mask

Marada is a rain-making malagan practiced in special groves of trees by families with this special skill. This Marada mask is made of a softwood called Alstonia scholaris. On Tabar, the correct name for this mask could be Kovabat si mi Marada. Instead of being worn by a man , the mask was placed upon a large replica human body made of bush materials and displayed seated in a temporary shelter. As well as rain-making rituals, this mask also featured in malagan funeral ceremonies.

Although some malagan figures and masks are still made and used in ceremonies in Tabar and New Ireland, this type of Marada mask has not been made for many decades. Only five Marada masks of this type are known to have survived. Three others are in private collections in Paris, Basel and New York, and one is in the Chicago Field Museum. Judging from the broken stub in its mouth, this mask may have held a bird or lizard between its lips.

Dr A. Schiessel who was a medical officer in Papua New Guinea during the late 1940s collected this mask and later sold it to Auckland Museum.