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The malagan of New Ireland

In the northern half of New Ireland and the nearby islands, the death of an important member of the community sets off a cycle of funerary rites called malagan, which finishes some years after his death. The final ceremony with dances and gift distribution culminates in the exhibition of sculptures made for the occasion. Once they have been viewed, the sculptures are destroyed or left to rot.

Malagan: celebrating death to celebrate life

The word malagan refers to the class of objects and the rituals of the second funerals in which they are used. Their function is to erase the deceased from the world of the living by sending his soul into the spirit kingdom and so ending the clanʼs mourning.

Malagan rites touch on every aspect of the people’s lives, by giving an occasion for initiating the youngsters, boosting economic activity, providing a framework for settling conflicts, and playing a crucial role in maintaining and consolidating social bonds. They take part in a cyclic renewal of fertility by transferring the vital force of the dead to the living.

Malagan exhibition house with six horizontal sculptures (north New Ireland, Lessu village, hamlet of Sibenmalum). Photograph taken during the Deutsche Marine-Expedition, 1907-1909 © Fotoarchiv Linden-Museum, Stuttgart

Bibliograpy

• Gunn, Michael et Philippe Peltier (dir.). 2007. Nouvelle-Irlande. Arts du Pacifique Sud. Paris: Musée du quai Branly, 5 Continents
• Derlon, Brigitte. 1997. De mémoire et d'oubli. Anthropologie des objets malanggan de Nouvelle-Irlande. Paris, CNRS Éditions/Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme