Uli figures are wooden statues from New Ireland in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Like their neighbors to the north and south, the artistic traditions of the peoples of central New Ireland formerly focused largely around mortuary rites. In contrast to the intricate ''

malagan Malagan (also spelled malangan or malanggan) ceremonies are large, intricate traditional cultural events that take place in parts of New Ireland province in Papua New Guinea. The word malagan refers to wooden carvings prepared for ceremonies an ...

'' carvings of the north, artists in central New Ireland produced less ornate but more permanent figures known as ''uli'', which were kept and reused many times. No longer made today, uli were displayed as part of lengthy fertility rites involving the exhumation and reburial of human skulls, which accompanied the planting of sacred plants. When a newly carved uli was brought out, a

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

assisted in inducing the spirit of the deceased chief to enter the carving, and after the ceremony, the work was kept in the "men's house" where it would continue to aid the successor and his people. Uli figures appear

hermaphroditic In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have separ ...

, having both a phallus and prominent breasts. This blending of male and female features possibly symbolized the fertile and nourishing powers of clan leaders, who were expected to provide for the other members of the clan. The Uli figures probably symbolized the connection between paternal and maternal life energy in initiation ceremonies.

Sources

*''New Ireland: art of the South Pacific'' by Michael Gunn, Philippe Peltier, St. Louis Art Museum, Musée du quai Branly, Ethnologisches Museum Berlin (2006) *''Ritual arts of Oceania, New Ireland: in the collections of the Barbier-Mueller Museum'' by Musée Barbier-Mueller, Michael Gunn, Pierre-Alain Ferrazzini, Mona Bismarck Fondation (1994) *''Assemblage of spirits: idea and image in New Ireland'' by Louise Lincoln, Minneapolis Institute of Arts (1987) *''The iconology of the Uli figure of central New Ireland'' by Philip Collins Gifford (1974)

External links

Britannica Online EncyclopediaThe Metropolitan Museum of ArtBrooklyn Museum
Death customs New Ireland Province Oceanian art Religion in Papua New Guinea Wooden sculptures Androgyny Intersex in religion and mythology {{Sculpture-stub