Context (Production / use)
‘Tall Stories: Cannibal Forks' was a participatory artwork by Alana Jelinek, Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellow in the Creative & Performing Arts at MAA, from 2009 to 2014. It explored the contested interpretations of cula ni bokola, ‘flesh-forks’, commonly known as ‘cannibal forks’. Colleagues at the Museum were filmed recounting their stories about the Museum's collection of so-called cannibal forks from Fiji. They were also filmed carving new cannibal forks using traditional green wood-working skills and native English woods.
Event Date 2010
Author: Mark Elliott

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: Remke Velden

Context (Field collection)
'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: Mark Elliott

Description (Physical description)
Three ‘Cannibal forks’. Part of ‘Tall Stories: Cannibal Forks’, 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 people working at MAA using traditional green wood-working skills and native English woods.
Event Date 24/11/2016
Author: Remke Velden

Context (Acquisition Details)
The three items 2012.9 M-O were carved by MAA staff after the summer of 2010 but were not featured in 'Tall Stories: Cannibal Forks'. They were not accessioned with the main body of work by MAA staff (2012.8 A-S) but were accessioned later, along with the works by participants in the public workshops.


Event Date 2022
Author: Remke Velden