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The Making of Asmat Art: Indigenous art in a world perspective

This book provides the first inter-disciplinary study of an artistic tradition that has gained world renown for its prolific and intricate carving traditions – Asmat art. Unlike most indigenous art forms elsewhere this type of art continues to flourish and constantly find new stylistic forms. The book explores how this has been possible and how artists have negotiates successfully with collectors, museums and government agencies to retain a vivid and distinctive artistic oeuvre. The exhibition offers photographs taken in Asmat which are discussed in detail in the book. The book is based on ten years fieldwork in West Papua and in major museum collections world-wide. The images have been located by the author in personal collections and published for the first time in this book and exhibition. The research involved discovering unpublished material in the Museum of Primitive Art held by the Rockefeller Archives in New York, Diocesan archives in Agats, West Papua , Radbout University and Sacred Heart Missionaries at Tilburg and St Thomas University, Minneapolis. Research into the artistic process was undertaken in four venues within Asmat over a six year period. The historic material gathered in the work is of direct interest to the educational and artistic programme of the local Museum Kebudayaan dan Kemajuan Asmat (Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress) which has begun rebuilding in 2013. As a member of the museum redevelopment committee I have the opportunity to bring the contents of the book into current and future museum education programmes. The photographic and film discoveries made by the author have led to an exhibition of historic photographs at the Royal Anthropological Institute (2013)

Funding: Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship 2009-2010 £8,913; The British Museum £400 digitizing film stock through the AHRC funded Melanesia Project in 2009; £5,000 Diageo plc to restore more footage currently.