Museum Rietberg Zürich Gablerstrasse 15 8002 Zürich Tel. 044 415 31 31 Fax 044 415 31 32 www.rietberg.ch Contact esther.hirzel@zuerich.ch Tel. Direct +41 (0)44 415 31 27 Press Release «Sepik Art from Papua New Guinea» 10 July 4 October 2015 The first masks, drums, and carvings to make their way from Papua New Guinea to Europe over one hundred years ago caused a sensation. The ritual and everyday objects from the Sepik region, named after the island nation s longest river, enthralled researchers and influenced Expressionists as well as Surrealists. For the first time ever, Museum Rietberg will showcase the area s creative richness and cultural diversity in a major exhibition. The Sepik River winds through nearly 1,200 kilometres of swampland and tropical rainforest before reaching the Pacific in the north of Papua New Guinea. The river governs the way people live in this part of the South Pacific. Although it is a source of food and a means of transport, crocodiles and floods are an ever-present source of danger. Over thousands of years, a diverse collection of cultures and languages has developed along the banks of the river and its countless tributaries. In the region of the Middle and Lower Sepik alone the area upon which Museum Rietberg s exhibition focuses approximately ninety different languages have been identified. The smallest language groups are limited to individual villages of 300 to 400 inhabitants. Ancestors and Crocodiles The abundance of food provided by the Sepik enabled complex rituals and ceremonies to be developed, which in turn inspired the inhabitants to produce numerous objects. Their ancestors play a key role here, for they created the world and are always present in both everyday and ritual life. Their voices speak through water drums and bamboo flutes. Terrifying ancestor figures and imaginatively designed masks are used in initiation rituals which can last for up to one year. In some villages the boys bodies are decorated with spectacular scarification marks resembling the bite of an ancestral crocodile. The crocodile symbolically devours the freshly initiated and spits him out again at the end of the initiation ceremony. Fascination and Inspiration The Sepik was long overlooked by explorers and travellers. Although the first Europeans landed on the island of New Guinea, to which Papua New Guinea belongs, in the sixteenth century, the mouth of the
Sepik was not explored until 1886 when Germany sought to establish a colony in the region. Years would pass, however, before research expeditions to the Sepik region were organised. These included the South Pacific expeditions from Hamburg (1908 10) and Berlin (1912/13). Some of the most beautiful objects on display in Museum Rietberg made their way to Europe during this time. The exceptionally high aesthetic value of art from the Sepik region was quickly recognised. Artists even incorporated the carvings unknown imagery into their work, and movements such as die Brücke (a group of Expressionist artists that included Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein) and the Surrealists were fascinated by the artisanal virtuosity and poetic beauty of these objects from Oceania. The use of unusual materials such as snails, feathers, bones, and animal teeth created a sensation. The Exhibition For the first time ever, Museum Rietberg is dedicating an exhibition to the art of Papua New Guinea. The last time Oceanic art was made the focus of an exhibition here was in 2002. Sepik Art from Papua New Guinea presents a synthesis of the region s art and evaluates the research expeditions made to the Sepik. On display will be 170 works of art, including items from the Museum der Kulturen Basel as well as Berlin s Ethnologisches Museum, both of which are important centres of research focusing on the Sepik region. In addition to the exhibits, large-format photographs, audio recordings, and films will help illuminate life past and present along the course of the river. Visitors first encounter an intricately carved boat in the shape of a crocodile. At twelve metres long, the size of the vessel helps visitors appreciate the sheer scale of the mighty river. Known as dugouts, these boats were employed for trading objects and goods, searching for potential spouses and for waging war. Even now they remain a typical form of transport on the Sepik. The exhibition then moves away from the