EXHIBITION

Material Culture:

The Hampton Archive Artifacts

This exhibition complements the Fiber and Stone: People of the Baliem Valley. It highlights some of the fascinating artifacts from the collection of the Hampton Archive at the Tracing Patterns Foundation. These beautiful, well-crafted, and meaningful objects were made and used by the Dani and Yali people. The materials used reflect the available natural resources within their territories as well as their trade activities to acquire exotic precious items such as birds-of-paradise feathers and shells. Dr. O. W. Hampton collected these objects in the field during the 1980s and 1990s, the last gasp when the fiber and stone culture still played a big part in their daily and ritual lives.

Married Woman’s Skirt (Yokal)

This wedding skirt (yokal) made from several lengths of cord with orchid fibers, wound several hundred times, and bound in…

Yeineri-Style Ax

This is a large and rare Yeineri-style ax with a stone blade and a wood handle.

Bone Knife

These knives are made of highly polished animal bones. One has a hole drilled at the wide end, indicating that…

Mouth Harps (Pikon)

These mouth harps (pikon) are made of bamboo. They are made in multiple different lengths to achieve various tones.

Langda-Sela Style Adze

This Langda-Sela adze has a straight handle, called sirikto, by the Una-speaking makers and users. The handle was partially wrapped…

Tagime Style Adze

This Tagime-style large adze has a handle that is curved towards the heel.

Man’s Wrist and Arm Bands

These looped bands are continuously woven from thin strands of various plant fibers. The bands are either in solid monochrome…

Sacred Pouch

This pouch is a wrap made of moth cocoon cloth. It contains a resin block (hotali), two pieces of wood,…

Man’s Headdress

This headdress is constructed of a circular cord made of bark fibers and decorated with cassowary feathers.

Man’s Bag

This bag is woven in knotless netting from various shades of twisted bark fiber string and decorated with black pig’s…

Cowrie Shell Pouch

This small bag is tightly woven from twisted bark fiber string decorated with yellow orchid fibers. One side of the…

Man’s Headdress

This headdress is made of a strip of knotless netting band decorated with parrot (yanmaik) feathers and furs. It is…

Woman’s Short Grass Skirt

This type of skirt is worn both by children and adult females. It is constructed from multiple strands of flattened…

Woman’s Long Grass Skirt

This skirt is made of multiple strands of flattened reeds (kem grass), each about 60 cm long, tied to a…

Penis Sheath (Koteka)

Kotekas come in different shapes, from straight to curve, and in various widths and lengths. They are traditionally worn by…

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