Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden

Volunteering with Bay Area Older Adults is always a fun experiences and this one was no different. Anne arranged a tour of the beautiful Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden in Stanford Campus.

 

It was an hour long docent led tour of the gardens. This garden was created in 1994. One of the master students from the anthropology department at Stanford, Jim Mason, after returning from a trip to Papua New Guinea, proposed recreating their art work on the campus. His proposal was approved and ten talented artists from Papua New Guinea were brought in to work on the project. The group consisted of five youngsters who did all the hard labor and five experienced artists who did the actual carving and painting. It took them five months to create all the 40 wood and stone sculptures. Plants in the garden complement the sculptures and were specifically chosen to mimic the look and feel of Papua New Guinea.

Kura-Mythological character

The country has two main tribes namely Kwoma and Iatmul who live along the Sepik river. Representatives from both these tribes were brought here. One of the tribes is a  master of carving wood while the other excels in painting. The art work is very distinct for each tribe and both are very intricate and beautiful. The sculptures depict the various founding legends and important mythological characters. The docent told us quite a few amusing stories from the art work.

Painted sculpture

There are some sculptures which are inspired from Rodin's work from the Cantor Art Museum. The artists used their creativity and presented their take on the master's work. Interestingly, the artists were only used to carving wood. When they asked if they could get some local material other than wood to try their hand at, they were given pumice stone and the artists took an instant liking to it. This resulted in a lot of stone sculptures being produced.

'The Thinker'

Stone carving

The garden is free and open throughout the year. Free docent led tours are organized every third Sunday of the month. If you want to get a glimpse of the fascinating world of the Kwomas and the Iatmuls, I recommend taking the tour. Parking is free on the weekend and the garden is completely shaded so there is no reason not to visit the garden and take in the gorgeous sights.

What: Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden

Where: Lomita Drive Stanford, CA

When: All year round

Fee: Free