Carving Item Number: 1481/1 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Long brown wooden carving, or sculpture, with on a flat rectangular base. Five human figures are stacked on top of each other and are connected by interlocking hands and feet. From the bottom up, two human figures are standing on their heads. One figure has their hands on the other figure's waist while the other figure has their hands curled around the base. In the centre of the sculpture, is a figure that is right side up, and is holding on to the hips of the figure bellow. Sitting on this figure's head is another figure. The hand of this figure connects to the back of the ankles of a figure directly in front of them directly in front of them.

Narrative

Fallow said this carving, as well as the Asmat objects she donated in 2019 (MOA #s 3383/1-12), were collected by an explorer named Jim Allen during two trips: one in the spring of 1989, the other in the fall of 1989. On the second expedition they explored the remote Asmat territories of the upper Brazza and Senggo, by hiking down from the highlands.