Minneapolis Institute of Art

Bioma Figure

Papua New Guinea

Date

20th century

Medium

Wood, pigment

Department

Arts of Oceania

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Bioma are spirit figures that were kept in men’s ceremonial houses along with many other objects, including the skulls of ancestors, enemies, crocodiles, and pigs. This energetic and symmetrical silhouette, carved in low relief on one side of a red-and-white painted board, is typical of bioma design. The legs were bowed to fit over one of the skulls on display. Papua New Guinea, Oceania

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