Thank God for Kundu Drums. When field collecting it was near impossible to find older, used ritual figures and masks. When coming into a new remote village and asking for artifacts often the request fell on deaf ears. I was always told “Sorry, we don’t have such things.” I always responded “No kundu drums? Old ones in the rafters with broken lizard skin tops?” Well, yes, we might have some of those…That would often get the ball rolling when I laid real cash money in someone’s hand for something everyone else thought was useless. You could then see people peel off from the group and head into their rafters to see what they could find. Then the real fun would begin. Here is a fine old Coastal Ramu River drum. Quite a nice one.
Thank God for Kundu Drums. When field collecting it was near impossible to find older, used ritual figures and masks. When coming into a new remote village and asking for artifacts often the request fell on deaf ears. I was always told “Sorry, we don’t have such things.” I always responded “No kundu drums? Old ones in the rafters with broken lizard skin tops?” Well, yes, we might have some of those…That would often get the ball rolling when I laid real cash money in someone’s hand for something everyone else thought was useless. You could then see people peel off from the group and head into their rafters to see what they could find. Then the real fun would begin.
Here is a fine old Coastal Ramu River drum. Quite a nice one.