• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
Member Account
Oceanic Art Society

Oceanic Art Society

Promoting the understanding and appreciation of Oceanic art.

  • About
  • Journal
    • OAS Journal | Online
    • OAS Journal | PDF
  • Membership
  • Events
  • News
    • Social Media News
  • Resources
    • Catalogue Inscriptions & Labels – 5th edition
    • Picture Survey of Inscriptions and Labels – 5th edition
    • Oceanic art – bibliography of books and exhibition catalogues
    • Oceanic art: selected bibliography by art style regions or peoples
    • Oceanic art: literature on particular types of artworks
  • Links
  • Advertising
  • Contact
  • Support Us

Vale Jim Sinclair

05/03/2018

James (Jim) Sinclair CSM OBE D.Litt, passed away in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on 9 October 2017. Jim Sinclair was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1992, an honorary doctorate from the Australian National University in 1999 and a Companion in the Order of the Star of Melanesia in 2008.

Jim Sinclair with a man named Pami, Lake Kopiago, c. 1952

Born 1928, Jim at the age of 20 joined the administration of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea as a Cadet Patrol Officer. He conducted extensive exploratory and pacification patrols in Morobe and the Southern Highlands, opening the Koroba station in 1955, the Lake Kopiago base camp in 1956 and exploring then uncontrolled areas as far as the Strickland River. Between 1969 and 1974, he was the last Australian District Commissioner presiding over what is now Eastern Highlands Province until retiring in 1975, the time of Papua New Guinea’s independence. He then became a full-time author and a prolific recorder of PNG history.

Jim’s significant contribution to Papua New Guinea was not only as a kiap, but also through his nearly 40 highly respected books on PNG.  As Andrea Williams of the PNGAA says: “An extraordinary legacy … a history of which Australia can be tremendously proud.”

On a personal note, Jim was a frequent visitor and most welcome guest in my home in Lae and in Goroka as he travelled to collect and collate his extensive histories of PNG. I am grateful for those days.

Robin Hodgson

Share this content:

  • Email
Category: In Memoriam, V23 Issue 1

Sidebar

Latest Journal Stories

Transformation and Understanding

Tools of Intervention: Re-examining German and Papua New Guinean Art and Histories

The Evolution of the Contemporary Aboriginal Art Market

Ömie barkcloth Exhibition Opening Speech

Masked Histories: Turtle Shell Masks and Torres Strait Islander People

Ma’ori


Latest Issue

Volume 28 – Issue 1


Advertisment

Join the Oceanic Art Society

Provide your support and become a member for access to premium content, event discounts and other benefits.

Become a Member
OAS Newsletters

Get the latest news, events and announcements straight to your inbox.

Subscribe
Latest Journal Stories

Transformation and Understanding

Tools of Intervention: Re-examining German and Papua New Guinean Art and Histories

The Evolution of the Contemporary Aboriginal Art Market

Ömie barkcloth Exhibition Opening Speech

Latest Journal Issues

V27 Issue 1

V27 Issue 2

V27 Issue 3

V27 Issue 4

Site Map
  • OAS Journal – PDF
  • OAS Journal – Stories
  • OAS News
  • Social Media News
  • Events
  • Resources
  • Publications
  • Links
  • Donations
  • Membership
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
Postal Address

Secretary OAS
PO Box 3287,
Wareemba NSW 
Australia 2046

[email protected]


  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2023 | Oceanic Art Society Inc | All Rights Reserved