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Te Papa’s collection from Papua New Guinea includes impressive dance masks made from tapa (barkcloth), which were worn in the early 1900s during ceremonial rituals. Following the ceremonies, in most cases, these masks would have been destroyed, so this collection of masks is especially rare.
Eharo are one of three types of masks made by the Western Elema people of the Papuan Gulf and worn as part of the Hevehe, a grand cycle of ceremonies that dominated the ceremonial and artistic life of the Elema people during the early twentieth century. The cycle was both an initiation of men into the mysteries of the Hevehe itself, and a way of making peace with the dangerous spirits of the forest and sea.
Each Hevehe cycle lasted for ten to fifteen years and began with the building of a new eravo (men's house). Then, in the secrecy of the eravo, fantastical hevehe masks up to six metres tall were created. Every stage of the mask construction was celebrated with feasting and gifts. Finally, the masks were brought out of the eravo for a month of masquerade, before being burned and the spirits symbolically destroyed.
Eharo were made and worn on two occasions during the Hevehe: when the door for the eravo was finished, and later as the Hevehe drew to a close. They represent the light-hearted and comical side of these ceremonies.
There are no taboos or restrictions on the making or wearing of eharo. Many masks were topped with a creature that had spiritual significance, such as an insect, bird or fish. Others were improvised and purely fanciful.
Kaiva Kuku or Kiva Kuki masks are spirit masks and could be worn by a young boy during the kovave cycle, a ceremony of initiation into adulthood. The masks represent bush spirits, and each spirit has its own name and distinguishing features
The kovave cycle was carried out to appease and entertain these spirits. It included a feast, the exchanging of gifts, a race on the beach, the distribution of pigs, and a mock battle. Finally, the masks were burned, and the spirits returned to the bush.
The majority of the Eharo and Kiva Kuku masks came from Sidney MacDonell, a trader and general merchant based in Port Moresby and Orokolo in Papua New Guinea at the time. MacDonell was an active collector in the area and, through contact with former Museum Director Augustus Hamilton, was able to send material from Papua New Guinea to the museum.
These Malangan masks represent the soul or life force of an ancestor, and were probably worn by a relative during a malangan (funeral) ceremony to honour family ancestors and to illustrate their spiritual continuity.
Some scholars think that these masks were also used to negotiate political exchanges and status within the community.
View these masks and others on Collections Online.
Tribes in Papua New Guinea used these Eharo masks for a ritual celebration that could last for years. Made of cane, tapa cloth, and painted with natural pigments, they were usually burnt after use, which makes the ones at Te Papa especially rare.
Kapkaps, as ornaments like this are called, are found in parts of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. These shell disks overlaid with delicate turtle shell filigree are much admired. Attached to a cord or woven band of fibre, they can be worn on the forehead, breast, or shoulder.
In the 1960s, Mrs Olive Merle Grice spent time in Papua New Guinea – view some of her photographs from that time.
