Bilum Tree
MAA Installation, 2009
Composed of bilums (netbags) collected 1922-2005, Papua New Guinea
Bilums are containers for food to nourish bodies, and even for bodies themselves. Women use them for carrying all kinds of produce, from gardens and supermarkets, as well as cooked pork from feasts or daily firewood. Above all, women use bilums for carrying babies. They wear bilums balanced across the forehead and down the back, echoing the features of their procreative bodies and their capacity to hold and grow. Today women also carry bilums under the arm like men’s bags.
Women’s bilums vary much more than men’s and follow many distinctive patterns, incorporating contemporary styles and fashions. Although style is invariably specific to gender, only women make bilums.
