Uncovering Colonial Legacies: Collaborative Provenance Research on Malagan Carvings from New Ireland

This article examines postcolonial provenance research as a collaborative practice to address the challenges of colonial-era museum collections, focusing on Malagan carvings from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, and housed at the Linden-Museum Stuttgart, Germany. Amid current critical discourse on colonial legacies in museums, the study responds to calls for a reappraisal of European collections and engages with alternative research methods, including collaborative fieldwork with communities of origin (Scholz 2019; Rappaport 2008; Lassiter 2005a, 2005b; Sanjek 1993; Strathern 1987). The displacement of Malagan carvings into Western museum contexts has often obscured their meanings as dynamic agents, and perpetuated epistemic violence. In this case study we try to break the colonial narrative of static artefacts, viewing objects as a processual part of social and spiritual networks. Through collaborative research carried out by two Malagan carvers, a museum anthropologist, and local communities, the paper highlights the transformative potential for museums of shared authority in provenance work. The findings emphasise the need for community-driven approaches to redress historical injustices, foster inclusive museum practices and develop reparative futures. This research contributes to decolonial museum studies (Smith 1999) by proposing methods of collaboration for provenance research and the interpretation of collections: ones grounded in accountability, reciprocity and equitable knowledge production.