These abstacted hooked images, known as garra, are somewhere between a mask and a figure. Many are slim, with larger hooks and definitely more figure-like. These wider, more volumous forms of the garra, look more mask-like and are rarer than the slimmer version. They are generally kept inside the Men’s House, for ceremonies. If the ceremony happens at night, they are often carried in dance around a central fire, representing powerful spirits.
Under the firelight, the hook forms flicker across the face, and this suggests an inner life.
The first Hunstein Maks were sourced in the 1960s as it is a very remote region, and few if any are made today.