Adu Sarambia - Wooden Sculpture. This female ancestor figure of a noblewoman with her children (or descendants) is called Sarambia. It was made to commemorate a woman, who had held her all the obligatory feasts of merit (fa’ulu /owasa) during her lifetime and was called Ina Mbanua (the mother of villagers). She was thus said to be awali or "just completed", meaning she was a perfect woman.
The figure, dressed in traditional clothing, carries a betel pouch on the right in order to welcome honoured guests attending the feast of merit done during her lifetime. Her hands are held out to suggest she is dancing.
The line of small sculptures is depicting her descendant and all the people in her village who are considered as her own children and descendants.
Origin: Bawömataluo, Teluk Dalam, South Nias
No. Inv: 03 – 3461
Width : 81 cm / Height: 104,5 cm
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