Embodied Spirits Revisited: Ritual Carvings of the Asmat

There are very, very few cultures left even partly free from the homogenizing touch of the modern world. The Asmat people are one of them. A tribal culture of about 65,000 from the rainforests of New Guinea, they only recently stopped practicing headhunting and ritual cannibalism. The St. Paul museum’s current “Embodied Spirits” exhibition of carvings takes its title literally—the Asmat believe that invisible spirits with great power are all around them, and that human artists can actually force the spirits into a tangible shape and thus make them less dangerous. The museum’s overall collection of 2,500 pieces is one of the largest around, and it plays a crucial role in preserving Asmat artwork, often made of soft wood and perishable matter that doesn’t last long in a tropical climate. The AMAA is hosted at the province headquarters of the Crosier Fathers and Brothers, an order of Catholic missionaries who have been working on New Guinea to help preserve Asmat culture for nearly 50 years.
AMAA, 3510 Vivian Ave., St. Paul, (651) 287-1132, www.asmat.org


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