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Artist:
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Unknown
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Title:
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Bis Pole
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Date:
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20th century
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Medium:
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Wood, pigment
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Dimensions:
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174 x 12 x 45 in. (442 x 30.5 x 114.3cm)
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Credit Line:
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The Putnam Dana McMillan Fund
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Location:
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Gallery 256
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This is a ritual bis pole created to honor a recently deceased, important member of society. The family commissions an artist to carve a pole out of a single piece of wild nutmeg tree, representing clan members who have passed on. Its shape evokes a canoe, the main mode of transportation for the living and the dead, and a vehicle to take the spirit to the next world. The pole is displayed at a great 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.
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Artist/Creator(s)
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Name:
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Unknown
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Object Description
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Classification:
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Sculpture
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Physical Description:
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bis pole, mangrove wood, New Guinea, Asmat
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Creation Place:
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Oceania, Papua,
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Accession #:
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74.79.1
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Owner:
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The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
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