The Asaro Mud Masks (Holosa). The Asaro community is made up of several tribes and numerous smaller clan groups living at the foot of Mount Daulo and the start of the great Asaro Valley that runs east towards Goroka in the Eastern Highlands Province.
The Asaro headdress is a warrior mask made of grey clay. The rich gluey clay, dug up from sites located at nearby creeks, is carefully carried to a clearing in the village center. In the hands of the expert, the clay is shaped and molded to remove any impurities and then rolled into small round lengths.
A flat surface is created, sometimes on a large flat piece of plank. On the flat surface, around the length of clay is placed as a ring. Then another round ring is placed atop the other. The layered rings are smoothed with the fingers and thumb on the inside and outside. An oval-shaped head emerges.
The end that rests on a flat surface is open. The facial features, including eyes, ears, and nose are formed and placed around the oval-shaped head. The faces of the masks are distorted and disfigured. Grotesque eyes sockets and balls are set in and ears and noses protrude from the sides and front of the face. The gaping mouth, sometimes with a protruding grey tongue has a row of pigs’ teeth with large gaps is pressed in on the lips. The forehead and cheeks are occasionally tattooed or patterns are added.
Once complete, the mask is set aside and partially dried in the sun. The mask is quite heavy due to the moisture content of the clay. When the time comes, the dancers (always male) swathe their bodies with the same clay. Long, sharp bamboo tubes are prepared and placed over the fingers. Wearing a basic loincloth, an assistant lifts the mask over the dancer’s head.
In very slow motion the grotesque figure gently and deliberately walks forward. The long elongated fingers cackle and move about the air in front of the dancer. It seems flies are being brushed away. There is no singing. No accompanying instrument. Just quietness. Now and again the elongated fingers come together. The numerous dancers (between 5-10 dancers) move up to and around the on-lookers. Children recoil and shrink to hide from the figure. Some cling tightly to their parents as others run away.
The Asaro Mudmen amble, meander and drift their way around the space and chase away the nasty, malevolent and wicked.