AP Art History 250: 218. Buk mask

Buk (mask)
Torres Strait. Mid-to late 19th century C.E. Turtle shell, wood, fiber, feathers, ad shell

Turtle-shell masks in the western Torres Strait reportedly were used during funerary ceremonies and increase rites (rituals designed to ensure bountiful harvests and an abundance of fish and game).

Identify:

Location: Australia, Mabuiag Island, Queensland, Torres Strait.
Currently: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Date: Mid- to late 19th century C.E.
Materials: Turtle shell, wood, fiber, cassowary feathers, resin and paint.
Dimensions: H. 21 1/2 x W. 25 x D. 22 3/4 in. (54.6 x 63.5 x 57.8 cm)

Form:

Turtle shell, wood, fiber, cassowary feathers, resin and paint.
The process of creating Torres Strait masks was tedious and time-consuming

Heated individual hawksbill sea turtle shell plates so that they became flexible and could be bent to create the desired shape
Each plate then had to be pierced around the edges, so that the maker of the mask could use fiber to thread the plates together
Connected plates formed a three-dimensional appearance
Features of the mask were accentuated by the addition of feathers, shells, and hair

Rafia creates impression of human hair- very textured piece

Many separate pieces stitched together

Function:

Ceremonial significance to the Torres Strait Islanders
Ritualistic uses

Male initiation
Funerary Rites
Associated with hunting and warfare rituals
Enhances the effects of rites performed to produce plentiful a plentiful harvest, as well as fish and game animals
Displays the connection between humans and animals in ritual
Ceremonies included performances by senior male dancers surrounding a campfire

They wore grass costumes paired with masks that fit like helmets and danced to the beat of sacred drums

The bird might have represented the wearer’s personal totemic species
Believed to help the wearer have access to supernatural spirits

Content:

Part of elaborate costume for significant performance, and meant to have movement with dance
Possibly honoring and depicting a hero or ancestor
The bird could be a mythological totem connected to a family→ connected culture to the supernatural and symbolic animals

A ceremonial mask called buk.
Combines an abstracted human face below a frigate bird.

The face may represent an honored ancestor or a hero.
Demonstrates a connection of animals to humans

The mask depicts a black seabird with a forked tail, elongated beak, and a large wingspan.

The bird may represent strength and nobility.

Context:

Torres Strait is between Australia and Papua New Guinea and has many small mostly uninhabited islands.

Diego de Prado, a Spanish explorer, first found works that used turtle shells in this way in 1606

Archaeological excavations show that people arrived on the Mabuiag islands around 7,300 years ago
As this is an island group of people, they were very dependent on ocean life so fishing was vital to survival.
The language of the island is Kala Lagaw Ya.

Masks made out of turtle shells were distinct to the people of the Torres Strait

Feathers are a significant artistic material throughout Oceania

Islands became Christianized
When missionaries arrived, islanders were often told to burn their masks as the practice and materials were seen by them as obsolete→ few surviving pieces

Themes: