An Eloquent Inheritance
Gunantuna (Tolai people), Papua New Guinea / Installation view of Loloi (shell money rings) 2018, Tutana (man, the largest shell money rings) 2018, Ulang (ceremonial spear) 2018, Rumu (ceremonial spear) / Commissioned for ‘The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ / The Taylor Family Collection. Purchased 2018 with funds from Paul, Sue and Kate Taylor through the QAGOMA Foundation / © The artists / Photograph: N Harth © QAGOMA / View full image
When
7 Nov 2026 – 27 Jun 2027
Where
Queensland Art Gallery, Galleries 5 & 6 (Henry and Amanda Bartlett Galleries)
Admission
Free
About
The economic and value system of many customary Pacific cultures is based in relationships and cannot be compared to a currency for which a government fixes value. Bringing together contemporary artworks and adornments from across the Pacific, ‘An Eloquent Inheritance’ explores the network of connections and relationships that continue to imbue objects with special value in the Pacific.
Ranging from large shell-money rings from East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, and contemporary shell adornments, through to the tools used to create taonga (treasured possessions) on Aotearoa’s South Island, each of the works carries meaning and memory relating to ancestral practices of creation and the artists’ ongoing connections to particular people and a place.
Gunantuna (Tolai people), Papua New Guinea / Installation view of Loloi (shell money rings) 2018, Tutana (man, the largest shell money rings) 2018, Ulang (ceremonial spear) 2018, Rumu (ceremonial spear) / Commissioned for ‘The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ / The Taylor Family Collection. Purchased 2018 with funds from Paul, Sue and Kate Taylor through the QAGOMA Foundation / © The artists / Photograph: N Harth © QAGOMA / View full image