Their raw materials may be mostly limited to wood, clay, feathers and shell, but their inventiveness is not. Sepiks are a tough, practical people who survive in a difficult environment and who create world-class art. It's become common to refer to much of contemporary Sepik art as tourist art. However, Sepiks are heirs to a great tradition which is going strong, changing and evolving to meet new needs while sustaining old roots. If a mask brings luck in hunting or if it brings cash to buy the luxury of tinned fish, the net result is still food in the household.
Artifacts are also one of the few sources of cash income for things like school fees.
The best carvers are serious about their work. Last year in the Christian Bookstore in Wewak, I watched Soc search for an hour through dozens of school-grade watercolor brushes looking for a decent one. If you ask a carver about a piece, it always comes from a traditional base, even if changes have been made in the form. All rights reserved. I take the photographs, do the html, text and maps.