Kanduanum village, Lower Sepik River Region
Melanesia – Papua New Guinea
Angoram people / Bosmun (Bosngun) people

Wood, pigment
Early-Mid 1900s
Length: 88 in, Height: 20 in
Idiophones – Directly Struck – Drum Idiophone

An ethnographic Ramu River drum (slit gong) of the lower Sepik River region called a “Garamut.” It is of a very early style, made of wood with deeply carved geometric motifs on the outer panel sides, a rectangular central cavity, and two projecting openwork ancestor motifs (possibly male and female) at each terminal. This clan drum, commonly used for communication and in ceremonies to commemorate yearly events, or the death of a kinsman or kinswoman, has a weathered patina and old encrustations. It is played with one or two sticks striking the sides or near the slit.  Considered a sacred instruments of the Angoram people, the garamut is kept in male lodgings.