Art From New Guinea at Metropolitan Museum Yesterday

I don’t do well in museums, but I ended up spending 3 hours at the Met yesterday. The big surprise was the exhibit of art from New Guinea, much of it collected by Michael Rockefeller. It was similar in many aspects to art of the First Nations tribes of British Columbia* — totem poles and canoes carved out of single trees. This is a huge ceiling panel from a ceremonial house of the Kwoma group, who live in the Washkuk hills north of the Sepik river in northeastern New Guinea. I shot over 200 photos at the Met — a total “embarrassment of riches.” I just don’t know what to do with all my “content.” I need a clone (or maybe an apprentice) to help me deal with all of it.

*A few days ago I spent a long time at the wonderful First Nations display at the Museum of Natural History. (There is a huge canoe there, among other stunning works of art.)

About Lloyd Kahn

Lloyd Kahn started building his own home in the early '60s and went on to publish books showing homeowners how they could build their own homes with their own hands. He got his start in publishing by working as the shelter editor of the Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand in the late '60s. He has since authored six highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The books, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include Shelter, Shelter II (1978), Home Work (2004), Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008), Tiny Homes (2012), and Tiny Homes on the Move (2014). Lloyd operates from Northern California studio built of recycled lumber, set in the midst of a vegetable garden, and hooked into the world via five Mac computers. You can check out videos (one with over 450,000 views) on Lloyd by doing a search on YouTube:

3 Responses to Art From New Guinea at Metropolitan Museum Yesterday

  1. The pictures you do choose to post seem to be exactly the ones you should. I have enjoyed each one in an "oh wow" manner. I'm super glad I added you on twitter.

  2. If you really do want an apprentice/assistant/intern I am available, enthusiastic, and even diploma-ed by an institution of higher education in a totally unrelated field! But, in all seriousness, if you'd like some help shoot me an email and we can discuss what you need and what I can do: o.x.mercury2012@spamgourmet.com

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