Context (Production / use)
Kauage (c. 1944-2003) was born in Chimbu Province in the Papua New Guinea highlands. In the late 1960s he was employed as a labourer in Port Moresby and was inspired by an exhibition of drawings by a fellow-Highlander, Timothy Akis. Like Akis, he was encouraged and supported by Georgina Beier. Together with her husband Ulli, Georgina influentially fostered contemporary art, theatre, and literature in Nigeria and Papua New Guinea.Kauage's work evolved rapidly. Early on he drew fantastic creatures inspired by Chimbu myth, but soon progressed to scenes of Moresby town life and political events. Embracing colour, he went on to produce major paintings around Papua New Guinea's Independence in 1975, aspects of colonial history, and his own experience - not least his meeting with the Queen, who awarded him an OBE in 1998. His later works were often signed 'Kauage - Artist of PNG'.
Event Date 21/4/2009
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Untitled beaten copper by Mathias Kauage (undated). Copper shows two moving human figures (?dancing), in high relief, with two birds with elaborate plumage at the base, and foliage in background. ‘KAUAGE’, encased in a rectangle, is also written in relief in the left centre. Inset in wooden frame,

Event Date 21/4/2009
Author: maa

Context (Field collection)
Collected by Professor Dame Marilyn Stathern, Emeritus William Wise Professor of Social Anthropology (1993 to 2008) and Mistress of Girton College (1998 to 2009), Cambridge University, during fieldwork in the PNG Highlands and in Port Moresby from the 1960s onward. Displayed in the donor’s house. 


Event Date 7/8/2009
Author: Rachel Hand

Context (Display)
Exhibited: Mathius Kuage: Artist of Papua New Guinea, 17 March- 21 April 2009.
Mistakenly labelled in the exhibition as 2009.31.
Event Date 24/5/2019
Author: rachel hand