Melissa Aigilo is Papua New Guinea's leading woman writer

Melissa Aigilo does not hide the fact that she is passionate about writing and its role in shaping Papua New Guinea.
At only 25, Aigilo is currently the country’s leading woman writer, with a book of poetry, Falling Foliage, published in 2005.
A collection of short stories and another anthology of poetry await publication.
This immensely-talented and intelligent young woman has a big following, especially among high school students, and her work is even being studied in the USA and Australia.
Her mentors, especially University of Papua New Guinea literature lecturers Dr Steven Winduo and Russel Soaba, extol the virtues of their protégé.
Soaba compares her writing to that of the great English woman writer Emily Dickenson.
However, as I found out, Aigilo is a quietly-spoken young woman who shuns the limelight to dwell on writing.
“My one book is called Falling Foliage,” she tells me.
“I also have my poems which are recorded on CD and tape in the International Library of Poetry in America.
“Falling Foliage was published in 2005.
“I’ve written two books so far which haven’t gone in for publication.
“One is a collection of short stories and the other is an anthology of poetry.
“ABC has a website where my poems have been aired.
“The University of Melbourne analyses some of my poems in their literature classes.
“Since my book was published, a lot of high schools and international schools have been ordering a lot.
“I think they’ve run out of copies at the university bookshop.
“I can see the support there.”
In saying this, Aigilo empathises with the women of Papua New Guinea, saying that they are not given enough support to air their voices.
“If only other women writers were given that same support, we could change the face of Papua New Guinea because writing is a very powerful political tool.
“Women have as much to offer as men and their views and opinions need to be expressed.
“Some important issues (concerning women) are still not addressed by today’s government and need to be looked at seriously.
“It is my very strong belief that women are the backbone of society.
“So I’m calling on people in authority to give women a chance to voice their concerns, politically, and socially, through writing.
“We have a lot of women writers, but the problem is not identifying them and assisting them to bring out their work.”
Aigilo graduated from the University of Papua New Guinea in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature degree.
She was at university from 2001 to 2005, including a year studying law; however, she found that she preferred the solitude of writing to noisy courtroom antics.
Before campus, Aigilo attended St Joseph’s International Primary School, Marianville Girls Catholic High School, and then Port Moresby National High School.
She is the eldest in a family of two sisters and two brothers.
Her father, former Police Commissioner and graduate lawyer Peter Aigilo, played a significant role in her opting for a life of writing.
One of her poems , The Guardian, published in a recent issue of the literary publication , Savannah Flames, is dedicated to her father.
“My dad is my mentor,” she says.
“He’s my strength.
“As a woman, I can say that.
“I like writing anything to do with prose, poetry, short stories, drama, plays.
“I think when I began to learnt how to write, I came up with ideas.
“Basically, because my dad is a lawyer, he emphasised reading and he is a reader himself.
“He used to read to me when I was younger, and that opened up my avenues for creating, so when I learnt to write, I put that creativity on paper.
“Writing is a form of liberation for me because I guess I’m a quite person.
“What I think and feel is expressed on paper.
“…some people keep journals.
“I find that poetry is like my journal.
“I am able to hide behind my words, and the style of poetry that I write is abstract.
“It’s a form of release for me.
“My saving grace!”
Aigilo could be described as a true Papua New Guinean, seeing her family connections.
“I’m from four provinces,” she elaborates.
“My mother’s part East New Britain and Morobe, and my father’s part West New Britain and East Sepik.”
Her future?
“I’ve always wanted to pass on my skills of writing to students, so while writing remains my No.1 passion, my second goal in life is to teach creative writing and literature.
“I look forward to writing more books, with the kind of assistance I’m getting from my lecturers and you in the media.”
Aigilo is blunt about her belief that writing is one of the most-important things in any society.
“I would say that, as I said, writing is a very powerful political tool.
“There are two forms of literature.
“The one that is oral is spoken and forgotten about.
“But the one which is written is preserved, and can be looked at to pave the way for the future in any aspect, whether it be social, political, religious.
“I believe that writing can change the way in which people think.
“The mind is a very complex thing.
“When you change someone’s mind, you are capable of changing a whole democracy.”

