Milène C. Rossi: Wie weit kann man europäische Einflüsse in der modernen zeitgenössi-schen Kunst aus Papua Neuguinea erkennen?

Abstract. – This article concerns the contemporary art from Papua New Guinea (PNG), in particular painting and drawing. With the founding of art schools in 1969, a modernizing artistic movement was established in PNG, which also coincided with a period of cultural and political change in that country. Soon afterwards, in 1975, Papua New Guinea achieved its political independence. Due to the important Papuan carving tradition, which played a significant role in traditional cultures, and due to the lack of necessary materials for the “arts of paper,” this kind of artistic expression was almost nonexistent before 1969. In fact, as this area of art remained unexplored, PNG artists had to invent their own tradition. The main question of this article is where those modern artists drew their stylistic and thematic inspiration from: the local or the European repertoire? [Papua New Guinea, visual arts, picture analysis, cultural influences]