The Met Exhibits a Living Artwork from the Village
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City recently unveiled its renovated Michael C. Rockefeller Wing to the press, marking the end of a substantial four-year renovation project. During this event, Chief Mathew Kuarchinj and Tobi Borungai, artists from Papua New Guinea’s Kwoma community, saw the Ceremonial House Ceiling, created by their ancestors over 50 years ago.
This remarkable artwork comprises approximately 170 unique bark and palm leaf paintings termed “pangal.” At 80 feet long, it is the museum’s largest contemporary art commission, hanging from the newly restored gallery ceiling. The ceiling emulates the vibrant roofs adorning sacred spirit houses in Papua New Guinea, decorated with compelling clan emblems, natural patterns, and spiritual symbols.
Originally painted in the early 1970s through a commission by Douglas Newton, The Met’s inaugural curator of Oceanic art, the artwork includes contributions from Borungai’s father. While initially apprehensive about the ceiling’s distance from its roots in Mariwai, the Kwoma artists expressed contentment about sharing their cultural heritage with global visitors at The Met.
The $70 million renovation, led by Kulapat Yantrasast of WHY Architecture, involved a reconfiguration of gallery spaces, including architectural beautifications, improved wall texts, and integrated digital features. It aimed to address and reconcile the complex legacy of the Rockefeller Wing’s collection, which encompasses troubling aspects, such as the history of Michael C. Rockefeller’s expedition disappearance in New Guinea and past controversies involving his father, Nelson Rockefeller.
The renovation endeavor took a significant step further by incorporating Kwoma community insights through the Mariwai Project, initiated by artist Shiva Lynn Burgos in 2014. This cultural preservation initiative underscores the presence of Kwoma traditions in the gallery. The art installation now echoes clan-specific and spiritual themes, further emphasized by a digital monitor that provides additional context.
The changes in the Rockefeller Wing include relocating exhibits like Asmat wooden works to mitigate prior sunlight damage and making room for new additions like bark cloth panels crafted by Papua New Guinea’s Omïe women’s collective.
This renovation effort demonstrates a move towards embracing participatory curation and represents a promising shift in museum engagement practices, as Shiva Lynn Burgos articulated. The newly installed displays resonate with the themes of ‘Ancestral Futurisms,’ celebrating living artistic and spiritual traditions while welcoming contemporary artistic interventions.