Headdress Mask (Sisiu)
ClassificationsClothing and Adornments-head ornaments-headdresses
Culture
Sulka
Date20th Century
Made AtEast New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea
MediumWood, fiber, Tonga leaves and natural pigment
Dimensions32 3/4 × 22 1/8 × 24 1/2 in. (83.2 × 56.2 × 62.2 cm)
Credit LineBowers Museum Purchase
Object number2009.6.2
DescriptionThis object is a headdress-type dance mask in female form from the Sulka people residing in East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. The sisiu mask was traditionally worn as a part of a larger secret society masked ritual where a variety of other ancestral masks made an appearance. The East New Britain region of New Guinea is laden with numerous men's secret societies that help connect men to their ancestors through elaborate dance rituals that only the men are allowed to witness. The masks often take months to create and are destroyed after the ritualized dance. Today many of these dances are now seen by the entire village after the influence of the missionaries and tourism.On View
On viewCollections
