Krar (mask)

[Masks are] the holders of knowledge and the keepers of wisdom. . . I want them to lead me to their stories. 

—Leah Lui Chivizhe, historian and curator  

Revered throughout the Pacific, turtles are associated with fertility and abundance. They are accorded sacred status due to their ability to inhabit the powerful liminal space between land and ocean. Their translucent shells were formerly deemed a highly appropriate material to galvanize the ancestral forces required for ritual. Elaborate turtle-shell masks from the western Torres Strait are characterized by composite forms that combine human features with those of birds and predatory creatures like sharks and crocodiles. This krar, made of multiple sections of turtle shell bound together with coconut cord fiber, is surmounted by a frigatebird adorned with kapkap (shell ornaments), its wings spread in flight. Frigatebirds are great hunters and navigators and, in the Torres Strait Islands, they are associated with the ability to harness the wind.