Bis Pole
In Asmat belief, no death was accidental. Each death was always caused by an enemy, either through headhunting raids or sorcery. Death created an imbalance in society, which the living had to correct by taking an enemy head. When a village had suffered a number of deaths, it would hold a bis ceremony, which consisted of a series of feasts held over several months. A number of bis poles were carved for the ceremony and displayed in front of the men's house, where they formed the center of a mock battle between men and women. The poles were kept until a successful headhunt had been carried out and the balance restored. After a final feast, the Asmat abandoned the bis poles in the sago palm groves from which they obtained their primary food. As the poles decayed, their fertile supernatural power seeped into the earth and fertilized the sago trees.
Artwork Details
- Title: Bis Pole
- Date: late 1950s
- Geography: Indonesia, Papua Province (Irian Jaya), Omadesep village, Faretsj River region
- Culture: Asmat people
- Medium: Wood, paint, fiber
- Dimensions: H. 18 ft. × W. 39 in. × D. 63 in. (548.6 × 99.1 × 160 cm)
- Classification: Wood-Sculpture
- Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
- Object Number: 1979.206.1611
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
Audio
113. Bis Poles
Not on view
The Pacific Islands are home to many cultures, each with a distinct artistic tradition. Some are noted for producing small objects, but this gallery contains the most monumental works. Let’s focus on the particularly impressive tall posts, called bis poles, displayed here in a row by the windows. Much art from the cultures of this region—known collectively as Oceania—is produced in the context of religious ritual. And the bis poles—or ancestor poles—offer an evocative example.
When a death occurs among the Asmat people of southwestern New Guinea, it is thought to create a dangerous imbalance that must be remedied by the living. The creation of a bis pole is part of a ritual intended to restore order within the community. In secrecy, a group of men carves the pole from a single tree, inverting it so that one of the roots becomes the projection at the top. Each figure on the pole represents a specific person who has died. Once the pole is complete, the men set it up outside their ceremonial house. The community holds a ceremonial feast to honor the deceased and send their spirits on to the world of the ancestors. At the end of the ceremony, the bis pole is returned to a grove of sago palms, an essential food source. There, the pole decays and its supernatural power is believed to seep into the ground, strengthening the palms and ensuring an abundant harvest of sago. The threatening forces of death have been converted to nourish the living.
Let’s turn now to another part of the world, to see a different way of honoring an individual in ceremonial rituals.
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