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In the Presence of the Spirits: Art and Culture in New Guinea
In the Presence of the Spirits: Art and Culture in New Guinea
Situated on the westernmost edge of Oceania, the island of New Guinea accounts for an astonishing majority of the artwork that comes to us from this vast region in the Pacific.
Long celebrated for their creativity by artists, anthropologists, and collectors, artists from New Guinea create extraordinary works of art that are deeply rooted in distinct traditions of ritual, myth, and communal history.
Join MFA Research Associate Noah Cox as he discusses the exhibition Explore the Vaults: The Art of New Guinea and situates the works on display in the Miriam Acheson Gallery into the broader history of art from New Guinea.
In the Presence of the Spirits: Art and Culture in New Guinea
Thursday, February 27, 2025
6:00 PM–7:00 PM
Marly Room
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg
255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg FL 33701
Free for MFA Members; $15 for Not-Yet-Members (Youth 17 and under are Free!)*
*Program ticket includes Art After Dark admission from 5:00 PM–8:00 PM! Arrive early or stay late to explore the MFA Collection Galleries, Special Exhibitions, and MFA Shop!
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ABOUT NOAH COX
Noah Cox is the Research Associate for Museum Collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. His primary responsibility is to examine and study the museum’s permanent collection, with a special emphasis on provenance research. In addition to this research, he works with the curatorial team on supplemental exhibitions such as Explore the Vaults: The Art of New Guinea and with the collections team to care for the collection.
Noah holds a BA in Art History from New College of Florida and an MA in the History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art. Before joining the MFA in 2023, Noah worked in exhibitions and public programming at Architecture Sarasota and interned at the Sarasota Art Museum. Recently, he completed the 2024 Nazi-Era Art Provenance Research Training Program through the Center for Art Collection Ethics (ACE) at the University of Denver.
Photo Credits
From Left to Right:
1. Unknown Kerewa Artist, Goaribari Island, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea Gope, early to mid-20th century Ocher and lime on wood Gift of Morton D. May
2. Unknown Havasea Artist, Uramu Island, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea Gope or Kwoi, early to mid-20th century Ocher and lime on wood Gift of Morton D. May
3. Unknown Artist, Wapo-Era-Urama Area, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea Gope or Kwoi, early to mid-20th century Ocher and lime on wood Gift of Morton D. May
4. Unknown Kerewa Artist, Goaribari Island, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea Gope, early to mid-20th century Ocher and lime on wood Gift of Morton D. May
5. Unknown Goari Artist, Goaribari Island, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea Gope, early to mid-20th century Ocher and lime on wood Gift of Morton D. May
6. Unknown Kerewa Artist, Goaribari Island, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea Gope, early to mid-20th century Ocher and lime on wood Gift of Morton D. May
7. Unknown Goari Artist, Goaribari Island, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea Gope, early to mid-20th century Ocher and lime on wood Gift of Morton D. May
