"Asmat Shield - Papua New Guinea"
Painted and carved wooden shield from the Asmat tribe (Papua New Guinea). Second half of XXe. Dimensions: 1.58m high, 33cm wide, and 8cm thick. The kinetic patterns on the shield cause vision problems in the enemy, in an attempt to frighten them. The Asmat people call themselves "tree people" because they believe that the first man was carved from wood. The Asmat therefore consider themselves to be living trees, with their feet as roots, their arms as branches, and their body as a trunk, with the fruits gathered in the head. For the Asmat, their shield is inhabited by the spirit of an ancestor who protects it. 
Le Magazine de PROANTIC
TRÉSORS Magazine
Rivista Artiquariato