Paper short abstract:

The paper explores masks and pythons as playthings among the Baining and argues that through reconfiguring one's presence in terms of visibility and invisibility, and creating a break from everyday relations of shame and respect, they shape processes of social reproduction and self-presentation.

Paper long abstract:

Masks are probably as old as mankind and they can be found in almost all cultures around the world. But what makes them so appealing? And why do people use masks instead of anything else, for example puppets, effigies, or fetishes? Is it their hiding and revealing nature that makes them interesting to 'play' with? And what kind of play are we talking about? The paper seeks to explore these questions by looking at the ways in which masks are used among the Baining of Papua New Guinea and how people's relationship to these artefacts can tell us a lot about Baining personhood and sociality. It starts from the position that masks are playthings that embody and affect the relations between wearer and observer, and can reconfigure one's presence in front of the other (i.e. being both seen and not seen). Because of this reconfiguration Baining mask dances can create a break - a variation - from everyday social life, which is immensely organised around the ethic of shame/shyness and respect. The paper then brings further into discussion this play of visibility and invisibility, hiding and showing, by examining the handling of pythons within mask dances and their meaning in Baining processes of social reproduction and self-presentation. In this way it problematises the work:play dichotomy, and shows the productive aspect of playthings.