Courtesy Alex Philips Oceanic Art, photograph by Dadi Wirz circa 1952 in PNG Maprik Haus Tambaran

Komunive community ‘mud men’, photograph from The Australian Museum

Interest in PNG artefacts is increasing. We love that each artefact has significance to the creator, representing the heritage of millenia, identifying a specific tribe and place. We admire the villagers’ business skill in trading their art. Where can we see these expressive masks, intricately carved story boards and beautifully crafted sculptures? In lockdown, only online.

A wide range of video clips are at the bottom of this article.
You can go to the British Museum, Art Gallery of NSW, the Australian Museum, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and many other institutions’ websites and search their collections for PNG artefacts.
You can visit the websites of Australian traders:

www.new-guinea-tribal-arts.com

www.oceanicartsaustralia.com

www.alexphilips.com

www.chrisboylan.com.au

www.bubbleartefacts.com.au

You can search the websites of prestigious auction houses.
You can even find them on eBay!

Once out of lockdown, there are several places in Sydney you could visit: The Australian Museum, Oceanic Arts Australia in Paddington and the upcoming Sydney Oceanic Art Fair November 6 at the National Art School in Darlinghurst. There are also private collectors in Sydney who may give private viewings.

The public collections

Almost every significant cultural institution in the world has PNG artefacts. There are always questions about the pieces in public (and private) collections. Are more people going to see the artefacts if they are in world-renowned museum such as the British Museum than if they were in a museum in Papua New Guinea? Should institutions return artefacts taken by early explorers? Since PNG independence in 1975, Australia has returned about 4,000 pieces to the country’s National Museum.

Australian institutions

Queensland is 125 kilometres from PNG and has for decades displayed the country’s arts in extensive exhibitions, such as the Queensland Art Gallery’s ‘No.1 Neighbour, Art in Papua New Guinea 1966-2016’.

The Australian Museum in Sydney has a small display of PNG artefacts as a part of the permanent Pacific Spirit gallery. The Museum plans to expand significantly the exhibition of PNG pieces in a much larger gallery. In 2016 the Museum’s Yvonne Carrillo-Huffman travelled to the Eastern Highlands to work with members of the Komunive village resulting in a sharing of knowledge and resources that continues to this day. Following that visit the Museum brought several Konumive mask makers to the museum to deliver a series of performances and workshops.

www.australian.museum/search/?query=In+the+field%3A+Asaro+Mud+Men+Clay+Mask+Acquisition+projectIn PNG

PNG Museums

The National Museum of PNG in Port Moresby has superb pieces from twenty-two regions of the country and a considerable display of contemporary art.

www.museumpng.gov.pg/

Massim Museum & Cultural Centre is a not-for-profit museum and cultural centre dedicated to the culture of Milne Bay Province. The exhibits include striking wood carvings, canoe art, basket weaving, contemporary art, community photography and more, much of it donated by locals.

www.facebook.com/MMCFinc/

In America

The American Museum of Asmat Art in Minnesota exhibits the art and culture of the Asmat people of southwestern Papua, Indonesia. Featuring more than 2,200 objects, it is one of the largest of its kind in the United States. Asmat art is widely collected in major Western museums despite the difficulty in visiting the remote region because it is exceptionally expressive art. The museum was founded by Bishop Alphonse Sowada, a Minnesota native who worked with the Asmat people.

Oceanic Art in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York may have the most extensive collection of pieces from the Asmat region. Michael Rockefeller (of the famous Rockefellers) is presumed to have died there in 1961 while collecting. There have been numerous books and documentaries about the mysterious circumstances of his demise.

The arts, artefacts, stories, regional distinctions and all the other fascinating things about the island of Papua have been a fascination for over a hundred years. Thankfully, there are hundreds of video clips available now for anyone interested in knowing more. There is also the upcoming Oceanic Art Fair. Enjoy.