William Paterson University Galleries: Preservation Assessment
FAIN: PG-52257-14
William Paterson University (Wayne, NJ 07470-2103)
Kristen Evangelista (Project Director: May 2013 to September 2015)
A preservation assessment of 430 ethnographic objects from Africa and Oceania. They include objects used in rituals (masks, ceremonial stools, drums), items with more utilitarian purposes (baskets, bowls, fishhooks), and bodily adornments (necklaces, breastplates, and headbands). Represented in the collection are materials produced by more than 40 different ethnic groups from sub-Saharan Africa, New Guinea, and the islands of the Pacific. Highlights include a wooden D'imba headdress worn by the Baga people of the Guinea coast; an "antelope" crest mask used in the ceremonies of the Bamana people in Mali; and wooden carvings representing war and hunting deities from the Middle Sepik region of Papua New Guinea.
For the first time in the gallery's history, the William Paterson University Galleries will hire a preservation professional to assess the collection and recommended measures to preserve the university's collection of ethnographic objects. This project will focus on the Joan and Gordon Tobias Collection of African and Oceanic Art of 430 objects, which represent several categories: adornment, ceremonial, and household items.