The ancestor's voice emerges from the slit in the gong when it is played

"The ancestors, in a sense, are of the human world, watch over human activities, but are also connected with the larger workings of the cosmos."

"The ancestors watch over human activities, but are also connected with the larger workings of the cosmos."

Curator Eric Kjellgren on a towering slit gong from northern Vanuatu.

Throughout 2013, The Met invited curators from across the Museum to each talk about one artwork that changed the way they see the world. Each episode is interpreted by a Museum photographer.

Photography by Oi-Cheong Lee

Field recording courtesy of Eric Kjellgren, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Photographs and field recording courtesy of Eric Kjellgren, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Field recording courtesy of Eric Kjellgren, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.


Contributors

Eric Kjellgren
Evelyn A. J. Hall and John A. Friede Associate Curator for Oceanic Art, Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Futuristic sculpture of a fragmented, abstract human form in stone against a neoclassical arch. The tone is dynamic and modern amidst classical architecture.
How do Lee Bul’s sculptures hold space for critical remembrance to show how the past shapes our present?
Anne Anlin Cheng
May 16
Close-up of a Queen of Clubs playing card with a cut-out section. Behind it, a faded, ghostly face is visible, creating a surreal, mysterious mood.
The artist’s work challenges the social and political context of mass incarceration.
Lisa Sutcliffe
April 28
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Slit Gong (Atingting kon), Tin Mweleun (commissioned by Tain Mal), Wood, paint
Tin Mweleun
mid- to late 1960s