The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10) Catalogue

The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 84 Projects Ngari Isaac Namengaqa 2017 Mandas mask: barkcloth with natural pigments, synthetic polymer paint, felt pen, bark twine, cane, feathers / 268.5 x 59 x 58cm / Gift of the Uramat Clan of Gaulim and Wunga villages through Gideon Kakabin and the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation 2018 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / Image courtesy: Gideon Kakabin Lazarus Eposia, President, Indigenous Uramat Identity, GOMA, January 2020 / Photograph: Chloë Callistemon The inspiration for this collection [of Uramat masks] has been the desire to document and preserve the art and spirit [of the Uramat] … In the end I hope that this collection does not die in a desolate museum, orphaned from its families, groups, artists, and their spirits. Gideon Kakabin 1 Uramat Mugas (Uramat Story Songs) 2021 is a collaborative project inspired by the dynamic ceremonial practices of the Uramat families who live in and around the township of Gaulim in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. The project centres around and seeks to honour this community’s gift in 2018 of more than 70 ceremonial objects to the Queensland Art Gallery l Gallery of Modern Art through their interlocutor, the late Gideon Kakabin, and Uramat leader Lazarus Eposia. Exhibiting spectacular sculptural qualities, some of these objects — the iconic Qawat (kavat) and madaska masks — may be known to audiences familiar with museum collections and displays of what is often termed Baining ‘art’. 2 For APT, the Uramat families with whom the Gallery is working have sought to expand beyond existing museum display models to explore and create new contexts to engage audiences with the breadth of their lived culture. Led by Lazarus Eposia, the group has worked with local videographers and artists Keith Armstrong and David Bridie, as well as staff from QAGOMA and the Queensland University of Technology to develop an immersive installation in which these spiritual entities return virtually to ples (place) via the recorded sounds of Uramat songs, the mesmerising beats of their bamboo orchestra and the sights and sounds of village life. Within the exhibition space, audiences are invited to move through a sequence of events and ceremonies, directed by the speed and the intensity of drumming and singing. Along the way, there are opportunities to engage with groups of the Uramat’s extensive pantheon of spirit figures, the masks that herald their presence and their associated stories. As Gideon shared: It is important to acknowledge the role of the spirit world in the creation and use of masks. The Uramat believe in a parallel universe, whereupon spirits exist in a world that is identical … to the physical world. Persons living in the real world have their counterpart in the spiritual world [who serves as their] protector and avenger in the spiritual world. In their daily routines, the Uramat are fully conscious of the existence of their counterpart spirits and must follow regulations to ensure that the two worlds coexist in harmony. 3 A key objective of the project was that the Uramat families involved should fully direct any recorded events and remain the final arbiters of the ways this material is edited and the masks installed for audiences to experience. Of particular concern to the community was that the mystery surrounding the Engini (night-time fire dance) and its masks be maintained. Whereas day masks are usually prepared in an open house in abandoned gardens, the Qawat (kavat) night masks may only be viewed by women and uninitiated men during ceremony, when the spirits have inhabited them and they are dancing. To this end, the teams working in East New Britain and Australia have developed a more theatrical experience through which the visceral, awe-inspiring drama of the Uramat’s Engini can unfold through immersive video and sound. As we move through the installation, our experience begins in the village and its nearby forest, with masks created for the community’s day ceremonies. The Madaska , extending some three metres into the air when worn over the head, is the most spectacular on display. It is tubular in form and wide enough in diameter to ‘swallow’ a man’s body. Thick, creamy textured cloth beaten from bark covers the cane and bamboo armature like a soft skin. At the bottom, this armature is bent into distinctive facial features: big eyes painted with contrasting red and black concentric circles and, at the end, a dangling bill-like mouth. Stretching above and beyond this, the elongated body of the mask is marked with a dazzling pattern of interlocking black and red lines, culminating in a long aerial of cane topped with soft, white feathers. Indigenous Uramat Identity Uramat Clan Established 2012, Papua New Guinea Curator: Ruth McDougall Lazarus Eposia, Uramat Clan, born 1981, Papua New Guinea (PNG); Tade Boas, Uramat Clan, Ngurhi Family, PNG; Ngari Isaac, Uramat Clan, Nguarhi Family, PNG; Willie Isaac, Uramat Clan, Nguarhi Family, PNG; Paul Kivung, Uramat Clan, Nguarhi Family, PNG; Allan Muvana, Uramat Clan, Nguarhi Family, PNG; Stanley Robin, Uramat Clan, Nguarhi Family, PNG; Febuar Samuel, Uramat Clan, Nguarhi Family, PNG; Paul Sape, Uramat Clan, Mega Family, PNG; Paibe Tagaun, Uramat Clan, Ngoari Family, PNG; Elias Toban, Uramat People, Nguarhi Family, PNG; Febuar Toban, Uramat People, Nguarhi Family, PNG With: Gideon Kakabin, Gunantuna people, 1956–2018, PNG; Judy Kakabin, Gunantuna people, born 1967, PNG; Glegn Burua, Gunantuna people, born 1997, PNG; Garett Low, Gunantuna people, born 1981, PNG; Juan Low, Gunantuna people, born 1978, PNG; Joseph Yass, Uramat Clan, born 1995, PNG; Keith Armstrong, born 1965, United Kingdom/Australia; David Bridie, born 1962, Australia; Harley Coustley, born 1991, Australia; Joanne Kenny, born 1959, Australia; Andrew Robinson, born 1983, Australia