Bilum – a multifunctional bag in which everything fits

At first glance these colourful bags seem ordinary. However, these string bags, or bilums, from Papua New Guinean (PNG) are made with a particular looping technique. They were originally made from natural fibre string, but today all kinds of colours wool, cotton or plastic are used in a wide variety of motifs. In the Tok Pisin language, one of the three official languages, these bags are called bilum. Bilum is actually the name of the looping technique used for these bags, but also for personal adornment and clothes. These bags should therefore be called bilum bags, but the shorthand bilum is common

‘carryalls’ – a bag for large or small things

The type of bags, bilum, seen here can be used by anyone - woman, man or child – to carry personal possessions like money, keys and betel nut.

There are many sizes, shapes and textures. These range from large flexible carryalls that can be used to carry bulky things such as tubers from the garden, or to carry and cradle a baby, to small, dense and concealing bags used to contain such things as amulets or mementos of deceased loved ones.

In addition to their functional uses string bags are also personal adornments, mark gender, and are often exchanged between family and friends to express love and affirm connections.

Mount Hagen, Papoea-Nieuw-Guinea, 1969, fotograaf onbekend

Mount Hagen, Papoea-Nieuw-Guinea, 1969, photographer unknown

A gift to maintain relationships

In some places a newly married woman is welcomed by her mother-in-law with string bags. Among the Melpa people of Mount Hagen, the custom has been for the bride to take with her a dowry of new bilums made by her family members to distribute to her new sister-in-laws. These bags contribute to establishing the good relationships the daughter-in-law hopes to have with her sisters-in-law.

Men can also utilise string bags, transformed into ritual valuables, for interclan exchanges and ceremonial occasions such as marriage and initiation. Women mostly make the bags.

A bilum made from yarn bought in a shop. Mount Hagen, 1966-1994

Which fibre is appropriate?

Traditionally bilums were made from bark fibres from various plants and sometimes fur is added. The plant used would depend on the intended use of the bag, for example selecting a fibre that takes colour well or one that will last well in wet environments.

Similarly, the best looping technique will be selected depending upon the degree of expandability or rigidity, openness or concealment required. Even when new materials such as wool, cotton and plastic are used, the looping technique remains constant.

: In deze bilum zijn plantenvezels en bont van een koeskoes - een klimbuideldier - gebruikt maar ook geel en zwart garen dat in een winkel gekocht is. Het bruine luswerk is gemaakt met vezeldraad. In de geometrische stroken zijn bont en garen mee gelust. Het koeskoes bont is het meest waardevolle materiaal en daarom alleen gebruikt ter versiering. Mount Hagen, 1966-1994

Making fibre string

The two-ply string is spun by rolling fibres between the hand and thigh. The maker progressively adds to the length of the string during the construction of the bag as needed. Thus, looping and spinning occur alternately. Each of the colour areas on these bags is a single continuous piece of string. Imported materials, such as wool yarns, are first deconstructed, the plies separated, before being spun into two-ply string for bilum making. The fibres in the handspun string are packed more densely together, and possess more twist, than exists in a store-bought yarn.

Looping techniques sometimes resemble knitting or crochet, but they are not the same

Neither of these construction techniques have the strength and expandability of bilum looped fabrics. Unlike knitting and crochet, looped fabrics will not unravel around a break. This is because the string is pulled through the fabric as each loop is made . No knots are made .

Trade goods

Papua New Guinea is a very culturally diverse nation. More than 800 distinct indigenous languages continue to be used. Even so, string bags were and are used nearly everywhere. In the past, the few areas that did not produce string bags acquired them through exchange networks and they were valued locally as imported items.

Women in Papua New Guinea sell bilum in markets and through other retail methods, which is an important source of income generation and an opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial activities.

Een bilum gemaakt van garen dat in een winkel gekocht is. Mount Hagen, 1966-1994

Symbol of the post-independence national unity of Papua New Guinea

The popularity and significance of string bags persists today and is also tied in with national pride and identity. Anyone from PNG will tell you that this kind of object is the most quintessentially Papua New Guinean thing there is.

This technique is also used in the western half of the island New Guinea that is currently part of Indonesia, and the nearby Solomon Islands archipelago. This fact does not diminish the sense of the iconic of the bilum in Papua New Guinea.

The bilum, unlike some indigenous artefacts, is not made primarily for tourists. De string bags have expanded to acquire new value as a medium of personal expression and innovation and has emerged. They are also a symbol of a post-independence national unity.

More info?

MacKenzie, M.A. 1991 Androgynous objects: string bags and gender in central New Guinea. Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers.
Jolly, M. 2017 ‘Epilogue: sinuous objects, sensuous bodies: revaluing ‘women’s wealth’ across time and place’, in eds. Hermkens, A-K, Lepani, K. Sinuous Objects: revaluing women’s wealth in the contemporary Pacific, Acton: ANU Press (p.261-292)
Strathern, M. 1972 Women in Between. Female roles in a male world: Mount Hagen, New Guinea. London, New York: Seminar Press