DRUMS OF THE WORLD

Lake Sentani drum New Guinea
















Lake Sentani drum New Guinea / Sentani Trommel Neuguinea

"Among the indispensable paraphernalia of the mau and the ondoforo house were the wooden hand-drums; but these were not such "sacred objects" as the bamboo flutes, and might be in the possession of ordinary villagers who kept them in their houses. As far as we know two types of drum were in use in the Lake Sentani region : one broad and massive, in the shape of a cylinder, cone or hour-glass ; the other long and narrow, with a slight central constriction. The tympanum is always kept taut by means of a thick, circular band made of rattan or bark. The first type greatly resembles the drums used by villagers of Humboldt Bay, and it seems reasonable to assume they were adopted from that part of the coast. They differ from the Humboldt Bay drums, however, in their decoration. This includes the series of spiral motifs which are so characteristic of Lake Sentani art."
excerpt from: Kooijman. S. (1959) : The art of Lake Sentani. The Museum of Primitive Art. p.

Bibliography:
de Clercq, F.S.A. : Ethnographische Beschrijving van de West- en Noordkust van Nederlandsch Nieuw-Guinea. Leiden 1893
Greub, Suzanne: Art of Northwest New Guinea - From Geelvink Bay, Humboldt Bay and Lake Sentani. 1992
Webb, Virginia-Lee: Ancestors of the Lake: Art of Lake Sentani and Humboldt Bay, New Guinea. The Menil Collection. 2011
Kooijman, Simon - The Art of Lake Sentani -The Museum of Primitive Art, New York 1959

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