Vanuatu Arts in Global Museum Collections
Vanuatu Arts in Global Museum Collections
Curated by Steven G. Alpert
Located in the heart of the South Pacific Ocean, Vanuatu is situated east of New Guinea, northeast of New Caledonia, and south of the Solomon Islands. The archipelago is composed of four main islands surrounded by eighty smaller orbital isles.
The geography is an ancient web, or chain, that attracted early Lapita Horizon settlers (ca 1000 BC) from their Southeast Asia homelands. Lapita Culture reached as far as the present-day Polynesian islands of Tonga and Samoa. Waves of subsequent settlements, trade, and shifting cultural practices carried by migrants coming from the Bismark Islands and other areas in Melanesia melded and evolved over time into Ni-Vanuatu's unique, localized traditions.
Vanuatu is a volcanically fertile and lush destination, a place where introduced animals such as pigs and chickens and diverse crops such as taro, bananas, and yams have thrived for millennia. In capsulation, there are 113 local languages spoken in the Republic of Vanuatu. Diverse, sometimes isolated communities are linguistically linked through the nation's lingua franca, Bislama, a lively evolving language of the Ni-Vanuatu based on English, Creole, and local etymologies.
Coming of age and traveling in the 1960s, I was fascinated by the local practices and cultural bona fides of Ni-Vanuatu (The peoples of what was then New Hebrides). I remember articles describing where living cultures such as the Big Nambas' of Malekula island still thrived. Images of elders sheathed in their exaggerated penis gourds (nambas), or pictures of Pentecost islanders land-diving off of towered platforms, ranging from 60-100 feet tall, in an annual ritual where mythic stories infuse the harvest festival with intense energy and revitalization captivated the imagination.
At that time, the art market was becoming flooded with contemporary masks and figures mostly made of fern pith, bark, brightly colored pigments, and tusks from Vanuatu. My father's closest friend, William Brill, an African collector of note, gave me a printout of Jean Guiart's "Les Effigies religieuses des Nouvelle Hébrides" from the then Museum of Man. It was on the same 1949 trip that Guiart collected the finest "magic" stone extant outside of Vanuatu. This stone (no. 8) is illustrated in our presentation. It is a remarkable portrait of a bearded elder with pig-tusk-styled ears. Seen here en profil-- Its visage is as sophisticated as any created in our long collective human history. Between the above-mentioned virile ceremonial practices and encountering this remarkable stone carving, I was hooked on being New Hebrides (Vanuatu) bound.
This month, we are celebrating material from Vanuatu with images that will hopefully surprise and impress even those readers who are well acquainted with these art forms. These items are drawn from the diverse peoples that populate discernible cultural zones there: The Southern Islands, Malekula (Ambrym, Epi, and Paama), Pentecost Islands (Ambe, Malo, Santo, Maewo), Torres and Banks Islands.
In general, and similar to other areas in the Southwest Pacific, Vanuatu's creative impetus (and subsequent artworks) is associated with grade-raising rituals, initiations, rite of passage ceremonies that necessitate grand ceremonies, dancing, lavish displays, and feasting. In parallel, there are rituals associated with social and political ascendancy. For "Big Men" being honored, higher initiation grades required them to exhibit their largesse and d their generosity. Such hierarchical initiations principally raise one's mana (spiritual currency) while also burnishing temporal authority, both in this life and among the ancestors. Like Western titles, society grades are carried even into the realm of death.
In pre-colonial times, each village had at least one man's house as a hive of cultural activity and camaraderie. Men's houses and sacred dancing areas played an important role in Vanuatu societies. It is in these general settings that cultural items were stored, and open-air carvings, as well as giant slit drums, were erected. Among the Ambrym monumental slit drums stand like watchful looming sentinels as they are often capped with large round-eyed human-like faces.
Traditionally, the exchange and slaughtering of pigs during initiations, feasts, and dances also served as a sort of 'spiritual currency' in addition to being the visible measure of one's worldly wealth. In this realm, a superb club is pictured that was used for the ritual killing of pigs, particularly hermaphroditic boars with double-coiled tusks. It is, by any measure, an exquisite example of the merging of beauty, form, and functionality. A ritual double-bladed shell adze from the British Museum is also in the same category of excellence. Such a sensibilité can also be seen in the wide range of simply executed but sometimes gorgeously shaped weapons, spatulas, and diverse tools. Two examples from Malekula are reproduced here. As seen in a split image, the first is a classic club with an articulated face; the second is a more abstract club that was collected by Captain Cook in 1774. Both still have their original cordage intact.
