As the world’s second-largest island and one of its most diverse cultural and linguistic environments, New Guinea has been home to an exceptional array of artists for countless generations. Instead of featuring works on paper, this seventh iteration of the Explore the Vaults series presents highlights from the museum’s collection of art from New Guinea—many of which have never been on view.
These artworks are fundamental products of generational knowledge relating to ancestry, mystical power, performances, and initiation rites. Works such as the spiritually powerful carvings of ancestral heroes known as gope or kwoi and the monumental tumbuan dance masks of male secret societies express profound connections to family histories and traditional cultural ceremonies. Many more of these objects evoke the enormously powerful spirits believed to inhabit the land who influence life and decision-making in New Guinea. Every line, carving, and pigment in a work of art are ritually significant extensions of the lived experiences and religious practices of the individual artists who created them and the community they hail from.
Though most of the artists who created these works from the MFA's collection are unknown to us, their creations reflect these extraordinary traditions of ritual, myth, and communal history. This exhibition will be one of the first of its kind in the Tampa Bay area, offering an unprecedented look at the rich cultural traditions of New Guinea.
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Images:
Havasia artist, Papuan Gulf, Papua New Guinea, Kwoi (Spirit Board), early to mid-20th century, Ocher and lime on wood, Gift of Morton D. May
Abelam artist, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, Mask, early to mid-20th century, Ocher on wood, Gift of Morton D. May
Iatmul artist, Aibom Village, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, Pot, 1980, Earthenware with ocher and lime, Gift of Ivis J. Calvet
Unknown artist, possibly Asaro, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, Holosa (Mud Mask), late 20th century, Unfired clay and mammalian teeth, Gift of Bryce M. Burton