Kastom: Arts of Vanuatu

Kastom: Arts of Vanuatu showcases an impressive array of traditional arts through a program of field collecting occurred on the islands of Ambrym and Malakula. Central to many traditional practices, better known as 'kastom, ' are masked performances and displays of sculpture including iconic upright slit drums. A selection of these intensely visual works created for ritual events realized in wood, over-modeled with clay, feathers, pig tusks, stone and other surprising mediums such as tree fern are discussed. These arts are remarkably unchanged to those from over a century ago, as kastom is an inseparable part of Ni-Vanuatu culture.