This same skill was also extended to finely carved hardwood bowls and platters (rova) that were used as presentation or ceremonial pudding plates in feasts involving high-ranking individuals. Two are illustrated here. The first is from Malo. Food was ceremonially placed on its flattened bodily form, framed by two elongated faces and a stout pair of feet that served as the platter's pedestal. The second platter dates to the early 19th century and is one of only two known surviving examples from Espiritu Santo that depict a full human figure in a fluid, naturalistic style.
A number of figures are also illustrated in this presentation that range in size, function, and materials that were worn, displayed individually or created to inhabit structures built for each grade of initiation-status raising rites that further included dancing, feasts, and pig sacrifices. Many of these items were fashioned from a combination of Fernwood, fiber, bark, cane, cordage, molded mud, and natural ochres. When ritually invoked, these statues and constructions were believed to provide a temporary abode for the spirits of the ancestors, to burnish sacred space, to commemorate one's rising rank, or to remember the recently deceased.
A classic example of the latter, known as a ramparamp, is a large effigy with a modeled skull. This is not simply a memento mori as such but is meant to depict the final stages of the vaunted life of a highly respected ancestor. Such constructions were usually kept in the local men's house of the deceased's affiliation.
Of the several wooden grade figures pictured here, special mention must be made of one of two surviving statues, both of hardwood and carved in a naturalistic style (the other is in the Museum der Kulturen, Basel). The one illustrated in this introduction is from Savakas village. It was still standing in situ in the 1930s amid the ruins of an abandoned naghamal or men's house. According to local tradition, this effigy is said to have been commissioned by a great chief named Kana supe at the turn of the century and later transported via the Korrigane Expedition (1935) to the Musée de l'Homme in Paris. This statue was named in Malo as Trrou Korrou, which means "he who stands before you, who is looking at you." (See: Coffier: 2001: 274-276). It stands as a testament to propitiating ancestral spirits (tamate). This statue is a masterpiece and a world-class figurative treasure. While being tabu and formidable, it also exudes a calmness and a wise countenance as it encompasses and envelops viewers in the aura of its memorable presence.
A number of illustrated pieces for this introduction are charms carved from wood or crafted from pith and other organic matter. Stones were also worked into torsos, faces, or figures that were once universally employed in wizardry and witchcraft. This is particularly true in the realm of 'pig magic' in order to successfully lure hermaphroditic pigs with double-coiled tusks and to attract pigs away from others for your own possession. Charms were also executed to affect the weather, winds, or fertility, etc., in order to manifest desired outcomes. Rounding out this month's items are a decorative panel from Banks Island and a Malekula post, both architectural fragments from grade houses. Additionally, three masks deriving from varied types and locales are illustrated. Each is a fine early variant of its form.
Of special import and interest are two figurative painted bark cloths from Erromango, Vanuatu's fourth largest island. These rare tapa cloths derive from a tradition that flourished in the 19th century but died out during the first quarter of the 20th century. Erromango had "an extremely complex and tragic history" marked by depopulation and the "extinction of cultural traits." (Huffman: 1996: 133). Few have seen many of these bark cloths. The two illustrated here are courtesy of Cambridge and the British Museum. Such tapa tended to have been collected by early visitors and principally by H. A. Robertson, a Presbyterian missionary who arrived in Erromango in 1872. In researching this piece, I found one fine example at Canada's McGill University's Redpath Museum (not illustrated) and a few in England, while most are in Australian institutions. The majority of these have not yet been published or put online. Both of the compositions reproduced here are quite lively, with their randomly placed anthropomorphs floating amid geometric forms. Cambridge's cloth also has a rare depiction of a two-masted sailing vessel.
In conclusion, the art of Ni-Vanuatu is as rich as these islands' well-noted andisols and alluvial soils. This archipelago's long history, compelling traditional rituals, and transformation into a modern independent nation make for a diverse and rewarding destination.
— Steven G. Alpert, founder of Art of the Ancestors
1
Ceremonial Club
Museum Rietberg
Vanuatu, Ambrym Island or Malakula
19th century
Wood
Gift to Eduard von der Heydt
RME 703
2
Figure
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Vanuatu (New Hebrides), Malekula, South West Bay
Plant fiber, pigment, unfired clay, cane, wood, shell, spider web
Collected by Deacon, A. B
Donated by Clarke, Louis.C.G.
