My Field Collecting Career By Michael Kremerskothen
I was attracted to art in a broader sense from a very early age and grew up with old art and antiques. As a teenager, museum visits were an important and enjoyable part of my experience. In childhood I learned to love the North American Indians through old books, because of their very nature-oriented way of life and their beautiful cultural objects. During my studies, I also became involved with their wise view of the world. As a high school student, I saw books about the primitive peoples of Papua New Guinea and felt these cultures to be as very strange, mysterious and original. It was only many years later that I suddenly and unexpectedly had the opportunity to travel to these regions. This stimulated me to deal with the art of the different regions, through literature, museum visits and the exchange with other collector friends. A special pleasure for me were the hours of intensive discussions about the expressiveness and quality of the objects and quality of the objects in various museums in Germany, Europe and overseas, which I especially enjoyed visiting with long-time collector friend Klaus Maaz. Also the important auctions, exhibitions and fairs in the 90 gladly in London, later in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels and also occasionally in the USA were and still are an enrichment. I was also very impressed by the inspiring effect of the Oceanic cultural objects on the artists after 1900, for their art had long appealed to me. This tribal art with all its facets will delight and inspire me throughout my life to understand it even more deeply and inspire me to understand and feel it even more deeply. TRAVELS Between 1988 and 2001 I made at least one two-month trip per year—totally 16 trips at 2 months each and one of a four-month stay. In the East Sepik Province, starting from Wewak, I visited the islands of Kairiru, Mushu, Tarawai, Walis and the Schouten Islands. I collected in some villages along the northern coast road like Wonginara. My specialty was the Boiken area--all villages from Wewak to Passam. Then from the junction in Passam the whole region to Angoram on the Sepik. Along the road towards Maprik, from Passam to the junction in Hayfield all villages right and left—both Boiken and Abelam including the Sepik plains and the Roma. I collected in the entire Abelam area from the north to the south to Pagwi including Yama. Furthermore, I made trips to the West, Eastern and Southern Highlands including the Lake Kutubu region. From Port Moresby I explored the Woitape-Tapini region. In Milne Bay Province, I first traveled along the mainland and then visited almost all the islands. In Madang Province I collected on Manam Island and in the whole region around Bogia far into the grassland. From what is known as Base Camp I canoed along the Ramu River to the south and then along the Guam River. There I explored all the tribes of the region including the region around Josephstaal and from there back to Bogia.
134 Michael Hamson Oceanic Art