SCRIPTWRITERS

Imprinted
Letters so brashly written
Bidding attention
That's what you already have.
Words
They are hard to speak
So they come out as inscriptions.

You and I
Have something in common
You flaunt your inner self
On bus stop seats
And engrave your thoughts
On walls and dust engased shop windows
Scoring for yourself.

What would you like the world to imagine
When it reads your markings?
I create the images of a dramatist
In my mind and I envision you.
Would you remember my concealed scripts?
The way I know yours by heart
If you read them
Would you be able to fashion my personna
The way I mould your form

The words I read
Haunt me at night
Are you really out there

Downstream processing of peanuts in Papua New Guinea

Peanuts have proved an ideal crop in Papua New Guinea, being easily grown in almost all areas of the country, most famously the great Markham Valley of Morobe Province.
They are excellent nutritionally, being concentrated sources of both protein and fat, which of which tend to be low in the diets of many Papua New Guineans.
The protein content of peanuts, in fact – is higher than that of eggs, dairy products, meat and fish.
They are well liked by children and adults.
Downstream processing of peanuts was the entire buzz in Papua New Guinea in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Peanuts were exported out of Lae to many countries in the South Pacific.
In the Markham Valley of Morobe province, peanut butter was mass-produced by the Atzera Rural Cooperative factory for both the domestic and international market.
Sadly, those exports have ceased and the peanut butter factory has long closed its doors, and the humble but mighty peanut has now taken a backseat.
However, they proved that downstream processing of peanuts was possible in Papua New Guinea, and do to this day.
The challenge is upon us to make that a reality.

Exports

Sum Sum, taken in its Morobe Province original meaning, is sunshine.
Sum Sum, referring to peanuts, meant some of the best grown, processed and exported from Papua New Guinea.
From an unimposing factory in Lae, the home of Nunga Tea and Coffee Company, came a fine variety of top-class peanuts, both salted and roasted, for the domestic and export market.
Growers in the Markham Valley sold to the company either at the factory door or at the roadside.
The factory boasted the biggest roaster machines in the country and the automatic packing machines made for an efficient and effective operation.
The peanuts used in the salted variety were often hulled near where they were grown, and sorted at the factory, roasted, salted and automatically packed.
About 40 workers were employed by the factory at its peak, with exports to many countries in the South Pacific region.

Peanut butter

In September 1976, a year after Papua New Guinea’s independence, the Atzera Rural Cooperative at Kaiapit, in the Morobe Province, embarked on its most ambitious programme yet – the manufacture of peanut butter.
The cooperative built a factory at a cost of K40, 000 and started peanut butter production in September 1976.
It was a unique operation in Papua New Guinea, as all peanut butter until then had been imported.
Atzera Rural Cooperative’s packaged nuts, Markham Peanuts, were sold in Kieta, Rabaul, Lae, Popondetta and throughout the Highlands.
The 2000-odd members of the cooperative came from a wide area – from the Leron River to the Kassam Pass, in the Eastern Highlands.
The factory grew, producing for both the local and export market, however, closed its doors in the early 1980s because of a variety of reasons.
It, however, has made its mark in the history of downstream processing in Papua New Guinea.

The future

A recent study by the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) ranked peanuts as the No. 1 reliable income earner for many families.
It was ranked among the country’s top five income generating crops, the others being kaukau (sweet potatoes), taro, banana, and Singapore taro.
Peanuts, like betelnut, are a major income-earner for the people of the vast Markham Valley.
The major customers are people from the Highlanders, who buy peanuts in bulk and in turn sell them at markets when they return home.
This has been an ongoing trend for many years.
Recently, peanut-growing has found new life.
The community is becoming aware that under-nutrition continues to exist widely, and that peanuts are one of the best foods to overcome this.
The major concern with peanuts is the risk of aflotoxin contamination, which is caused by a fungus when peanuts are not properly dried or when they become moist during storage.
Almost all provinces have active programmes to improve nutrition, with peanuts having an important part in these programmes.
The larger-scale Markham industry has also found new life.
Remote Karimui in the Chimbu Province is known to produce arguably the highest quality peanuts in the country – better than the Markham – but the main problem has been transporting it to market as Karimui is only accessible by air.
Lae-based NARI is trialing different varieties for the farmers of PNG.
Trukai Industries is growing large tracts of peanuts in the Markham Valley.
Ramu Agro-Industries is going big-time into peanut growing with a view to downstream processing in the not-too-distant future.
The challenge now facing the industry is to generate improvements internally – to grow peanuts more productively, at less cost, and with greater production.
This is clearly the case for the Markham Valley industry which, if it can keep costs down, can tap an enormous export market.
This is also the case for the more important subsistence gardening of peanuts.
People will grow more peanuts only if they get high production for the effort they put into the crop.
To attain an increase in productivity will not be easy, particularly for subsistence growing, but it can be the only basis for a permanent improvement in the industry.

Funeral feast for my wife

For the benefit of many of the friends of me and my beloved late wife, Hula (that's us pictured at our house in Goroka in 1999), and our four children, I will shortly be holding a funeral feast for her.

You can scroll down further to find the tribute I wrote to her or, otherwise, click on this URL http://malumnalu.blogspot.com/2008/07/tribute-to-my-wife-re-run-of-story-run.html.

You can email me at malumnalu@gmail.com for further details.

Thank you all for the many messages of condolence I have received from all over Papua New Guinea and the world.

God bless you all!

Malum

Beyond the Coral Sea

East of Java and west of Tahiti a bird of dazzling plumage stalks the Pacific over the Cape York Peninsula of Australia.
In her wake, she spills clusters of emeralds on the surface of the deep.
These are the unknown paradise islands of the Coral, Solomon and Bismarck Seas lying off the east coast of Papua New Guinea.
The islands were the last inhabited place on earth to be explored by Europeans and even today many remain largely unspoilt, despite the former presence of German, British and even Australian colonial rulers.
Beyond the Coral Sea – a book which portrays Papua New Guinea in a new light – is now being sold in bookshelves around the world.
Written by Australian Michael Moran, the book is arguably the most- comprehensive travel book to be written about PNG in many years, and introduces a new area to travel literature.
Beyond the Coral Sea introduces the adventurers, mercenaries, explorers and missionaries – past and present – who have inhabited the islands and brings them vividly to life.
“My PNG book has sold well in paperback but is not really a bestseller as normally understood, but for a book on PNG it has done brilliantly, particularly in international reviews and prizes,” Moran says.
“I have received many private letters from all sorts of people, also Papua New Guineans, who love the book.
“I notice on the internet the book is also in many university libraries around the world – Oxford, Cambridge, Australia and many in the US.
“This is excellent news for me and I am proud of it.
“In March 2005 I was invited to deliver the prestigious Monday lecture to the Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society in London – a great honour – and I used many slides of PNG and some rare recordings Malinowski made of cannibal laments in the Trobriand Islands. It was very successful.
“The book was short-listed for the world’s premier travel book prize in 2004 – The Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.
“This also was a great achievement – a first for an Australian travel writer and a first for PNG.
“Unfortunately I did not win but was runner-up.
“It gave excellent publicity for tourism to PNG.”
Moran begins his journey on the island of Samarai, historic gateway to the old British Protectorate, as the guest of the benign grandson of a cannibal.
But rather than a tale of cannibals and blood, this is a journey in the romantic and adventurous spirit of Robert Louis Stevenson and an exploration of encroaching change in remarkably diverse cultures.
Along the way Moran explores the role of superstition, magic rites and the occult in the lives of the islanders, including the trading route of the Kula Ring which unites many tribal island groups in a mystical exchange of symbolically valuable objects, one set travelling clockwise around the ring, the other anti-clockwise.
Moran describes the historic anthropological work of Malinowski in the Trobriand Islands and also catches up with some of the adventurers, mercenaries, explorers, missionaries and prospectors he has encountered on previous journeys.
He explores the former capitals of German New Guinea and headquarters of the disastrous Neu Guinea Compagnie, its administrators decimated by malaria and murder.
He travels along the inaccessible Rai Coast through the Archipelago of Contented Men, following in the footsteps of the great Russian explorer “Baron” Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay.
His narrative is interwoven with the fabulous and humorous stories of eccentric residents such as the glamorous “Queen” Emma on New Britain, the deranged Marquis de Rays who attempted to found a utopian colony on a malaria-infested shore of New Ireland and the impetuous sexual exploits of a young Errol Flynn.
“Queen Emma” of New Britain, who was born of an American father and a Samoan mother, built up a large empire of copra plantations, as well as traded in the fabled obsidian (black volcanic glass) and entertained on a lavish scale with imported food and French champagne.
Moran journeys by light plane, jeep and banana boat to reach former colonial capitals and occult heartlands.
He uses the historic anthropological work of Bronislaw Malinowski to guide him through the seductive labyrinth of the Trobriand “Islands of Love” and the sensual erotic dances of the yam festival.
“People are impressed with the appearance and general ‘seriousness’ but relaxed writing style of the book and my colour photographs of the lovely blonde children (of New Ireland) and landscapes,” Moran said.
“Those amazing New Ireland men in tatanua masks on the jacket have hardly ever been seen in the UK.
“The island provinces of PNG are regarded as incredibly exotic here.”
The book has been well reviewed in the Times Literary Supplement, a very prestigious journal, and the Daily Mail newspaper, which has a circulation about 2.5 million as well as others.
Moran said PNG High Commissioner to Great Britain Ms Jean Kekedo liked the book very much.
“She knows everybody I mentioned by name, particularly the Milne Bay area,” he said.
“We have come to similar conclusions about the problems of PNG, as she has a serious social conscience.
“The book is not 100 per cent positive, of course, as I tried to present a balanced picture of the more sensational and incredible events of its original ‘Western survey’ as well as a generally-glowing picture of the peaceful and beautiful people island people I met.
“The Highlands and the problems of that region could be on another planet compared to the island provinces.”
Moran concluded: “I truly hope that this happy, charming and informative book will assist tourism to your beautiful country – it really needs some positive press.”

