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Nit titili
David Ben Sisia
Libba Village, New Ireland
Papua New Guinea
2008
Wood (Alstonia sp.), snail shell (Turbo petholatus), coconut husk fibre, pandanus leaves, black paint (charcoal), yellow paint (yung plant), white paint (lime), earth pigment
23" X 6" X 21"
$4,600.00 CDN
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Nit titili, "dancing mask", is of the tatanua genre. The animals on each ear panel include a bird (possibly a rooster), a snake, and a flying fish.
Tatanua are danced in even numbers of six or more masks as part the large-scale malagan celebrations held for a number of the recently deceased. The dancers undergo a long period of preparation, during which they avoid physical contact with women and certain foods that might make them or their masks susceptible to magical attack. Faulty preparations can cause the mask to constrict and injure the dancer's head. Upon donning the mask, they must be silent or harm will come to someone in the village. They dance to the music of an all-ages male chorus singing purchased or commissioned tatanua songs. A faultless dance- a dance that resists malign influences- increases the dancers' prestige.
See notes on Nit xalaxala and Us for more about tatanuas.
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