or ancestor poles made from mangrove trees, were named for the recently dead in order to remind the living of their obligation for revenge; once named after an ancestor, these carvings were believed to be the very embodiment of the deceased. After the spirit had been avenged, the carvings were allowed to decay in the jungle, setting the ancestor's spirit free. These close ties to their ancestors provide the Asmat with protection from the numerous hostile spirits that inhabit the Asmat world; although much has changed in Asmat culture, skulls and bone fragments are still worn to invoke the spirits' power and protection.

Tribal warfare was officially outlawed by Irian Jaya's Dutch rulers in the 1950s. When the Indonesian government took over the administration in 1962, it began the repression and destruction of traditional Asmat art and culture. This was partly because the artifacts were closely linked to warfare, headhunting, and cannibalism, but it was also an attempt to impose Indonesian rule on the historically unregulated people of Irian Jaya. Due to harsh governmental actions which not only forbade all ceremonies and feasts because of their ties to headhunting, but also outlawed carving and the use of carving tools, these integral aspects of Asmat culture were in danger of dying out.

However, with the support of missionaries such as the Crosiers, who collected and safeguarded thousands of Asmat cultural objects after the 1962 ban and subsequent widespread destruction, some aspects of Asmat society have been preserved and the Asmat people encouraged to pursue their traditional culture-without the cycle of killing that was once its focal point. In recent years the Crosiers and others have promoted the sale and trade of Asmat artifacts. Apart from directly benefiting the Asmat, this has created a market for the art which has ultimately engendered a larger awareness of the Asmat people and the changes that have occurred within their culture as they face a future in a world ruled by values far different from their own.

BIBLIOGRAPHY :

Asmat Myth and Ritual: The inspiration of Art, Gunter and Ursula Konrad, editors, 1996, Errizo Editrice, Venice Italy

Asmat Images From the Collection of the Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress, Tobias Schneebaum, Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress, Agats, Irian Jaya, 1985

Embodied Spirits: Ritual Carvings of the Asmat, Tobias Schneebaum, 1990, Peabody Museum of Salem, Salem, MA

Making the Invisible Visible: Asmat Art and Spirituality, Marcus Fleishhacker, 1991, Crosier Fathers and Brothers, St. Paul, MN

Where the Spirits Dwell: An Odyssey in the Jungle of New Guinea, 1988, Grove Press, New York

SOURCE : www.lifeinthearts.com/Asmat-LITA-June1999.html