river to focus on a typical village, where we can see how society is organised. In the communities along the Sepik, women and men are strictly segregated. The dwelling houses are dominated by the women, but are open to all family members, friends, and guests. It is here that the women prepare food and manufacture net bags, woven items, and richly decorated pottery. From here the exhibition leads on to the men s house: the centre of the men s world and of ceremonial life. These imposing buildings can only be entered by initiated males. Their high roofs and exuberant interiors and exteriors are reminiscent of European sacred architecture. They are the repositories of objects used in the men s secret rituals and boys initiations, including spears, masks, and animal trophies such as the skull of a small crocodile with glowing blue eyes. Also on display are numerous musical instruments whose sounds embody the ancestors: bamboo flutes up to two metres in length whose large figurations are decorated with tousled hairstyles, or bullroarers that simulate the sound of a crocodile and which play an important role in initiations. The twin highlights of the exhibition are the two, seven-metre-long wooden sculptures whose ambiguous designs here we see a human form, there a crocodile, a snake, or a bird embody the world of the ancestors. An exhibition of the musée du quai Branly In cooperation with the Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin For further information concerning the exhibition, visit www.rietberg.ch/sepik_en
Sponsors The exhibition is sponsored by the Parrotia Foundation Catalogue (in German) Tanz der Ahnen Kunst vom Sepik in Papua-Neuguinea, Hrsg. Peltier, Philippe, Schindlbeck, Markus und Kaufmann, Christian; Hirmer Verlag GmbH, München: Hardcover, 352 pages, 287 images, mainly in colors, 24,5 29 cm, CHF 55; (CHF 65 im Buchhandel) Events are free and in German only; for details see www.rietberg.ch/agenda Lecture with Dr. Markus Schindlbeck Sun 12.7.2015, 12.30 pm Die Welt ist auch ein Krokodil zur Kunst vom Sepik in Papua-Neuguinea Speaker: Dr. Markus Schindlbeck, Ethnologist and Curator Sepik Exhibition in Berlin Film and discussion with Dr. Marko Scholze Wed 13.9. 2015, 12.30 pm «Cannibal Tours» (Denise O Rourke) und die Welt des Tourismus Discussion: Dr. Marko Scholze, Ethnologist, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main Lecture with Dr. Eva Raabe Wed 16.9.2015, 7.30 pm Was vom Menschen übrig bleibt. Einblicke in die Human-Remains-Debatte an ethnologischen Museen Speaker: Dr. Eva Raabe, Curator for Oceania, Weltkulturen Museum in Frankfurt am Main Lecture with Prof. Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin Wed, 30.9.2015, 7.30 pm Kunstwerke und Kulthaus: das Wechselspiel zwischen äusserer und innerer Welt in Papua- Neuguinea Speaker: Prof. Brigitte Hauser-Schäublin, Professorin der Ethnologie an der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Guided Tours and audio guide Audio guide in English: for adults and children Public guided tours (free in combination with an entrance ticket) in German will be available: Wed 6 pm, Thu 12.15 pm, Sun 11 am Private tours in English For further information and online bookings please visit www.rietberg.ch/fuehrungen Art Education For workshops (in German) for public audiences and schools, visit www.rietberg.ch/kunstvermittlung. Exhibition Credits Curators Dr. Philippe Peltier, curator for Oceania, musée du quai Branly, Paris Dr. Markus Schindlbeck, former curator for Oceania, Ethnologisches Museum Berlin Scientific advisor Dr. Christian Kaufmann, former curator for Oceania, Museum der Kulturen, Basel Project Management and curators in Zurich Dr. Michaela Oberhofer, curator for Africa and Oceania, Museum Rietberg Zürich Luca Stoppa, assistant Information and contact Information, texts and images for downloading at www.rietberg.ch. Museum Rietberg Zürich Gablerstrasse 15 CH-8002 Zürich Tel. +41 44 415 31 31 Fax +41 44 415 31 32 www.rietberg.ch museum.rietberg@zuerich.ch Opening hours: Tue to Sun 10 am 5 pm Wed 10 am 8 pm Admission: Exhibition: Adults CHF 18 Concession rate CHF 14 Audio guide: CHF 5 per person, CHF 10 per family
Free admission for young people aged 16 and under How to reach us: Tram No. 7 in the direction of Wollishofen. Alight at the Museum Rietberg stop (4 stops from Paradeplatz). No parking available (except for disabled visitors).