Deutscher and Hackett

These two old helmet masks (called baba) are representative of spirit beings from the other world and symbolize the power of the male in Abelam society. The baba is associated most closely with the tambaran cult and hence with male initiation ceremonies. Men don the freshly painted baba mask for ceremony and may also wear a long flowing skirt of sago fibre. They carry a spear, bone knife or club. These masks are made in the lower inland foothills of the Prince Alexander Mountains and down into the plains on the north side of the Middle Sepik River in the East Sepik Province (often referred to as Maprik or Wosera or Abelam art).