Beyond the Coral Sea: Travels in the Old Empires of the South-West Pacific
by Michael Moran
Format: Hardback
Price: £18.99
Imprint: HarperCollins

Malalo celebrates 100 years

It was one of those typically-beautiful Huon Gulf days on Friday, October 12, 2007, when we sailed from Lae to Malalo on Lutheran Shipping’s MV Rita for the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the historic Malalo Lutheran Mission Station.
It was a sunny day, not a cloud was in the sky, as if they did not want to spoil the celebrations.
Hundreds of people from all over Salamaua, Morobe Province, converged on Malalo that Friday for the centenary celebrations.
Work started on this icon - overlooking idyllic and historic Salamaua – exactly 100 years ago on October 12, 1907.
Surrounding villagers and guests from Lae, other parts of Morobe, and Papua New Guinea, converged on Malalo for the 100th anniversary celebrations.
The people of my mother’s Laukanu village rekindled memories of yore when they brought a kasali (ocean going canoe) to Malalo in a re-enactment of the arrival of the first Lutheran missionaries.
The people of Laukanu were among the greatest mariners of the Huon Gulf, making long ocean trips throughout the Huon Gulf to exchange goods, long before the arrival of the white man.
When the first Lutheran missionaries arrived in Finschhafen in the late 1880s, the Laukanu made the long sea voyage to Finschhafen, and helped to bring the Miti (Word of God) to the villages south of Lae.
The launch of the kasali celebrated not only the great seamanship of the Laukanu, but more importantly, coincided with the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Malolo Mission Station - overlooking idyllic and historic Salamaua – on October 12, 1907.
The people of Salamaua and surrounding villages, who make up the Malalo Circuit, converge on Malalo last week for this momentous occasion.
It was a time for all to celebrate the important role the church had played in their lives, as well as remember the many expatriate missionaries and local evangelists, who worked through the dark days of World War 1 and World War 11 to bring the Miti (Word of God) to the people.
These legendary missionaries include Reverend Karl Mailainder and Rev Herman Boettger (who started actual work on the Malalo station), Rev Hans Raun, Rev Friedrich Bayer, Rev Mathias Lechner, and Rev Karl Holzknecht.
Rev Raun suffered the humiliation of being interned by Australian authorities during WW1 while Rev Holzknecht (whose family has contributed much to the development of PNG) suffered the same fate during WW11 – their only crime being Germans.
Rev Bayer was taking a well-deserved leave in his homeland of Germany when he lost his life on July 24, 1932.
The heart-warming and touching story of Rev Bayer and his wife, Sibylle Sophie Bayer, is told in Sophie’s autobiography ‘He led me to a far off place’.
Rev Holzknecht replaced Rev Lechner in 1939 and was there when World War 11 broke out and wiped out Malalo and its famous neighbour of Salamaua.

