UW Art Museum Exhibits Papua New Guinea Objects

On Saturday, March 31, a free exhibition at the University of Wyoming Art Museum will open titled, “Journeys along the Sepik River: Tribal Art from Papua New Guinea.” The exhibition would never be happening, were it not for a gift recently acquired by the UW Art Museum.

The gift is from the Salgo Trust for Education, a trust created by the late Hungarian-American financier and diplomat Nicolas M. Salgo who amassed an eclectic collection of art while on a trip to New Guinea in the early 1970s.

Made of carved andpainted wood, the objects that make up this collection are based on traditional art from the rivers, but were made long after the art of those areas was influenced by the West.

Director and chief curator of the UW Art Museum Susan Moldenhauer says the objects at the exhibition are considered the best and most creative work from Papua New Guinea and are held in high regard by collectors and museums such as the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

The addition of the Salgo collection offers a number of affinities with the museum’s existing collection. These new linkages offer opportunities for research to students and scholars at UW and other institutions.”

For more information regarding the new exhibition, or the UW Art Museum, call (307) 766-6622 or visit the museum’s webpage at www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum or at www.uwartmuseum.blogspot.com.