Exhibition of Papua New Guinea Objects Opens this Saturday

Installation is almost complete for the new exhibition of objects from Papua New Guinea.

This Saturday, a new exhibition will open at the Art Museum. Journeys along the Sepik River: Tribal Art from Papua New Guinea features more than 80 objects from three different collectors. The objects in the exhibition are primarily from the regions of the Sepik and Maprik rivers, and include ancestral and mythological figures, masks, war shields,drums, canoe prows, skull racks and items of personal adornment.

The exhibition is drawn, in part, from the recently gifted collection from the Salgo Trust for Education, originally acquired by the late Hungarian-American financier and diplomat, Nicolas M. Salgo, while on a trip to New Guinea with famed architect I.M. Pei in the early 1970s.

"Expanding the exhibition are objects lent by Wyoming artist Neltje and the former head of the UW Art Department and executive director of Jentel, Mary Jane Edwards, who visited Papua New Guinea in 2006," says Susan Moldenhauer, art museum director and chief curator. "Together, we are able to consider the individual interests and expertise of these three unique travelers."