PAPUAN GULF, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

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The towering men’s houses of the Papuan Gulf contained a host of sacred objects belonging to local, allied clans. Deeply connected to ancestral and nature spirits, they served to empower the men of the community in their struggles of survival against malevolent entities and neighboring tribes. One of the primary classes of these objects was the gope, or kwoi, also known as a spirit board.

Gope are oblong, vertical boards or panels, carved in relief and bearing vaguely anthropomorphic qualities that reflect their depiction of bodiless ancestral spirits. They are granted as manhood initiation objects and for acts of bravery in battle, and are often made from the remains of an enemy party’s canoe. Before a raid, the gope receive entreaties for guidance on plans of attack and for help in remotely weakening the enemy.

The iconography and composition on display in this example are classic: an undulating and tapered silhouette with sinuous, streaming bands that flow like reflections on dark water, separating the plane of the panel into segments while shaping the contours of faces and abstract anatomy. All details and features are carved in relief and darkened with ochre and other pigments, standing out boldly against the ghostly white of the limed board. The presence of multiple faces – some merging into one another – conjures an impression of several conjoined consciousnesses, or perhaps a single spirit possessing many facets and potencies.