Skull Art in Papua New Guinea

This video documents the overmodeling in clay of a real human skull in Lae Papua New Guinea in the spring of 1997 A painted skull had been purchased from a trader When Adam Kone visited he found the skull poorly decorated and set out to mold a more elaborate skullportrait adding modern materials in his friends house Asked to sculpt in the garden he refused Adam had nothing to do with the dead person but was weary of head hunting suspicions and feared arrest Historically skull art is associated with tribal warfare and headhunting banned by the colonial administration in the 1920s and equally outlawed in modern independent Papua New Guinea Because of its association with a banned practice skull art has become rare and is carried out in secrecy