Works on View

Representing spirits in the form of masks, figures, and ancestor or spirit boards, the sculptures in this exhibition were originally used to cajole or coax supernatural beings into attending to human needs. Highlights include a mask called hokore with a bold design depicting a gecko, a clan totem; a carved and painted spirit board called titi ebiha, with an image of a spirit in human form with asymmetrical legs animated in dance; and a masterfully carved wooden figure called agiba that celebrated Kerewa ancestors and the communal longhouse identity, ensuring success in conflict.

Rare historical photographs are presented alongside the sculptures, allowing the viewer to see the objects in their original contexts. Taken by 19th- and 20th-century travelers to the Papuan Gulf, these images are drawn primarily from the Museum's Photograph Study Collection in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Photographic highlights are: Irivake Figure in the Longhouse, taken by Paul Baron de Rautenfeld (Swiss, 1865–1957) in Maiaki village on May 19, 1925, recording the exceedingly rare sculpture called Irivake; Young Men with Maiva Shields, 1881–1889, one of the earliest photographs documenting art from the Papuan Gulf, made by William Lawes (English, 1839–1907) between 1881 and 1889; and Women Dancing with Hevehe Masks along the Beach, February 1932, by Francis Edgar Williams (Australian, 1893–1943), capturing women dancing "with their arms held high like a flock of mountain birds" alongside towering hevehe masks, which represent sea spirits that have been placated and coaxed to dance.

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Geography and People

The Gulf region of Papua New Guinea extends for some 300 miles along the independent nation's south coast, from the Fly River in the west to Cape Possession in the east, about 100 miles northwest of Port Moresby, the bustling, modern capital. Consisting of deltas or bayous, this region is the fourth-largest province (out of 20) in the country—about the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island combined. In terms of population, however, the region is the second-smallest province, with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants, and large parts of the inland rain forest almost uninhabited.

Papua New Guinea's population is made up of approximately five major groups of related peoples, each with its own stylistically distinct forms of masks, figures, and spirit boards. Nearly every object on view in this exhibition was created to communicate with or control the spirit world for the benefit of the family or community. Local sculptors attracted spirits to live in the boards, which were kept in community shrines, or to inhabit the masks and activate dancers during community performances.

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Exhibition Organizers

The exhibition was organized by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The exhibition in New York is organized by Virginia-Lee Webb, Research Curator in the Metropolitan Museum's Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.

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Exhibition Catalogue

"Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art of the Papuan Gulf" is accompanied by a catalogue, with essays by Robert L. Welsch, Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Dartmouth College; Sebastian Haraha, Senior Technical Officer, Department of Anthropology, National Museum and Art Gallery, Papua New Guinea; and Virginia-Lee Webb.

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Related Programs

A variety of educational programs is scheduled in conjunction with the exhibition, including a special Sunday at the Met Conference with participation by international scholars in early 2007, as well as gallery talks, family programs, and a screening of the documentary film The Mythic Camera of Frank Hurley.

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