Equatorial Arts Gallery was founded by Steven C. Chiaramonte as a means to share his knowledge and extensive private collection of Asmat art and ethnographic objects with others. Through the years, the collection has grown, the library has expanded and is now ready to be shared more broadly with visitors to this web site.
The Chiaramonte Collection of Asmat Art is among the largest private collections in North America. Chiaramonte has studied and traveled among the Asmat people extensively and has curated several exhibitions at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Numerous objects from recent exhibitions remain on exhibit at the Museum, several of which have joined the Museum's permanent collection.
The majority of The Chiaramonte Collection is maintained in his home and gallery where he responds eagerly to interested parties wishing to discuss the art and people of Asmat. Art objects from the collection are available for public inspection by appointment at the Chiaramonte home, or at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah campus, Salt Lake City.
The Asmat
The Asmat inhabit the swampy jungles of the southwest coast of New Guinea. Having limited but increasing contact with western cultures during recent years, they continue to practice many of their traditional customs. The Asmat are recognized internationally for their rich and powerful wood sculpture, which has influenced the works of such noteworthy western artists as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Henri Mattisse.
Three more maps of the Asmat Region
Asmat trophy skull taken by the village of Biwar Laut, circa 1950's - origin of victim unknown. The hole in the right cranial cavity was made by the victor in order to allow the extraction of the victim's brain for consumption by an honored village member.
Historically, skulls like this one were worn about the neck, hanging down the esteemed hunter's back, symbolizing to all his prowess and virility as a headhunter.