Malanggan: Art, Memory and Sacrifice (Materializing Culture) Book

While you might not recognize the name, you would no doubt recognize Malanggan, the Melanesian artwork found in virtually every ethnographic museum in the world. Yet the primary purpose of Malanggan is to decay - as a symbolic representation of the dead. Malanggan are effigies wrapped in images.

The majority of Malanggan seen in museums appear to have been produced between 1870 and 1930 in the north of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. This original study begins by tracing the history of the collections and moves on to consider the role these artifacts play in sacrifice, ritual and exchange. What is the relationship between Malanggan and memory? How can Malanggan be understood as a life force as well as a vehicle for thought? The author considers these questions and explores Malanggan in relation to issues such as kinship, ceremonial display, and memory. This book is an ethnography and a discussion of the current debates surrounding the management of intellectual economy.

Based on fifteen years of fieldwork and collection research, Malanggan is destined to become a classic in the field.