Missionary’s wife Helene Holzknecht accompanied her husband on all but the trips along the Black Cat Trail into the Wau and Bulolo valleys, ministering to village women and helping the sick she found in these areas.
The outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 brought this idyll to an end.
Karl Holzknecht – being a German - was taken prisoner as an enemy alien by Australian authorities, leaving a pregnant and heartbroken Helene at Malalo.
Her eldest child and only daughter, Irene, was born at Sattelberg, on February 1, 1940, after Karl’s removal to Australia.
Helene and Irene were returned to Malalo, but were eventually evacuated after Japanese bombers attacked Lae and Salamaua.
Helene often talked of seeing those planes skimming the hills on their way to Salamaua, and the horror of the bombing of Salamaua.
Soon after their evacuation by DC3 to Port Moresby, Japanese aircraft also bombed the Malalo Station, destroying all the family’s possessions.
Reverend Karl Mailainder and Rev Herman Boettger started work on the Malalo Mission Station exactly 100 years ago last on October 12, 1907.
They had already checked out other places from Busamang to Kelanuc before settling at Asini at a place called Poadulu.
At Poadulu, work started on Malalo.
The local people were very happy and gave a large piece of land to the Lutheran Church.
The Laukanu people had two kasali so they sailed all the way to Finschhafen and brought missionaries’ cargo back to Malalo.
When Rev Mailainder was clearing land at Malalo, he had a surveyor, Mr Mayar, who worked alongside him.
Work had already started when Rev Boettger arrived and the station was established.
At that time, a church was made of sago leaves.
This was after the congregation membership increased to 500.
Work started on Malalo Mission Station on October 12, 1907, and the opening was on December 20, 1907.
In 1908, the work of confirmation started and work started on a new church building with proper roofing iron.
One missionary gave 1000 German Marks, while Munchen in Germany gave a big bell and a bowl for baptism.
Work started on the new church building and on January 30th, 1910, it was opened with Holy Baptism.
Malalo 100th anniversary organiser Elisah Ahimpum was pleased with the hundreds of people who turned up for the occasion, which also featured a cultural show.
Plaques with the names of all missionaries and evangelists who worked at Malalo were unveiled on the day.
Invited guests to the 100th anniversary celebrations include Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG leader Reverend Dr Bishop Wesley Kigasung, Morobe Governor Luther Wenge, Lae MP and prominent Lutheran Bart Philemon, Huon Gulf MP and Health Minister Sasa Zibe, as well as Bulolo MP Sam Basil as the Miti filtered into his area from Malalo.

Unfortunately, not all were able to attend, with only Assistant ELPNG Bishop Zao Rapa representing the church and Mr Philemon and Tewai-Siassi MP Vincent Michaels representing the government.
However, that did not spoil the occasion, with hundreds turning up to witness celebrations marking the centenary.

Port Moresby’s Garden of Eden

Port Moresby - Papua New Guinea's capital city – is fast becoming a rapidly growing urban jungle.

Many children who grow up in the city do not know, or perhaps never will know, of that flora and fauna that is so prolific all over our beautiful country.

But there is a temporary reprieve.

The National Capital Botanical Gardens can rightly be called Port Moresby’s “Garden of Eden”.

The gardens, since being taken over by the National Capital District Commission in 1993, have become one of the prime tourist attractions in the city.

