Gope ancestor or spirit boards are memorial tablets that are usually painted black, red, and white and feature symbolic images of ancestors. “Dancing figure” images appear throughout Kerewa imagery; these images are easily recognized by the curved arms and legs that inspired the name, as well as by the curved teardrop shape of the eyes and the football shape of the stomach. … [Read more...] about Gope Ancestor Board: Researched and Conserved by Akira Alves
The sago pounder is a tool used to harvest and process the inner bark of the sago palm, which provides a staple food for the people of the Sepik Region of New Guinea. For this process, the sago palm is first cut open and the bark is removed. Next, the sago pounder is used like an axe or hoe to gradually scrape the inner bark or pith from the outer bark. The pith is then … [Read more...] about Sago Pounder: Researched, Conserved, and Repaired by Akira Alves