Two significant exhibitions including Melanesian artworks are currently on show in Europe. The Wereld Museum in Leiden in the Netherlands was host to the most recent Pacific Arts Association International Symposium in June 2026. It is also the location of the Time For Papua exhibition containing over 400 objects presenting different perspectives of West Papua together from refined wood carvings and korwar figures to prauw prows and recent film works.
Further south, the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris is host to Plumes from Paradise: Journey of an Extraordinary Bird from New Guinea which traces the pathways of rare and superb specimens of birds of paradise from their forest habitats across oceans and time to inspire Western ideas, art and adornment. An extensive review prepared by Susan Cochrane and Michael Mel is in this edition.
While these important exhibitions of Melanesian art and culture are gracing the museums of Europe, the venerable and heritage-listed Pacific Cultures Gallery at the South Australian Museum have been ‘sung’ by local Melanesian residents into hibernation. Stephen Zagala has provided an account of this moving ceremony held on Saturday 25 July 2026. We are looking forward to the ceremony to awaken them in the coming years.
Stéphane Duckett has been researching in the archives of the London Missionary Society (LMS) held at the School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), now an institution within the University of London, and has carefully pieced together an article on the importance of the Kwato Mission in the early recognition of Suau carver Mutuaga’s skill and style, if not his name.
In this edition, Bill Rathmell and JD Mittman review Ernst Heinrich: An Extraordinary Collector while Noelle Rathmell-Stiels introduces the current exhibition at the Newcastle Art Gallery (Australia) titled Multiverse of Torres Strait Islander artist Brian Robinson. This is gently preparing us for the OAS XIV Forum to be held on Saturday 14 November at the Burrinja Cultural Centre in Upwey, Victoria with the theme Art and Material Culture of the Torres Strait Islands. This is not to be missed!
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Margaret Cassidy
