Plumes and Pearlshells
The art of the New Guinea Highlands claims pride of place in this book based on Stanley Gordon Moriarty’s private collection, assembled from his travels in the highlands in the 1960s and 70s. The elaborate plumes and incandescence pearlshells that inspired the title set a tone of ceremonial flair that permeates the book.
The book displays the beautifully preserved intricate headdresses, textiles and dance masks, created with a finesse of a well-practised tradition passed down through the generations. Alongside the rare gourd masks, painted shields and shaped spears and arrows, are a selection of black and white images from Moriarty’s photographic archive of the highlanders in the ceremonial garb. This in-depth display of traditional highland ceremony brings to life the everyday in the delicate and tactile objects.
Now housed at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the book evokes Moriarty’s highly personal collection, driven by passion and fervour to conserve this cultural heritage. The book is thoughtfully assembled, including an insightful conversation with Moriarty on his inestimable legacy and the challenges of collecting highland art today.
Author: Natalie Wilson
Publisher: Art Gallery of NSW
RRP: $49.95
Nike Savvas: Purple Haze presents intimate screen prints and immersive large-scale installation and video work by Savvas from 2005–2026, each evocative of different places and...
Although physically he is of modest stature, Zofrea has devoted much of his life to grand projects that have been conceived and executed on a...
Through a multidisciplinary collaboration between Rotterdam-based curators, architect Paul Cournet of CLOUD and artist-designer Sabine Marcelis of Studio Sabine Marcelis, the exhibition explores the interplay...
Artificial intelligence will be used by young artists who started using it as kids on their phones. They will see it as a natural extension...
This year’s Biennale arrives under more complex circumstances than most. It is shaped by the profound loss of its curator, Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025), whose exhibition...
No artist creates in isolation. Every painting carries traces of the conversations, places and histories that shaped it, preserving within its surface a particular moment...
The weekend markets at Fairfield Showground have been one of Western Sydney’s great institutions for more than fifty years. Fresh fruit and vegetables, children’s clothes,...
In recent times, Yorgos Lanthimos has shifted toward photography, noting in a Guardian interview, 2026, that he needs respite, saying, “it might be a couple...
In Australia, political cartoons were altered by several events during the 1960s: the arrival of Les Tanner’s (1927‒2001) instinctual wit at The Bulletin, Bruce Petty’s...