FIGURINE MOAI KAVAKAVA

Moai kavakava figurine, carved out of dark brown wood (probably Toromino pine). This grotesque and highly detailed carving represents a human with quite short legs and exposed ribs. Eyes (one of which is missing) are made out of shell and black glass.

According to Zdenko Vinski, author of “The Mysterious culture of the Easter Island“ (1943), these figurines represented ancestor spirits “Aku-aku”. They had a very important role in fertility rites (harvest celebrations) and young men initiations. On these special occasions, during the dance, Moai kavakava figurines would be unwrapped from their bark cloths and then carried around in arms or worn around necks. Sometimes, they would be garnished with wigs, coloured or decorated in different ways. People would even put clothes on them.

The object was a gift to count Emile de la Ronciere, a governor of the French Protectorate of the Society Islands (Polynesia, South Pacific Ocean), directly from Pomara IV, the queen of Tahiti, in 1868. Later, his wife Klementine de la Ronciere, born Tomeković, gave the figurine to the Museum. It is considered to be one of the most precious objects among many others in the World Cultures Collection of the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb.