A Trobriand Islands ceremonial necklace entangled with six Polish coins sits in a glass showcase in a London museum, the highlight of a contemporary art exhibition.

The exhibition titled “Given” at the UK National Maritime Museum is by British contemporary artist Jeremy Millar and explores how events in history resonate with our understanding and experience of the present. It opened on September 28 and closes January 17 next year and is part of the museum’s contemporary art programme featuring work by British and international artists.

Mr Millar visited Papua New Guinea in May this year and travelled to Kiriwina (part of the Trobriand Islands) in Milne Bay province, recharting the journey Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski made in 1914 to the far flung South Sea island to study the lives of its inhabitants.

Malinowski’s research set the foundations of social anthropology and gave the world an insight into the life and cultural practices of the islanders, one of which is the Kula, an exchange economy between Milne Bay island communities.

The displayed necklace or ‘soulava’ as it is known in the local Kilivila language is part of the Kula’s ceremonial objects but with a Polish connection signifying Malinowski’s anthropological work.

British High Commissioner to PNG, David Dunn, said the art exhibition showcased PNG’s diverse cultures and had an historical perspective that connected Malinowski's groundbreaking work to the lives of 21st century Trobriand Islanders.

“Bronislaw Malinowski is called the father of modern anthropology because of his work on Kiriwina where he studied the marriage, religious and trade customs of the islanders. This exhibition, while showcasing PNG’s diverse cultures, will get museum visitors to ponder whether the reintroduction of the displayed soulava into the intricate Kula Ring exchange system will have value for its giver and receiver,” said Mr David.

According to Mr Millar, the Kula was difficult to define as it involved the movement of certain objects of symbolic power such as the soulava between various Kula partners who travelled between their islands using large outrigger canoes.

He added the museum promoted the planet’s sea-faring traditions and Malinowski’s first book on the Trobriand Islanders, Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922), gave prominence to their seafaring skills.

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