Bis Pole

This is a ritual bis pole created to honor an important and recently deceased member of society. In Asmat culture, families commission artists to carve a pole out of a single piece of wild nutmeg tree to represent clan members who have passed on. Its shape evokes a canoe, the main mode of transportation for the living and the dead, which conveys the spirit to the next world. The pole is displayed at a large community ceremony, and a mock battle is staged around its base to appease any restless spirits. Then it is ritually disposed of, its purpose complete.