IDNO

T.133278.MST

Description

On Strathern's listing: Line of women dancers from the back. With mounted pearlshell on back.

Place

Oceania Melanesia; Papua New Guinea; Western Highlands Province; Mt. Hagen; Kuli tribal area

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Strathern, Marilyn (later Prof., Dame)

Collector / Expedition

Date

16 September 1967

Collection Name

Strathern Collection

Source

Strathern, Marilyn (Prof., Dame)

Format

Colour Transparency

Primary Documentation

Other Information

T.133264.MST - T.133285.MST were identified by Marilyn Strathern as Set 59a.

Publication: Image published in Strathern, M., 2013. 'Learning to see in Melanesia: Four lectures given in the Department of Social Anthropology, Cambridge University, 1993–2008' (Hau Masterclass Vol 2), plate 38, with the following caption:
"Figure 38. The decorations women wear at their back may include the heavy mounted pearlshells themselves. Kuli, Mt. Hagen, Western Highlands. 1967. Photograph: Marilyn Strathern." [JD 4/6/2017]

Publication: Similar image [T.133279.MST] published in 'Self-Decoration in Mount Hagen', 1971, after p.164 and captioned: “Colour plate 26 As they dance women present not only their faces but their backs to spectators. One wears a mounted pearl shell over her crimped and variegated cordylines, a gift for her own kinsmen as a sign of her ties with them”. [KH 22/11/2016]

Related Archive: Marilyn Strathern lists “The Kuli moka.” [Strathern's word document file]

Related Archive: Draft caption for similar image [T.133279.MST] in document ‘Caption to colour pics used 'Self-Decoration in Mount Hagen', 1971 1-15’ with the following text: “Women werl dancers at the Kuli moka. They have turned round and are displaying their backs to the spectators. The red, green, yellow and purple colours of the women’s crimped cordylines can be seen. One dancer wears a mounted pearlshell over her back. (see text [text reference not yet identified].)” [Paper Archives will be deposited at Girton College, Cambridge, date to be confirmed. KH 22/11/2016]

Bibliographic Reference: Self-Decoration in Mount Hagen (1971: 75-82). [JD 4/6/2017]

MAA Exhibition: Image included in a slide show entitled, 'Women in Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea. Fieldwork photos by Marilyn Strathern 1964 1995' in Pacific Currents display, Maudslay Gallery, 2018. [JD 03/04/202]

A grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation Historical Archives Program supported the documentation and preservation of the Strathern photographic collection. [JD 6/11/2017]