Moreover, for caged-in city residents, they offer an oasis of peace and beauty amidst all the pressures.

The gardens also play a very important role in nature and conservation education as well as distribution of trees and flowers in the capital city.

Situated within the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) campus in Port Moresby, the gardens were established in 1971 by renowned gardener Andre Millar.

They were initially established as a teaching garden for the UPNG Biology Department and also as a nursery to supply plants for the university grounds.

When Mrs Millar left in the late 1970s, the gardens experienced problems with management and funding and eventually declined from a beautiful garden to a desolate piece of bush land.

When the NCDC took over the assets of the gardens in 1993 through the new curator Justin Tkatchenko, it established a major redevelopment programme.

Another expatriate Wolfgang Bandisch ran the gardens until his departure from the country last year.

The gardens today - under current acting general manager Judith Raka - have a huge collection of plants from all over PNG as well as other parts of the world.

These include palm species, bamboos, heliconias, cordyline, pandanus, native trees and shrubs.

The gardens are well known for their extensive collection of PNG orchid species housed in large greenhouses.

They have large orchid houses for orchid hybrids producing cut flowers for the flower shop.

There are a number of animals on display, like tree climbing kangaroos, gouria pigeons, birds of paradise, cockatoos, lorikeets, parrots and many other birds.

One of the new tenants is a strange looking tree kangaroo, hailing from the Sepik, which has a very long tail.

An orchid research centre was established some years ago.

It includes a small herbarium and a fully equipped ochid tissue culture laboratory where thousands of orchid plants are produced annually from seed and tissue cuIture.

The gardens' collection of flora and fauna is the only place in the city that offers educational attractions and an -depth view and appreciation of what PNG has to offer.

They provide valuable scientific and environmental education for school children.

Tours are offered to school children and cover a variety of subjects

A typical guided tour begins with the snake house, the palm collection, birds and animal collection, the mini rainforest, the timber tree collection, the vanilla collection, the orchid nursery and its collection and finally to the insect collection.

The tours help instill in children a responsible attitude towards the environment and help them learn and appreciate the remarkable natural beauty of PNG.

"It's good for parents to bring their children here, especially those who don't go back to their villages," says scientific and education officer Linda Pohai.

"The school children can really learn a lot."

One of the exciting projects the garden has embarked on with the Forest Industry Association, Rotary Club and the Department of Environment and Conservation is a school nursery project.

“It’s about a national school nursery project,” Ms Pohai explains.

“It’s mainly about planting trees.

“What we do is we have a nursery here funded by all these organisations.

“We facilitate workshops for teachers on how to grow trees and build a nursery.

“Once they build a nursery, they can come and pick up trees.

“We’ve done it for the whole year last year, with a lot of schools from NCD attending. “There are two schools that have already collected their trees - that’s Ward Strip and St Therese Primary School at Badili.

“The trees that we grow are mainly useful trees like medicinal trees, fruit trees and trees that can provide shade or firewood to the community.

“We also try to get the community involved, such as teaching a group of boys from Koki how to grow trees, build nurseries and then giving them free trees.”

Apart from flora and fauna, there are recreational areas where barbeques, weddings and other functions can be held.

The Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery

Welcome to the depth and diversity of Papua New Guinea in the National Museum and Art Gallery.
The Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery is the “spiritual house” for the rich natural, cultural and contemporary heritage of this country.
The museum is owned by the people of Papua New Guinea and to date has well over 30,000 anthropological collections, more than 25,000 archeological collections, more than 18,000 natural science collections, more than 20,000 war relics and more than 7000 contemporary art collections.
It consists of three premises which are the main museum located at Waigani in Port Moresby, the Mordern History (sometimes known as War Museum) at Gordons in Port Moresby, and the J.K. McCarthy Museum at Goroka in the Eastern Highlands Province.
The main museum at Waigani consists of five display galleries which are the Masterpiece Gallery, the Independence Gallery, the Sir Allan Mann Gallery (for temporary exhibits), Life and Land (natural history and prehistory) Gallery and the Sir Michael Somare (new acquisitions) Gallery.
In addition, there is a central court yard with live animals and birds, a theatrette, amphitheatre, amenities area, souvenir shop, four large storage rooms, conservation laboratory, photographic laboratory, carpentry workshop, graphic rooms and editing equipment rooms.
It is one of the “must visit” icons of Port Moresby like the neighbouring National Parliament and the National Capital District Botanical Gardens at Waigani.
It is open to the general public from Monday to Friday (8.30am to 3.30pm) and Sunday (1pm to 3pm).
It is closed to the public on Saturdays except for organised visits.
The Mordern History premises at Ahuia Street, Gordons, consist of office space, two storage rooms, display room and a library.
The collection includes aircraft, vehicles and war artifacts from pre-independence and post-independence.
Some of the unique objects in the national collection include a P-38F Lockheed Lightning aircraft, the oldest P-38 in a museum in the world.
The J.K. McCarthy Museum in Goroka consists of six display galleries which are the Niugini Room, Giddings Gallery, Leahy Wing, Soso Subi Gallery and the Archeological Room.
It also has offices for scientific and administrative staff, a storage room and a gift shop.
Its main collections are artifacts and specimens from the Highlands region.
Artifacts include wooden dishes, stone mortars, stone blades, magic stones, and sandstones for making stone blades.

Independence Gallery

This gallery features a stunning Kula canoe from the Trobriand Islands of the Milne Bay Province.
The upper section of the exhibit contains a fine collection of traditional fishing equipment, bilums (string bags), pottery, traditional ceremonial and casual dress and cooking utensils.
Traditional musical instruments and a variety of PNG’s renowned kundu and garamut drums are also on display.

Masterpiece Gallery

This gallery brings to you a unique selection of the museum’s most-important cultural objects in terms of religious significance and aesthetic excellence.
In this collection are tall posts from the Sepik which are used to decorate haus tambarans (spirit houses), ancestral boards from the Sepik and intricately-carved Malangan masks from New Ireland.
Papua New Guinea’s astonishing diversity and depth of spiritual expression is demonstrated here.

Michael Somare Gallery

This gallery is named in honour of Papua New Guinea’s first Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and displays temporary exhibits.
It was opened in 1986 with an exhibition of Independence and State gifts Sir Michael received over the years.

Life and Land Gallery

This exhibition records the lives of the early inhabitants of New Guinea who arrived up to 50,000 years ago.
Archeological excavations have revealed the early Highlanders were among the world’s first farmers.
Within this gallery is a colourful collection of preserved bird specimens including a variety of birds of paradise, while seashore to mountain diorama shows the variety of PNG vegetation and wildlife from the swampy mangroves to the cool of the Highlands.

Sir Allan Mann Gallery

This gallery is named in honour of the Museum’s first Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
The gallery makes the display of traveling and temporary exhibitions possible.
This gallery has displayed a variety of important exhibitions over many years.

Other Features

Right in the heart of the museum is an enclosure of live birds and animals including hornbills, parrots and ducks.
The museum bookshop is located at the front of the entrance.
The bookshop sells a variety of carvings, bilums and cards as well as books on Papua New Guinea, which are excellent gift ideas.
A pleasant shady courtyard/reception area is also available for hire at a reasonable rate.
Within the museum is a small multi-screen lecture room, normally used for educational activities and a theatre that can hold up to 250 people.

Science and Research Division

The Science and Research Division consists of Mordern History, J.K. McCarthy Museum, Anthropology, Prehistory, Natural History, Conservation and Contemporary Arts.
These are specialised scientific and research areas that carry out the main functions of the museum’s heritage and cultural collections.

Export Permits

Please be aware that an export permit is needed to take artifacts out of the country.
The permit, as gazetted under the provision of the National Cultural Property (Preservation) Act, is issued at the National Museum.
To obtain a permit, consult the museum and provide either the artifacts or a photograph for inspection.
If the items are permitted exports, an export permit will be issued.

Contact details:

Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery
P.O. Box 5660
Boroko
National Capital District
Papua New Guinea
Telephone: (675) 3252522
Facsimile: (675) 3251779
Email: pngmuseum@global.net.pg