Gowe figure at The Musée du Cinquantenaire, Belgium

myminifactory

Ziegler and Viaro ('Stones of Power: Statuary and Megalithism in Nias' in Messages in Stone: Statues and Sculptures from Tribal Indonesia in the Collection of the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva, 1998) reveal that two types of anthropomorphic stone carvings were found in Central Nias. One type, known as behu nio niha, was an ancestor figure used to mark the stages of an individual's progression through social ranks with "feasts of merit." These feasts featured elaborate distributions of pig meat and the erection of one or more stone figures for the occasion. A second type of figure or pair of figures, called lawölö, served as protectors of villages. Their fearsome appearance was intended to intimidate approaching enemies. Unfortunately, very little information has been documented to aid in identifying surviving stone figures from Central Nias. Ziegler and Viaro note that during their field research they found only one lawölö figure still on the island. The present figure was referred to as "gowe" when it was exhibited at the Tribal Treasures exhibition in Delft in 1990. However, according to Ziegler and Viaro, this name is actually associated with carved monuments from North Nias, while in Central Nias, where this figure originates, it is known as behu nio niha, a term recorded by Schröder as early as 1908 during his visit to the area. Gowe, From Gomo's District, Nias Centre, Indonesia, 16th to 17th century, was a sculpture used to acknowledge new social rank or authority of an individual and improve their notoriety. Musée du Cinquantenaire (Brussels, Belgium).