Accession No

2009.33


Description

Untitled print on paper, in black felt-tip by Mathias Kauage. Image shows a human figure with a quadruped under the right arm with two sun/star shapes with eye-like designs in the centre, one under the left arm and one below the quadruped. Signed ‘Kaugae’ in blue biro


Place

Oceania; Melanesia; Papua New Guinea; Highlands; Chimbu Province


Period


Source

Strathern, Marilyn (Dam; Prof,) [collector and donor]


Department

Anth


Reference Numbers

2009.33


Cultural Affliation


Material

paper; pigment


Local Term


Measurements


Events

Context (CMS Context)
r: Professor Dame Marilyn Stathern, William Wyseman Professor of Anthropology, 1993- 2008, Cambridge University, who conducted fieldwork in the PNG Highlands and in Port Moresby from the 1960s onward. Displayed in the donor’s house.

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 (CMS Description)
Untitled print on paper, in black felt-tip. Image shows a human figure with a quadruped under the right arm with two sun/star shapes with eye-like designs in the centre, one under the left arm and one below the quadruped. Signed ‘Kaugae’ in blue biro. Inscruption on rear is unclear but may read ‘$ [or hash symbol]10.00’ in blue biro, presumably a price. Condition: Good, but foxing and creases and signs of wear around edges, particularly in the upper left corner.
Event Date 21/4/2009
Author: maa


Context (Display)
Exhibited: Mathius Kuage: Artist of Paua New Guinea, 17 March- 21 April 2009.
Event Date 24/5/2019
Author: rachel hand


FM:265813

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