Torricelli Mountains Kundu Drum (Nuku District, Papua New Guinea)

This kundu drum from the Nuku District in the Torricelli Mountains is a traditional hourglass-shaped hand drum carved from hardwood. The body has a pronounced waist with an integrated handle and is decorated with finely incised geometric bands concentrated around the central section. The contrasting geometric patterns form a restrained but distinctive ornamental zone on an otherwise largely undecorated surface.

The drum is hollowed from a single piece of wood, traditionally shaped with an adze and opened by a controlled burning process. Its upper opening is covered with lizard skin, which is secured around the rim. Small pellets of beeswax applied to the drumhead serve to modify its resonance and allow the tone to be adjusted.

The kundu is played as a hand drum, held in one hand while the other strikes the membrane. In traditional contexts, such drums accompany ceremonial gatherings, dances, funerals and other important communal events. Drumming and singing may form part of performances associated with ancestral traditions and narratives.

Bibliography:
Bateson, G. (1958): Naven. London: Wildwood House.
Burridge, K. O. L. (1959): "The slit-gong in Tangu, New Guinea." Ethnos 24.
Craig, Barry: Slit Gongs of the Sepik and Madang Provinces.
Craig, Barry; Busse, Mark; Eoe, Soroi (2010): Living Spirits with Fixed Abodes – The Masterpieces Exhibition. Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery.
Gourlay, K. A. (1975): Sound Producing Instruments in Traditional Society.
Hamson, Michael: The Art of West Sepik.