Picnic after the Ji Mi feast • Er, 2015
Picnic after the Ji Mi feast ⢠Er, 2015
Herman Er lies during âpicnicâ in a nearby forest at the end of the Ji Mi feast, an Asmat friendship feast. As soon as men from the village arrived in the forest, they build up bivouacs resembling an Asmat jeu (longhouse) using nipa palms where villagers
can rest after a long nightâandâday celebration of the feast.
The Ji Mi feast celebrated in this instance, however, was paid Rp 9million ($850) by the local governmentâs tourism board (dinas pariwisata). Only the last segment of the feast was celebrated, which was against the traditional sacrilegious rites of Asmat feasts. When asked, the government represenative claimed it was âto finish an unfinished feast.â