Spirit Face

“In some traditions, an object is not a thing. It is a being.

A Papua New Guinea ceremonial mask. Shells. Feathers. Natural fibers. Painted designs against absolute black. To the museum eye, this is craft. To the tradition, it is a person. The mask has a life. It has a name. It is not owned; it is lived alongside.

We treat almost nothing this way anymore. Our objects are inert. Our things do not have voices. And something in us, quietly, has become poorer for it. Because we still have relationships with our objects — we have just stopped admitting that we do.

This mask isn’t asking you to change your worldview.

It’s asking you to notice.

Which objects in your home are actually beings to you — even though your culture would tell you they are only things?”