ABOUT THE MUSEUM

and study center for works of art, biology, culture, and historical artifacts. Making it the national center for anthropology, archeology, natural history, contemporary arts, research and conservation.

With so much stored in one building, the museum can serve as a trip around PNG through time, where one can see beautiful history from all the provinces in the span of one day.

The museum was first built at the Independence Hill in Down Town Port Moresby and then moved to Waigani in 1975. It was officially opened in 1977 by then Prime Minister late Sir Michael Thomas Somare and late Queen Elizabeth II.

Its earliest collections dates back to 1800s by the early administration of PNG Sir William McGregor, where he collected most of the museums founding collections.

Other collections that came in after that were through gifts, purchase and repatriations from museums in THE US and IN Brisbane, Australia.

The museum has two sets of collections repatriated from museums in the US, and has about 60,000 registered collections while many unregistered,

The museum’s interior has five (5) main galleries and are distributed on the ground floor and the upper level of the building.

The main galleries ARE:

THE Bernard Mullu Narokobi Gallery

THE Be Jijimo Gallery

THE Ian Saem Majnep Gallery

THE Tumbuna Gallery

THE Susan Karike Gallery

Bernard Mullu Narokobi Gallery

Bernard Mullu Narokobi Gallery ‘is named after one of Papua New Guinea’s foremost philosophers and writers’ and a central figure in PNG’s transition from Australia territory to an Independent nation during the formative years of PNG.

Bernard Narokobi has been instrumental in contributing to the foundation of the museum as well as its physical set-up.

‘Built on Cultures’ is what the exhibition here portrays ‘which like Narokobi’s writings, are a window into the depth to which culture is ingrained in Papua New Guinean societies.

Cultures can also be depicted not only through writings or legends but through the different artifacts from all over PNG.

In this gallery, you’ll also find some contemporary and ethnographic collections. These are collections that relates to a particular cultural group or society within a province in PNG. It represents the changing of time between our traditional ways into the modern world.

‘Be’ means mouth and ‘Jijimo’ means sustaining continuity. Put together the term may be interpreted as “keeping alive by word of mouth”.

To access Voices from the War visit: www.pngvoices.deakin.edu.au

In all his years of service in PNG, Ben Mullu Narokobi undertook nation-building roles as a lawyer, politician, judge, activist and layman of the Catholic Church.

"Be Jijimo" refers to the Rirowa legend of the Binandere people that warns of the need to be vigilant and ‘keep the fire alive’.

This gallery contains ‘Tuari Helalodia’ exhibition. It is a Motuan phrase that refers to “memories from war”

This exhibition displays only four physical objects, which you will have the chance to listen and interact with over 150 audio recordings of stories collected through the Museum’s Oral History Project which aims to stimulate more storytelling and their permanent preservation through modern means.

Ian Saem Majnep Gallery is an archeology gallery which contains human historical artifacts that connects PNG to its cultural heritage. It was named after late Dr. Ian Saem Majnep in recognition for his work as a pioneering scientist who contributed so much to the understanding of archeology in PNG.

The gallery contains relics generally termed as ‘Ilosa’ or Taim Bipo (Time Before/Long Ago) which refers to the objects that traditional PNG society uses prior to colonial intervention. These includes obsidian stone stools, mortars and pestles of different shapes and sizes based on their usages.

Ian Saem Majnep was born 1948 in his home of Kalam, Madang Province. He completed his formal education in grade two, when the education system was known as the Standard Based Edtucation structure (called the 2-6-6 structures) in the 1900s.

In 1989, the University of Papua New Guinea awarded him an honorary doctorate in science.

Some of his most famous contributions were a book on the different birds in Kalam and writing the dictionary of the Kalam language of the Kalam-speaking region of the Kaironk Valley, near Simbai in Middle Ramu District, Madang Province.

The Tumbuna gallery housed some of the most unique traditional face masks and totem poles of sacred houses of PNG culture.

Also in this gallery are artifacts such as spears, kundus (a traditional drum beaten by hand), garamuts and spiritual carvings.

SUSAN KARIKE GALLERY

Late Susan Karike was given the honor of being named after one of the galleries because of her contribution to the history of Papua New Guinea.

This gallery contains the ‘traditional technology exhibition which contains artifacts such as traditional tools, traps, and bilums (traditional bags) that depicts the knowledge of the past forever tied to our national identity.

Late Susan Karike, who passed away aged 60 on April 11, 2017, was the woman who designed Papua New Guinea's national flag when she was aged just 15 in the year 1971.

Away from exhibition area, the museum also has storage areas filled with thousands of artifacts. These artifacts not on display are placed in two different types of storage called wet storage and dry storage. These two storage methods are managed meticulously to conserve all artifacts from animal carcasses to hundred year old clay pots.

Dry storage is a preservation method in which old and historic artifacts, dating back decades and centuries, are kept in a room where humidity is strictly monitored and measured. In the museum this method is used for the storage of man-made artifacts, relics, and even storing of stuffed animal carcasses.

Wet storage, as the term selfdictates, is the polar opposite of the dry storage method. This method is used for the storing and preservation of biological tissue. The museum uses this method to store and preserve the remains of dead animals using a fixative and storing them in a permanent liquid solution in a jar.

Curated displays of objects from all the provinces in PNG sit for visitors to explore and educate oneself. If you would like to learn about the history of Papua New Guinea and soak yourself in the art and culture of the different 22 provinces that make up PNG in just one day, there is no better place to do so than the National Museum and Art Gallery.

National Museum and Art Gallery

Operating Hours:

Monday to Friday: 8:30am to 3:30pm

Weekends: 1:00pm to 5:00pm

Week days: Free entry.

Weekends: K5 for locals and K10 for expatriates.

For more information,visit: www.museumpng.gov.pg