Buyers, Connoisseurs and Others: Collecting Asmat Art

Abstract

Asmat art is widely represented in Pacific collections in major museums despite the remoteness of the area and difficulty of communications. This article explores interactions between the Asmat people and some major collectors since the 1950s, and how different agencies came to promote Asmat carvings internationally. Three museums' practices are considered: the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum New York and the British Museum. The paper concludes with an examination of external forces on contemporary Asmat carving, the role of the Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress in Agats and how carving thrives today.