The island has in recent history been divided in half: the western half now being Irian Jaya and the eastern half Papua New Guinea. New Guinea has nearly 1,000 tribes who speak more than 700 distinct languages. The native population of New Guinea can be divided into three major racial groups: Negritos, Papuans, and Melanesians. The Negritos are of small stature and resemble the Pigmy tribes of the Upper Congo in Africa. Most of them live in the high central mountains of the island and have little contact with the two other groups. Within these three racial groups, there are over a dozen major art-style provinces of New Guinea, from the northwest to the Massim. And the Papuan Gulf and Sepik River regions are divided into half a dozen sub-regional styles.

     The focal point of ritual life in much of New Guinea is the men's spirit house, which is an enormous communal structure where the initiated men congregate and prepare for religious ceremonies. The men's house is the residing place for ancestor spirits, the place where warring and head hunting raids are inaugurated, and the place where sacred ritual art is fabricated by the men according to traditional precepts. A number of dramatic ceremonies center around the spirit houses, including boy's initiations, clan funerals and various elaborate rituals for dealing with the forces and beings of the supernatural world. All of these require special cult objects, including dance masks, effigy figures, drums and other paraphernalia.

     The well-developed styles that have made New Guinea an important center of Oceanic art come primarily from the eastern and northern regions inhabited by the Melanesians and the western region inhabited by the Papuans. In the Massim area there are Melanesians and people of mixed Papuan and Melanesian blood, while in all the other areas of New Guinea the inhabitants are strictly Papuans.

     The cultural characteristics and art styles of the Massim area differ widely from the rest of New Guinea. Papuans carve figures, masks, and other objects for use in dramatic ceremonials. They are decorated with rattan, bark cloth, shell, and feathers. Their sculpture is often considerable in size and designs are large and bold. In contrast, art of the Massim area is exceedingly delicate and systematic. With few exceptions, objects tend to be smaller while designs are composed of more compact units and color is absent. The human figure is also rarely found in Massim art work.

     The art of the Sepik River region has more variety and is richer than any other section of Oceania. Each of the cultures along the Sepik River hold many religious customs and values the same, although their artistic objects and artifacts may vary. Some of the common elements include: the men's society, the men's club house, and the performance of spectacular ceremonies. The rites include a vast number of carved and decorated objects. These objects are of two kinds: sacred hidden ones which may be seen only by a particular group, and others that are used and seen by everyone. Some of the ritual objects produced include: stools, neck rests, slit gongs, shields, canoes, lime containers, flute stops, and wooden suspension hooks.

     Sepik River art derives its unique character fron remarkable ability to make plastic forms the carrier of strong emotions. It lacks to a great extent the traditional and formal restraints that give uniformity to other regional styles. Based on human and animal shapes that are often distorted or contorted to produce grotesque and fantastic effects, this interesting spiritual art depends almost entirely on its bold design elements for impact and its main purpose, the release of magic powers.

     The basic styles of New Guinea art are few but the number of local variations is staggering. It is not too much to say its dramatic intensity is un-excelled in any other primitive region in the world.