Máscara

Australia, estrecho de Torres, probablemente isla Mabuiag

Not on view

Las máscaras de caparazón de tortuga solo se encuentran en las islas del estrecho de Torres (entre Australia y Nueva Guinea). Se construyen calentando trozos del caparazón para curvarlos y obtener así la forma deseada; a continuación se perforan los bordes y se atan con fibras vegetales para crear formas tridimensionales. Esta máscara, quizá procedente de la isla de Mabuiag, se utilizaba para ceremonias funerarias y rituales de riqueza (ritos cuya finalidad era obtener ubérrimas cosechas y abundante caza y pesca). Durante los rituales, los hombres ataviados con máscaras, denominadas buk, krar o kara, y vestimentas de rafia escenificaban eventos de las vidas de héroes culturales primigenios. Es posible que esta máscara fuera el retrato de un héroe y que el pájaro fragata que la corona fuera su tótem.

Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander

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Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander
Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander
Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander
Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander
Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander
Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander
Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander
Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander
Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander
Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander
Mask (Buk, Krar, or Kara), Turtle shell, wood, cassowary feathers, fiber, resin, shell, paint, Torres Strait Islander

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