IDNO

N.98603.LAY

Description

“Malekula.
Men beating gongs”
[Layard's caption, 1914 - 1915]

On Catalogue Card for duplicate print P.3616.ACH1: “Gong orchestra at Pwetertsuts. Ruruar village. Atchin.”

“Gongs being beaten after the erection of the rafters (Nerets). Kilin, Melkelauuli, Meltegto, Malsibini, Meltegnapi, Manimbo, Melkeleruriye. [John Layard, Atchin, 1915, HL, TL1]” [JD 29/3/2009]

Group of nine men, including Kilin, Melkelauuli, Meltegto, Malsibini, Meltegnapi, Manimbo, Melkeleruriye, playing vertical slit-gong drums. Several of them are looking at the camera as they play. Older man, playing the largest gong, is seated, while the others stand. [H. Geismar 20/12/2002] [updated JD 18/4/2009]

Place

Oceania Melanesia; Vanuatu; near Malakula; Atchin; Ruruar village; Pwetertsuts [New Hebrides; Malekula]

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Kilin; Melkelauuli; Meltegto; Malsibini; Meltegnapi; Manimbo; Melkeleruriye

Photographer

Layard, John Willoughby

Collector / Expedition

Date

1915

Collection Name

Layard Collection

Source

Layard, Richard

Format

Glass Negative Quarterplate

Primary Documentation

Other Information

N.98590.LAY to N.98732.LAY were found in the wooden box now numbered C524/.

Publication: Image published in Geismar, Haidy and Anita Herle, 2008. Moving Images: John Layard Fieldwork and Photography on Malakula Since 1914 (Crawford House Publishing, Adelaide), p.178 with the following caption:
“Gongs being beaten after the erection of the rafters (Nerets). Kilin, Melkelauuli, Meltegto, Malsibini, Meltegnapi, Manimbo, Melkeleruriye. [John Layard, Atchin, 1915, HL, TL1]” [JD 29/3/2009]

Related Archive: “37. A complete drum ensemble at the Atchin dancing ground of Pweter-tsüts. In the middle is the mother drum with two faces. This is being played by the leader of the ensemble, sitting on a stone dolmen in front of it. Alone of all the drums, this one is played with a wooden beater held in both hands (see plate 38). There are the five lesser drums of the kind called pwe-tur and rurur which are beaten with a wooden beater held in the right hand. In addition there are three movable drumlets of the kind called tsoron played with two sticks. Behind the mother drum is part of a high stone platform. Several of the drums have the jaws of sacrificed tusked boars attached to them. On the extreme left is the right-hand end of a bamboo rack on which are displayed the jaws of the more high-grade sacrificial boars with tusks curved round in a complete spiral. In the foreground to the left is part of an old rotted drum on which a youth is playing a tsoron. Note the musket leaning against it which the natives now carry sometimes instead of wooden clubs. One man is wearing a European hat.”
[Layard Papers held in the Mandeville Library, University of San Diego (MSS 84. box 31, folder 6): "Copy of catalogue of my photographs (some of my Cambridge collection). Made for and sent to Jean Guiart with help of Raymond Clausen circa 1963."]

Bibliographical Reference: “In the Small Islands both types of gong [horizontal and vertical] are combined to form an orchestral unit consisting of a “mother gong” [the largest upright, painted gong in the photograph], which is the largest and is planted upright in the centre, round which are grouped a number of smaller upright slit gongs, all of which are sounded by means of a single stick beaten upon one edge of the slit, and of an indefinite number of small portable horizontal gonglets beaten at a great rate by means of two sticks held one in either hand. A large orchestra may require the co-operation of as many as fifteen players. There is no caste of professional players, each male member of the community being able to take his part, provided he has not been absent from the island too long during his youth and so has missed the opportunity of learning.” (Layard 1942; 311). Layard describes in detail the gong rhythms and made a collection of songs and musical recordings during his fieldwork: “All four rhythms run counter to each other, sometimes producing an effect of indescribably excitement like waves in a choppy sea, at others combining like a deep-sea swell, uplifting for a moment, then perhaps ending in a sudden squall followed by breathless silence.” (Layard 1942: 311, see also Clausen 1958). It would be interesting to see if these photographs were taken at the time that Layard made his recordings. Deacon also noted many of the gong dances in Seniang, during his fieldwork in Southern Malakula (see Deacon 1934).
The drums are an intricate part of any ceremonial occasion, for which there are many different rhythms. they are also used as messengers and announcers. The Small Islands are famed for the production of lavishly decorated drums.

This negative has been catalogued with the support of the Getty Grant Fund.

This catalogue record has been updated to incorporate information published in Geismar and Herle, 2008. Descriptions by Haidy Geismar have been updated to incorporate place and peoples' name and indigenous words. [Jocelyne Dudding 18/4/2009]