Since ancient times, the Massim island groups of southeast Papua New Guinea have practiced the tradition of Kula, an ongoing, ceremonial exchange of valuables between islands both neighboring and distant. This process of exchange centers upon armbands made of conus shells and necklaces of red spondylus shells, and for these treasures rowers launch out into the open ocean in canoes lavished with decorative carvings. The acquisition of Kula valuables is a prestigious and desirable deed, and highly successful participants achieve considerable fame and status. The objects themselves also enjoy great renown, with names and biographies that detail their journeys around the islands of the Massim.

One of the primary decorative elements of the Kula canoe is the splashboard (lagim), which stands at both ends of the boat. These represent some of the most iconic and impressive of Massim carvings, cut with mesmerizing curvilinear motifs and imbued with extensive magical iconography pertaining to the Kula voyage. Beautifully carved canoes are believed to cast a kind of enchantment over their receiving hosts, moving them to surrender their most precious Kula treasures.

Carvers of splashboards are apprenticed from an early age, initiated into the detailed knowledge of magic and taboo that gives their art its fundamental efficacy. The qualities of their carvings and the observation of the proper rituals surrounding them are of profound importance to the success of the canoe’s voyages and the survival of its crew. Depictions of ocean spirits, both salvific and destructive, take a prominent place at the center of the board between surging volutes. Highly abstract bird motifs representing sea eagles are also worked profusely through splashboard compositions. These symbolize the keen “hunters” of Kula treasure, diving to claim their metaphorical prey. Carvers of these powerful works were not allowed to draw their designs beforehand and executed them directly into the wood, proving their depth of ancestral knowledge and mastery of their art.

To the lower section of the splashboard would be connected a smaller, secondary prow board (tabuyo), similarly carved, which projects perpendicularly from the nose of the canoe, cutting through the waves.

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