A SEPIK SPLIT DRUM

Garamut drum, East Sepik Province, PNG
Provenance: Philip Goldman, London

Carved from a single tree trunk, the slit drum, or garamut, is used not only to provide the rhythm for singing and dances but also to announce meetings, issue warnings and communicate with neighboring villages by means of complex rhythms and tones beaten on the resonant body with a wooden pounder. The people of Papua New Guinea and its neighboring islands consider the sound of the drum as its “voice” that carries across long distances. More than just an instrument, this drum is central to the lives of the entire community.