MUSEUM News HOMAGE TO A HUMANIST SOLDIER Cambridge—Paul Denys Montague perished in 1917 at Salonika, where the plane he was piloting crashed. Before the war ended his life at the age of twenty-seven, he had been a young and curious explorer of the world and of mankind. He had been trained as a zoologist and spent several months in New Caledonia collecting specimens. There he had developed a keen interest in the island and its inhabitants, and he collected objects created by this culture that so fascinated him. Montague recorded his encounters and finds in a notebook that today has become a precious resource and tool for researchers studying Pacific civilizations. His objects and documents are being presented through March 8, 2015, at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University in an exhibition titled Magic and Memory: Paul Montague in New Caledonia, a moving tribute to man with a cultural sensitivity uncommon for his time. Montague was not only a scientist but also a poet and a musician, a true Renaissance man. Along with a beautiful ceremonial mask he collected in 1914, a variety of old New Caledonian objects, and a contemporary portrait created in homage to him by artist Rebecca Jewell, the installation also includes the stringed instrument he built for himself from the remains of destroyed airplanes and which he was still playing on the eve of his death. Top left: Image of Paul Montague. Courtesy of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University. Center left: Bamboo comb engraved with a European face. New Caledonia. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University, inv. 1917.118.3. Bottom left: Rebecca Jewell, Bird Man of Salonika, 2014. Mixed media composed of an archival print of a BE12 airplane collaged with feathers printed with images of Montague and the collections he made. Courtesy of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University. Left: Ceremonial mask. New Caledonia. Collected in September 1914. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University, inv. 1917.118.131. Above: Upiko and Nanine, Montague’s Kanak assistants. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University, inv. P.3994.ACH1. Below: Montague’s journal from his expedition to New Caledonia. Courtesy of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University.
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