Maimafu, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
Accession Date:
7 Nov 2019
Collection Date:
21 Aug 2011
Notes:
Small bilum (bag) made of acrylic yarn. Very bright orange, red, blue, and duller blue in a vertical stepped pattern. Single handle. Donor notes: Maker, Maria Amos. Cost: K50. A small bilum in the “half kundu” (sometimes called “fish bone” or “razor blade”) style made from tightly looped orange, red, maroon, indigo and green acrylic yarn. A short handle worked in longitudinal stripes of red, green, indigo and maroon allows the wearer to carry it tightly under the shoulder to evade pickpocketing when in town. This is the second bilum that the maker, an unmarried teenaged girl, has produced. Interviewees indicated that most girls in Maimafu make their first bilums shortly after puberty, though the basic plying and looping techniques are usually learned in early childhood.