TEMP.00633.1-2
3
Figurative Club & Club
Left:
Museé du quai Branly — Jacques Chirac
Vanuatu
Right:
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Wood, fiber
Donated by Dr. Louis Colville Gray Clarke
Cook Collection; Leverian Museum; Widdicombe House
1922.987
4
Adze
The British Museum
Vanuatu, Malampa (province), Ambrym
Wood, shell, fiber
Acquired from Rear-Adm-Leah in 1900
Oc1900,0911.1
5
Trrou Körrou Figure
Musée du quai Branly — Jacques Chirac
Early 19th century
Vanuatu, Malo Island
Natora wood
Donated by Mr. Desgranges in 1938
Deposited to Musée du Louvre by Muséum national d'histoire naturelle/musée de l'Homme
MH 38.42.8
6
Painted Stone Doll
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Vanuatu (New Hebrides), Malekula
Stone, seed, pigment
Collected and donated by John Willoughby Layard
E 1916.126.160
7
Painted Stone Head
Museum der Kulturen Basel
Vanuatu
Stone, pigment
8
Stone Skull
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Vanuatu (New Hebrides), Tanna
Stone
Collected and donated by Evelyn Cheesman
1931.339
9
Stone Head
Musée du quai Branly — Jacques Chirac
Vanuatu
Stone
10
Face Model on Seashell
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Vanuatu (New Hebrides), Malekula, South West Bay
Shell, grass, clay
Collected and donated by John Willoughby Layard
E 1916.126.265
11
Figure
Musée d’Aquitaine, Bordeaux
Vanuatu, Banks Island
12
Figure
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum
Before 1882
Vanuatu, Malakula
Bast?, clay?, bamboo cane, paint
Purchase of Museum Umlauff 1882
VI 4728
13
Painted Bark Cloth
Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford
Vanuatu
Before 1900
Bark cloth textile plant, pigment
1900.9.11
14
Figurative Food Platter
LACMA
Vanuatu, Espíritu Santo
Circa 1800
Wood and fiber
Purchased with funds provided by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation with additional funding by Jane and Terry Semel, the David Bohnett Foundation, Camilla Chandler Frost, Gayle and Edward P. Roski, and The Ahmanson Foundation
M.2008.66.23
15
Feasting Platter
Musée du quai Branly — Jacques Chirac
Vanuatu
Wood
16
Mask
The British Museum
Vanuatu, Malampa (province), Malakula
Boar tooth, spider’s web, vegetable fiber, twine
Purchased from Sir Wilfred Peek in 1926
Previously owned by Sir Cuthbert Edgar Peek
Oc1926,-.86
17
Bark Fiber Mask
The British Museum
Vanuatu, Malampa (province), Ambrym
Bark, fiber
Purchase from Louis-Joseph Bouge in 1913
Oc1913,1115.357
18
Mask
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum
Before 1934
Vanuatu, Espíritu Santo
Wood, feather, pigment
Collected by Hans Nevermann
VI 44615
19
Mask / Seated Male Figure
The British Museum
Vanuatu, Malampa (province), Malakula
Bamboo, bark fiber, boar tusks, leaf, pigment
Donated by Sir Henry Evan James in 1914
Oc1914,0624.1
20
Painted Bark Cloth
The British Museum
Vanuatu, Tafea (province), Erromango
1880-1890
Breadfruit tree wood (bark of Artocarpus altilis), bark, plant extract, pigment
Purchased from Rev. Percy Charles Wyndham Earée in 1895
Oc1895,1204.41
21
Ceremonial Figure
LACMA
Vanuatu, Banks Islands
Circa 1850
Fernwood
Purchased with funds provided by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation with additional funding by Jane and Terry Semel, the David Bohnett Foundation, Camilla Chandler Frost, Gayle and Edward P. Roski and The Ahmanson Foundation
M.2008.66.35
22
Grade Figure
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum
Vanuatu, Ambrym
Before 1965
Tree fern trunk
VI 47948
23
Painting
Museum Fünf Kontinente, formerly known as the Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde
Gaua Island, Banks group, Vanuatu (New Hebrides)
19th century
Wood, pigment
24
Painted House Post
Museum der Kulturen Basel
Vanuatu
25
Male Ancestor Figure
The British Museum
Vanuatu, Malampa (province), Ambrym
Late 19th century
Clay, human hair, fiber
Purchased from John Jennings in 1898
Oc1898,0704.5
26
Charm Figure
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Vanuatu
Wood, plant fiber, pigment
Z 11029
All artworks and images presented in this feature are the property of the attributed museums.