By Keith Jackson
Georgina Beier, called the ‘founding mother’ of contemporary art in Papua New Guinea, died in Sydney on Sunday 11 July 2021 aged 82. Her husband, Ulli Beier (1922–2011), was a German editor, writer and scholar who pioneered the development of literature in Nigeria and Papua New Guinea.
Born in London, Georgina enrolled in the Kingston Art School aged 16; however, dropped out after 15 months, later saying she felt the academic atmosphere could impede her development as an artist. In 1959 she migrated to Zaria in northern Nigeria where she met Ulli, becoming his second wife. In 1963, they moved to Osogbo, a city in south-west Nigeria, a place she loved and to which she returned many times during her life.
Following the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war in 1966, the couple relocated to the just established University of Papua New Guinea.
Georgina’s broad oeuvre covered drawing, murals, sculptures, graphic art, textiles and theatre design brought her international acclaim and her works feature in some of the world’s largest private art collections.
In both Nigeria and PNG, she was a major catalyst for arts movements and was skilful in identifying and developing new talent. In a number of cases Georgina’s mentoring led to an artist receiving international recognition.
Caption: A very visible reminder in Port Moresby of Georgina Beier’s work are the metal gates and mural in welded iron on the façade of the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies. The metal gates and the sculpture on the walls of the IPNGS are all part of the same artwork supervised by Georgina Beier and executed by a class of welding apprentices from the electricity commission of Papua New Guinea. The technical work was supervised by instructors Jimmy Richardson and Siri Karr. The IPNGS was established in 1974, with Ulli Beier as founding director; it is currently under the National Cultural Commission. Ruki Fame taught Georgina to weld and as a result of Georgina’s encouragement, he became a metalwork artist after assisting with the creation of the metal gates and sculptures at the Institute of PNG Studies. Photographs: Helen Dennett.
Georgina’s diversity as an artist and a commitment to mentoring others led her to create the studio space where painter and sculptor, Mathias Kauage OBE, artist Timothy Akis and more than 20 others artists began their careers.
Amongst other projects she established the silk screen textile printing industry in PNG, formed the nucleus of the National Art School, introduced painting to psychiatric patients at Laloki Hospital and with Timothy Akis established the National Art Prize.
Georgina attributed her success to never considering herself as a teacher but as an artist looking for opportunities to confirm the individual vision of her peers.
Left: Georgina Beier working on a linocut (Unknown photographer).
Right: Georgina Beier with a Highland elder (Unknown photographer).
Over the years, Georgina and Ulli Beier lived in Papua New Guinea, Australia, India, Nigeria and Germany. Wherever she went, Georgina maintained her own prolific output of sculptures, textiles, lithographs, furniture design, murals and mosaics, contributed to the development of local artists, and illustrations publications produced or edited by Ulli.
She held more than 30 single-show exhibitions around the world and participated in 28 group exhibitions including at the Tate Modern Gallery in London and the Museum of Modern Art in Australia.
Georgina and Ulli donated their papers to the National Library of Australia in 2008. Amongst much valuable material, they include transcriptions of her tape recorded conversations with Kauage and other PNG artists, and copies of publications she illustrated including Words of Paradise: Poetry of Papua New Guinea and When the Moon was Big, and Other Legends from New Guinea.
Reprinted from https://www.pngattitude.com/2021/07/georgina-beier-art-pioneer-dies-at-84.html with permission.
Bibliography
Beier, Georgina 1979 ‘Mural at the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies’ Gigibori 4/2 (August) 15-16
Anon 1976 ‘Welded Iron Gates for the Proposed Building of the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies’ Gigibori 2/1 (April) 41-44
Keith Jackson AM has worked in education and media, playing a major role in the development of the National Broadcasting Commission of Papua New Guinea and receiving an Independence Medal for his efforts. In 2006 he established PNG Attitude to continue a mutual conversation between the people of PNG and Australia.