Research from Oceanic Art in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

Detail of a carved human figure finial with hands clasped at its chest, with designs traced in white against the black surface.
Mutuaga’s spatula at The Met is a product of innovation and adaptation in the face of sweeping colonial and missionary incursions into the Territory of Papua.
January 28, 2025
Elaborately carved powder horn for carrying gunpowder.
Among the Toba Batak peoples of Indonesia, ritual specialists known as datu used vessels to mediate between the human and supernatural world.
June 28, 2022