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String Bag, Tiyaapl Men, mid 20th century
Woven bush string, fiber attachments, cassowary feathers with red lory and bird of paradise feather decorations
61 x 30.5 x 35.6 cm (24 x 12 x 14 in.)
Gift of Marcia and John Friede in honor of Diane B. Wilsey and Harry S. Parker III 2007.44.135

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Artist Biography: (none) EXHIBITIONS: 2005 - New Guinea Art. Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede. De Young Museum, San Francisco, 2005. PUBLICATIONS: 2009 FAM Bulletin entry (unabridged) - "The Mountain-Ok region is located in the center of the island of New Guinea, spanning the national border of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Though some subgroups of the Mountain-Ok population speak unrelated languages, they are unified by their belief in a common origin, Afek, the Ancestral Mother, and by their subsistence strategies, which are interdependent with the forest, streambeds, taro crops, and pigs. (1) The tiyaapl men (cassowary feather bilum) is worn only by men who have achieved the highest grade of male initiation. Men cover over the loops of a woman's plain string bag (aam bal men) with the shining, long cassowary plumes, and so outwardly proclaim male prowess as hunter. Cassowary feathers are prestigious because the aggressive birds are difficult to hunt and inhabit lowland forest areas some distance below the highland Mountain-Ok area. The long sweeping plumes that hang down in the middle of the bag are remarkable similar in appearance to an actual cassowary tail. There is a mythological and metaphoric link between cassowaries and Afek, the Creator Ancestress (2), and so the tiyaap men becomes a visual metaphor of the Creator Mother's womb, and through the combination of male and female elements is capable of evoking cosmological power. (3) The process of attaching cassowary feathers is delicate and time-consuming. Senior men meticulously bind small bunches of plumes to individual loops of the bag to create the dense yet flexible covering of sleek feathers. Aesthetic appeal is further heightened with a few carefully selected colorful plumes. (4) As men dance, wearing their bags, the plumes quiver and flash in the light, evoking deep emotion and feelings of wellbeing in all who are present. (5)" FOOTNOTES (1) Fredrik Barth in M. MacKenzie, Androgynous Objects: String bags and gender in central New Guinea (Chur, Switzerland; Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1991), 32. (2) Dan Jorgensen, Tarrow and Arrows: Order, entropy, and religion among the Telefolmin. PhD Thesis (University of British Columbia, Vancouver), 398-425. (3) MacKenzie, Androgynous Objects, 157-189 and 193. (4) MacKenzie, Androgynous Objects, 120-121. (5) M. MacKenzie, “Loops of Connection: The bilum and the aesthetics of wellbeing,” Masterpieces of Highlands Art from the Jolika Collection (Milan: 5 Continents Editions, forthcoming). 2005 - "This type of bag is only worn by the most senior men in Mountain Ok society who have been initiated into the highest grade. They attached the cassowary feathers themselves to a plain string bag, aam bal men, which they obtained from the women. The cassowary feathers were prestigious because the aggressive brids are difficult to hunt. They often added a personal finishing touch, enhancing their tiyaapl men with a splash of brightly colored plumage. The elongated part of the 'tail' in the center is called 'women's skirt' (unam) (MacKenzie, 1991: 120; see also 121-122). Two other examples are published in MacKenzie, 1991: 121, pl. 77, and Specht, 1988: 10, fig. 2. See previous object." (Catalog #360, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 142.)

Related Keywords
Tiyaapl III Parker S Harry Wilsey B Diane honor Friede John Marcia Gift speakers language Telefol Oceania Ok Mountain Province Sandaun Sepik West Guinea New Wearable decorations feather paradise bird lory red feathers attachments string bush Woven tail actual an appearance remarkably bag plumes cassowary black adorned fiber bark looped spun Hand initiation level highest achieved who men by worn Bilum 0709200406050545 A365342 2007.44.135 AOA