Male Figure

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Culture Kiwai

Title Male Figure (Mimia)

Date Before 1912

Medium Wood, pigment, and and human hair

Dimensions Object: 36 1/2 × 6 7/16 × 5 9/16 in. (92.7 × 16.4 × 14.1 cm)
Overall (includes mount): 37 1/16 × 6 7/16 × 5 9/16 in. (94.1 × 16.4 × 14.1 cm)

Credit Line Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 2010.5

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About this Work

Although three-dimensional figures are common in many parts of New Guinea, they are rarer in the south, around the Gulf of Papua, where the Kiwai peoples are located. Called mimia, this type of figure was used in a ceremony of the same name, which either was related to or a part of rites called moguru, a multi-faceted annual ceremony to initiate boys and girls into adulthood and to promote the growth of the sago palm, a food staple, and the fertility of the community. Though figures of this type are unembellished, they were decorated with headdresses and ornaments when displayed.

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Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Male Figure | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2010.5