["- arkivdokument -"]

Description:

FILM ABOUT MALANGANS Institute of Studies, Port Moresby (54 min) The film depicts the Malangan feast that took place in Kisiu village in Mandak area in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, for a few months in early 1979. Malangan is the series of ceremonies that a clan holds to commemorate the death of a grading relative, but also all the sculptures, masks and masks that belong to these ceremonies. This Malangan feast has been planned by three brothers from the Kalabat clan, Eliachim, Raymond and Anton Kaparau, to commemorate Paul Buk Buk, a significant man in their clan who died in 1965. So elaborate malangan parties like this are very rarely held in New Ireland today. The Malangan ceremonies staged here are called Labadama and tell the Calabat clan’s own story. Under Labadama, the clan’s members can remember their dead, those they have known in life and those they only know as shadows of the past. In Labadama, the relatio between living and dead is dramatized; the obligations an individual has against his clan; the position of individuals, families and clans among themselves. For several months, a high fencing of palm leaves has prevented strangers, women and children from seeing what is going on in and around the manor house. Elder Eliachim, the elder of the three brothers, sits and carves malangan sculptures, which at the time of the festivities are to stand by Buk Buks and the grave of some other female clan members. It is Buk Buk himself who has once initiated Eliachim in the art of carving malangan figures. The ceremonies have already started and are to last a few months. Now mask-dressed men appear. These Malangans are called wanis and represent a hostile outside world and violent events in Mandak’s history. Around the villages, they leave red shells, mis, to make sure that the men from there will attend the ceremonies dressed in their malangan masks. As long as the parties are going on, wanis rushing around the villages and along the beaches to request grants. So one day all groups of Wanis-dressed men come to Kisiu for a first common manifestation. It will be repeated several times in the following months. First into the village comes Bas. He shall ensure that all women are out of sight. This is how Bobonu and Karenu break the walls and roof of the village if they do not get food, money and betel nuts. When older men and women see this, they relive old times and cry at the thought of their dead lineages. The wood carver and his clan eventually get the situation under control by giving and exchanging gifts and food. This dramatic spectacle portrays cosmic counterpoles in existence; aggressiveness and cooperation, firstisland relay and creative power, chaos and security. Ligiasugaba - the day when the gaba tree is carried to the village Men from another village come to bear on a tree trunk decorated with gifts. Traditionally, this day was associated with killing and cannibalism. Today, it is associated with Christian religion, yet strong memories remain from past days when the bodies of the dead victims were hanging in the branches of the tree. The red strec-ken on the tribe symbolizes the victims' blood. When Buk Buk and the other clan members died, their families gave snake-money to their relatives who should therefore now give each pig to the party. These contracts are represented by knitters in the sand. The names of all those who once took a snack money are shouted up and a sting is overturned. Those who receive the knit undertake to deliver a pig. The most important birth in the area of Mandak is taro and no ceremony or celebration is held without abundant amounts of taro. At funeral parties, the deceased’s family thaws build a platform where the taro of all the hundreds of guests is travelled. Despite the European conflict-filled influence, the Kalabat clan has retained the knowledge of the Malangan ceremonies. It was Buk Buk who, before the First World War, travelled to Tabar Island to:

Format:

text

Collections:

Museum of Ethnography

Content partner:

Museum of Ethnography

Availability:

Not specified