Travelling and Discovering.

The exhibition Travelling and discovering: from the Sepik to the Main puts 124 objects taken from the internationally renowned Oceania Collection of the Museum of World Cultures on show. At the beginning of the 1960s these had been acquired in Papua New Guinea by scientists of the Frobenius Institute for the Frankfort Ethnological Museum. During two research expeditions heading for the Sepik River area in the north eastern part of the island they collected carved ancestor figures, debating stools, paintings on palm leaf sheaths and “sacred flutes” – counted today among the highlights of the museum. In Frankfort these have been exhibited only twice in the past: in 1964 in the Städel’sches Kunstinstitut and in 1987 in the Kunsthalle Schirn.

Visitors are invited to enter the flow of time and undertake a journey in the company of the exhibits. We’ll start on the Sepik River at the beginning of the 1960s to gain a view into male and female spheres of life and an understanding of the institution of the men’s house. Continuing our way we will gain impressions of the collecting activities of the researchers in the field. A series of photos will introduce us to the transport of the collection from the Sepik River to the Main.

As an exemplary mode of the presentation of ethnographic objects in a museum the style of the 1960s is reconstructed: considered as scientific evidence objects are staged in the form of dioramas with photos and text panels. At the end of the journey all objects have become ‘pure’ works of art and have arrived in the gallery of the present.

In a replicated museum’s storeroom visitors will have the opportunity to get more information on the exhibits. An explorer’s handbook will help children to find the way to their own research station where they can touch things themselves.