Western Highlands Kundu Drum (Papua New Guinea)

This kundu drum is characteristic of the central highlands of Papua New Guinea, where hourglass-shaped hand drums are widely used. The instrument has a slender waist, broad flaring ends and no carved carrying handle. The drumhead is made from possum skin, a material commonly used for highland kundus where large reptiles are less readily available.

Kundu drums provide rhythmic accompaniment for dances and songs and are particularly prominent at large sing-sing gatherings in the Western Highlands. Groups of dancers move in lines or circles to the repeated rhythms of the drums, creating a strongly collective musical performance.

The historical photograph accompanying this object documents a comparable highland drum in ceremonial use. Together with the characteristic form and possum-skin head, it places the instrument within the distinctive musical and material culture of the Western Highlands.

Bibliography:
Niles, Don (ed.): Steep Slopes: Music and Change in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Canberra: ANU Press.
Gourlay, Kenneth A. (1975): The Music of the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea.
Bodrogi, Tibor (1961): Art in North-East New Guinea. Budapest: Hungarian Academy of Sciences.