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DEPARTURE LOUNGE
NEWS, BRIEFINGS, LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
Milne Bay museum opens
A
museum dedicated to the culture
of Milne Bay Province, in Papua
New Guinea’s idyllic southeast, has
opened in Alotau.
The Massim Museum and Cultural Centre is
only the fifth museum in PNG and showcases
artefacts, carvings, weavings, contemporary
paintings, photographs and curios.
Among the exhibits are carvings by
Mutuaga, one of the first named and
recognised Papua New Guinean carvers, who
was befriended by missionaries in the 1890s.
Contemporary carvings are also on display,
including some from the Kiriwina region,
which are accompanied by storyboards that
explain their meanings and legends.
Many of the exhibits have been donated
by locals.
The museum’s foundation director and
executive curator, Joan Winter, says: “There
is the developing understanding that objects
will be much safer in the museum than
in some villages and houses in Alotau, so
collecting them has not been too difficult
as people come to show us what they have
stored away. They always bring stories about
their precious cultural heritage.”
However, some of Mutuaga’s carvings have
come from an auction house in London.
“They were taken to London in the late 1890s
and then turned up at auction in the 1990s,”
Winter says. “Chris Abel, the grandson of the
original missionary, Charles Abel, was alerted
by a colleague in London and he was able to
purchase them at the auction.
“There are more valuable and beautiful
objects from Milne Bay province in museums
around the world,” Winter says. “We hope to
be able to repatriate some of these. There is
an international market, but prices are often
too high for the likes of this museum, so
donor supporters are needed.”
The Massim Cultural Foundation was set
up in the 1990s to create the museum. The
impetus to establish the museum came
after the very successful Malinowski Legacy
conference in 2015, staged in Alotau to
celebrate the 100th anniversary of the stay
of the famous early anthropologist Bronislaw
Malinowski. It was made possible by a grant
from the national government.
The museum is at the Wanigili Centre,
a building said to be the largest wooden
structure in the southwest Pacific. It is
co-resident with a cafe, conference venue,
accommodation and a tour company.
The museum is open Wednesday
to Saturday from 11am to 4pm, or by
appointment. It’s PGK25 for adults, PGK10 for
children and PGK65 for families.
To get in touch with the museum,
phone +675 7933 1009 or email
milnebaymassimmuseum@kulamail.net. n
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