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Art-Pacific (Carolyn Leigh - Ron Perry): Guide to Artifacts

Dollies and Dreams - small fiber figures from the Sepik River basin, ESP, PNG

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Two kinds of small fiber figures are made in some of the villages in the Sepik River Basin. The women often work on them while they sit chatting in the shade with their friends.

Figure 1: Basket weave pig

"Instructional dollies" (doli in pisin) are used to tell clan (tumbuna) stories. Sometimes they are asked to answer questions or solve problems, just as people may ask a favor of a Catholic saint.

Bird and animal figures are dream vehicles or spirit catchers to help their owner move around. For example, if a man was going to fly by airplane to the capital, Port Moresby, he would want a bird.

More photographs and information on small Sepik fiber figures

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Artifacts on this site were collected in the field by my husband, Ron Perry. I take the photographs, do the html, text and maps. Background in Who We Are. Art-Pacific has been on the WWW since 1996. We hope you enjoy our New Guinea tribal art and Indonesian folk art as much as we do.

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