Jövö (door boards)

The circular houses of Kanak chiefs embodied the spiritual agency of their communities. Designed as a cosmological map organized around a central axis, the home had a principal entryway flanked by a pair of carved portraits representing high-ranking men and women who, upon their deaths, gained ancestor status. The geometric designs on each board’s torso refer to the layers of textiles and mats used to wrap the deceased in preparation for their transition to the ancestral realm. Hollowed nostrils, inflated cheeks, and protruding tongues allude to their breath and vitality, even after death. The mouth and nostrils were once painted red, a color associated with chiefs. Only the distinctive blue pigment, a highly valued European import, remains on these examples.