- 18
Planche votive Tihi ébiha, Îles de Goaribari, Golfe de Papouasie, Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée
Description
- wood, pigments
- haut. 147 cm
- 57 7/8 in
Provenance
Collection John et Marcia Friede, New York
Adrian Schlag, Bruxelles
Antonio et Ana Casanovas, Madrid
Serge Schoeffel, Bruxelles, 2009
Collection Tomkins, New York (inv. n° TC 511)
Literature
Catalogue Note
Au sein de ce corpus, cette planche se distingue par la fulgurance de son décor pictural. A la dynamique de la figure dansante répond son haut degré d’abstraction : l’esprit étant résumé à son visage expressif, au mouvement des bras et des jambes, et au nombril signifié par une série de cercles concentriques. S’y ajoute la puissance visuelle de la polychromie, jouant sur le contraste entre les pigments rouges et noirs, et l’aplat du vaste fond blanc. Comme la planche gope de la collection Jolika à laquelle elle s’apparente étroitement (New Guinea Art, Masterpiece from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, p. 504), la signification de son iconographie, dévoilée lors de l’initiation, n’était connue que des membres du clan. Ainsi, selon Welsch, « la signification d’une planche découle moins de l’image spécifique qui y est sculptée que du récit qui lui confère une signification et une importance aux yeux des membres du clan. » ( in Webb, Embodied Spirits. Gope Boards from the Papuan Gulf / Esprits incarnés. Planches votives du golfe de Papouasie, 2015, p. 54)
Acquise in situ à la fin des années 1960 par le biologiste allemand Thomas Schultze-Westrum, cette œuvre rejoignit le cœur de la collection « Jolika » de John et Marcia Friede ; aujourd'hui en grande partie conservée au de Young Museum de San Francisco.
As identity markers throughout the cultural area of the Gulf of New Guinea, votive boards, generically known as gope, offer an iconographic variety that beautifully illustrates - as is the case here - the inventiveness and genius of the artists of this region. Temporary residences for the imunu spirit-beings they represented, these highly sacred objects were preserved in the alcoves of the men’s house, sheltered from the gaze of the uninitiated.
Within this corpus, this board stands out for its striking pictorial decoration. The dynamics of the dancing figure resonate with its high degree of abstraction: the spirit, pared down to its expressive face, the movement of the arms and legs, and the navel depicted in a series of concentric circles. It is compounded by the visual power of the polychromy, playing on the contrast between the red and black pigments, and the expanse of the vast white background. Like the gope board from the Jolika collection, which it closely relates to (New Guinea Art, Masterpiece from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, p. 504), the meaning of its iconography, revealed during initiation, was known only to members of the clan. Thus, according to Welsch, “the meaning of a board is less to do with the specific image carved upon it than with the narrative conferring unto it particular meaning and significance to the members of the clan.” (in Webb, Embodied Spirits. Gope Boards from the Papuan Gulf , 2015, p. 54)
Acquired in situ in the late 1960s by German biologist Thomas Schultze-Westrum, this piece came to be at the heart of John and Marcia Friede’s “Jolika” collection; today mainly preserved at the Young Museum in San Francisco.