Context (Display)
Exhibited in the Spotlight Gallery, MAA, as part of ‘Gifts & Discoveries’, curated by Mark Elliott and Nicholas Thomas, 25 May 2012 - 16 February 2013.
Event Date 25/5/2012
Author: Rachel Hand

Context (Production / use)
'The artwork explores the idea of story-telling and knowledge, especially about other people. It is not concerned with the truth about cannibal forks or life in Fiji in the past. It is about stories and knowledge that we believe to be true.
This is not to say that there is no truth, but historians, anthropologists and other scholars dispute both the facts and the interpretation of the facts. Each of us believes we are right in what we believe, at least most of the time.
If we consider cannibal forks as one small area of disputed knowledge where facts and the interpretation of fact are contested, we begin to consider the enormity of the problem of knowing stuff. This is not only a philosophical issue: it is social as well. What we believe effects what we do. This artwork explores why we choose certain stories. Each of us seeks out, remembers and retells the stories that sustain our already established world view. In scholarly circles, this includes the orthodoxies of our disciplines.'
Alana Jelinek, 7/5/2012
Event Date 7/5/2012
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
‘Cannibal fork’. Part of ‘Cannibal Forking’, a participatory artwork by Alana Jelinek exploring contested interpretations of Fijian cula ni bokola, ‘flesh forks’, and the idea of story-telling and knowledge. Made by workshop participants at MAA using traditional green wood-working skills and native English woods in response to an exhibition and film.
Event Date 7/5/2012
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Green-wood carved 'cannibal fork' with three tapering prongs and an oval handle with spherical terminal. Part of ‘Cannibal Forking’, a participatory artwork by Alana Jelinek exploring contested interpretations of Fijian cula ni bokola, ‘flesh forks’, and the idea of story-telling and knowledge. Made by workshop participants at MAA using traditional green wood-working skills and native English woods in response to an exhibition and film.
Event Date 10/3/2023
Author: Lily Stancliffe