Micha Ronsnumbre

Country/Region: Western New Guinea (view other artists)

Village: Biak

Micha Ronsnumbre is a senior carver on Biak Island, off the northwest coast of New Guinea. Here he is shown with his commissioned lotus window frame in the Buddhist temple on Biak.

Highly-regarded for his carving, he is also well-versed in the cosmology, philosophy and history of his culture and willingly relates the legends and the significance of the symbolism in Biak design.

He is represented in the present collection by an amfyanir figure, named “Janimar” after his grandfather, and a drum with a dragon motif in the handle. The amfyanir (“something that looks like”) is a traditional ancestor figure that holds the earthly spirit of the deceased. It is to be kept by the door to the house and consulted when important family decisions are to be made. Some amfyanir contained the skull of the ancestor; Janimar has a removable wooden head as a substitute.

The seemingly-abstract, complex scroll designs of Biak embody various symbols, for example the eagle and sea snake (the eagle kills the snake, representing the victory of good over evil) or the morning star (a navigational aid to fishermen). In the photo, the motifs at the top represent clouds. Plaques, facing the front door of the house as a protective device, are topped by Inobobo (the grasshopper), who is a guardian figure.

Although I spent much time with Micha, I am also indebted to Robyn Roper for articulating some of this information based on her interviews with him.

For more detail, see:

Roper, Robyn Christine, 1999. Traditional Arts, Contemporary Artists: a Study of Influence and Change in Irian Jaya. Unpub. M.A. Thesis, University of Victoria.

Biography provided by John Moore, March, 2008

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