Korwar Figure – Yapen Island, 1980s This Korwar figure comes from Yapen Island, where the living and the dead were never fully separated, only rearranged. Collected in the field in the 1980s, it belongs to a late moment in a long tradition—one foot still in ritual life, the other already aware of its own disappearance. Korwar figures were not carved to be admired. They were made to be present. To hold a name. To anchor a spirit. The ancestor does not leave; he condenses. Wood becomes a body small enough to remain near, small enough to speak quietly. The posture is compact, inward, almost folded. The head dominates, as it should. Thought, memory, lineage—this is where they reside. The surface bears the marks of handling rather than finishing. Touch mattered more than polish. By the 1980s, Korwar figures were increasingly made with an understanding that they might travel. This one still resists that fate. It does not perform. It waits. Its power lies in restraint, not display. Seen now, far from Yapen, the figure feels less like a relic and more like a witness. It does not explain itself. It remembers. Welcome addition to any collection of tribal New Guinea Art/oceanic art We pack securely sending worldwide Sold by Koos Knol, ethnographer and anthropologist, dealer of Papua Tribal Art for more than 30 years, expert and author of the book “Papua Blues”, written in Dutch. (Maybe in English next year.)  Published end of October 2024 A book about inside stories, a book that deals with the many encounters with special people in West Papua, the impressive experiences that the author has, about special encounters with men and women who tell him about secret things, about ethnographic objects and initiate him into the rituals and ceremonies. A must have for collectors, ethnographers, ethnologists, anthropologists and museums   Google:Papua Blues Koos Knol