A Fine Old New Guinea Moka Kina Western Highlands Province Papua New Guinea

A Fine Old New Guinea Moka Kina Wealth Plaque Western Highlands Papua New Guinea

This superb Moka Kina Wealth Plaque is from the Melpa People in the Mount Hagen area of the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.

This beautiful old Shell Pectoral Ornament is called Moka Kina , the shell is made from the Gold Lip Pearl Shell or Pinctada Maximums and is covered in red ochre and set into a plaque of hard tree resin and then given a decorated woven band for wearing over the chest.

Shells, in general, were highly valued as traditional wealth by the people in the interior of New Guinea where they had to travel through trading from the coast where they were collected to hundreds of kilometers through some of the most rugged terrain on the planet.  These were used as a traditional currency during a traditional ceremony where Moka Kina and pigs were exchanged

The moka is an exchange system where it is a system of reciprocal exchange in which the donor gives shells and pigs as outright gifts and later is he is obligated to give a larger amount back to the original donor.

The return payment is not made at the same time. Each recipient of shells and or pigs make a note of the debt he owes so that he can make the appropriate return payment later. The exchange of wealth means friendship, and friendship means alliances. Moka is made between clans, the purpose of which is to cement alliances. Clans will not support clans with which they do not do moka. Therefore moka is not done indiscriminately. Those doing moka will ensure that the clans they are dealing with will be their allies forever. A clan needs a number of other clans it can rely on in times of war for survival. Clan warfare has been and still is endemic throughout the highlands of Papua New Guinea. The moka still has a role to play in the lives of the Melpa as a means of exchanging wealth to maintain social relationships,  After receiving the pearl shells in a moka, the owner may do what he likes with them. He does not have to give them away immediately in exchange, but he must at some time in the future repay his debts with the correct number of pearl shells. Therefore he cannot disburse them indiscriminately. He can use them to pay bride’s wealth, buy pigs or buy land.

Provenance: The Gabriela Roy Collection. The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art 

Exhibited and Published :  Adorned: Traditional Body Decorations from Australia & the Pacific 1999 at The Macleay Museum at The University of Sydney Page 29

I first went to Papua New Guinea in 1985 for an adventure & what I found was that I really enjoyed being with the people of New Guinea, over the next 38 years I spent extensive time spent collecting and documenting traditional art & ceremonies in remote areas of Papua New Guinea & West Papua, The Solomon Islands & Vanuatu & the other Pacific Islands countries. During these travels, I made major collections of New Guinea & Oceanic Art for major Museums and Public Art Galleries

I was honoured by being in the prestigious Louvre Museum Magazine for the collections I made for The Museum of African & Oceanic Art Paris in 1996 (now the Musee Quai Branly) for the exhibition “Asmat et Mimika d’ Irian Jaya April 1996 At THE MUSEE NATIONAL des ARTS D’AFRIQUE et d’ OCEANIE, Paris

See all of the links & photos in my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY and there is the link to the article in the prestigious Louvre Magazine 1996

I have artwork for Museums & Art Galleries but also for collectors at every stage of their collecting. I want to encourage people to explore the fine art of New Guinea & West Papua and the Pacific Islands and to be able to see and touch the artworks in a relaxed and friendly manner in my Sydney Gallery.  I would like to invite you to visit my gallery and see the artworks in person and also look at my website www.oceanicartsaustralia.com  where there are many Galleries & Sub Galleries to explore.

My Gallery of nearly 40 years is the last physical gallery in Sydney that specialises in New Guinea & Oceanic Art. Sydney is just a couple hours’ flight to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbours.

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