Shadows of New Guinea : art from the Great Island of Oceania in the Barbier-Mueller collections : exposition, Paris, Mona Bismarck foundation, 3 oct.-25 nov. 2006

A publication revealing the extraordinary talents of the sculptors of New Guinea, in turn, marked with staggering ferocity and surprising delicacy.

The rituals of the native inhabitants of this major island sometimes involved headhunting, perceived as a need to appropriate the enemy's vital forces in order to increase one's own. It is a complex mythology that has given rise to numerous sacred or magic sculptures, the oldest of which were carved with stone tools or sharp shell edges and finished with the pointed teeth of small animals.

The Barbier-Mueller Museum presents almost two hundred pieces from New Guinea belonging to its collections, documented by superb photographs, some of which are previously unpublished.