ACTUALITÉ MUSÉES
Jewelry ... Among Other Things
LEIDEN—Sieraden: makers en dragers (Jewelry: Made
By, Worn By) is an homage to jewelry makers and presents
world. It explores manufacturing techniques as well as
the history of each piece, whether ornaments made
of gold, silver, and precious stones or of glass, shells,
and seeds. All are the finest examples of their type
from Holland’s four most important ethnographic museums.
show will be held at the Volkenkunde Museum and
will be on view from December 13, 2017, until June 3,
2018. This same museum is also hosting the marvelous
(The Mentawai of Indonesia - Treasures from Storage)
and which was the subject of an interview
Tribal Art magazine, issue 85.
48
LEFT: Portrait of a young
woman. Samburu, Kenya.
Photo: Mario Gerth.
RIGHT: Man’s belt. Fly River,
Western Province, Papua
New Guinea.
Wood, pigments, shell, palm fi ber,
coconut.
© MAA, Cambridge, inv. E 1908.276.
Photo: Josh Murfi tt.
BELOW: Pendant inspired by
a traditional Maori hei tiki.
Created by Aretha Wilkinson.
BOTTOM: Four rings.
Created by Johanna Dahm, who was
taught the art of gold casting by an
Ashanti artist from Ghana.
RIGHT: Dancers in
Babagarubu village, Central
Province, Papua New
Guinea, 2017.
© Erna Lilje.
more than a thousand objects from around the
Part of the exhibition is devoted to contemporary
creations inspired by ancestral traditions. The
Mentawai uit Indonesië - schatten uit het depot
exhibition that remains up until May 28, 2018,
with ethnologist Reimar Schefold in
BELOW: Four women in fi ber skirts
walking on a beach in Ainuro, Central
Province, Papua New Guinea, 1914.
© MAA, Cambridge, inv. P.2104.ACH1.
Photo: Kathleen Haddon.
Swish
CAMBRIDGE—An exhibition titled Swish at the Museum
of Archaeology and Anthropology until April 2,
2018, focuses in part on the sculpted belts and fiber
skirts of the inhabitants of the southeastern coast of
Papua New Guinea. Traditionally worn by men and
boys, these belts are no longer part of everyday life.
They are made of bark, and the decorations that were
often incised in them indicated the social status of the
wearer.
Conversely, skirts were reserved for use by women
and girls. Unlike the male belts, they are still worn
for dancing at ceremonies, which mark special occasions
such as the arrival of an important person, the
reception of a dignitary in the country, or even an important
international sporting event. The manner in
which they are manufactured has changed over time.
For example, plastic has replaced palm and pandanus
leaves. The exhibition demonstrates how these new
ways are not a loss of authenticity, but rather are an
evolution in the continuation of an ancestral tradition.