United States and Solomon Islands National Museum Enjoy New Linkages

Recent projects of the U.S. Embassy in Honiara and U.S. institutions with Solomon Islands National Museum have resulted in new linkages with U.S. and Australian museums, increased staff capacity, and exhibit design assistance.

Australian Museum staff consulted with staff of Solomon Islands National Museum and the National Gallery, Haus Numbawan (in Tulagi), and Kastom Keepers (in Malaita), August 17-21. In the spirit of the Pasifika Tauhi project’s aim to establish multilateral connections across Pacific Island communities, connecting practitioners to key Australian Museum experts in collection conservation, and provide insights for further collaboration across the Pacific, Senior Pasifika Collection Officer Melissa Sutton, and Manager of Collections Care and Conservation Heather Bleechmore made their final on-island consultation for the Pasifika Tauhi pilot phase in Solomon Islands.

Supported by the U.S. Embassy in Australia, Pasifika Tauhi aims to build capacity for cultural revitalization and preservation in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu by supporting local efforts to safeguard local knowledges and practices, particularly from the impact of climactic challenges. The word “tauhi” is Tongan for “look after, tend to, or to take care of,” which articulates the project’s aim of the project. Upon the project’s launch, former U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy said the Pasifika Tauhi project would help focus collective efforts to preserve cultural knowledge: “Covering a third of the earth, the Pacific is home to vibrant and diverse cultures that speak a quarter of the world’s languages. The dynamic cultures of Pasifika peoples are captured and shared in the remarkable stories and objects from across the region. The museum sector understands the vital importance of preserving the collections and cultural heritage of these nations. Through the Australian Museum’s Pasifika Tauhi project, we will support work across the region to establish best practice, knowledge sharing and cultural catalogues.” “Solomon Islands National Museum gratefully received this much-needed equipment and extends its thanks to the Australian Museum and the U.S. Embassy. It will greatly enhance our ability to safely manage the collection, preserving it for generations of Solomon Islanders to come,” said Lawrence Kiko, Deputy Director, Solomon Islands National Museum.

Solomon Islands National Museum ethnologist Grinta Ale’eke Bemama participated in the U.S. Department of State’s “Asia-Pacific Museum Exchange Program” workshop in Honolulu with 12 other museum curators, collections managers, and cultural heritage stewards from Asia and the Pacific, July 15-30. A program of the U.S. Department of State’s Heritage Exchange Initiative, the Asia Pacific Museum Exchange is a series of cultural heritage-focused programs to strengthen ties between the United States and Pacific Island and Southeast Asian nations and build professional networks across the ocean we share. The workshop, which the University of Hawai’i Center for Southeast Asian Studies facilitated in partnership with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. National Park Service, fostered cross-cultural connections and built networks as they explored collections management, digitizing collections, oral histories, and community engagement through visits to many Hawai’ian culture centers such as Iolani Palace (the only royal residence in the United States), Bishop Museum, Waikiki Aquarium, East West Center Art Gallery, Hawai’i State Archives, Honolulu Museum of Art, Mayor of Honolulu’s Office of Culture and Art, the Pacific Collections of the University of Hawai’i’s Hamilton Library, Manoa Cultural Center, Japanese Cultural Center, and Hawai’i Plantation Village. They also visited the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture, and Design, and participated in a talk story at the Center for Pacific Islands Studies (CPIS) and a recording at the Oceania Current Podcast Conversation Studio. At the University of Hawai’i Center for Oral History, the group learned about creating, caring, cataloguing, and digitizing audio-visual material. Ms. Bemama also presented on Solomon Islands cultural patrimony to her peers. She shared that she learned that “Cultural heritage is about care, stewardship, accessibility, and responsibility – preserving it for future generations.”

Shirley Mwanesalua and Patricia Vaegi George recently represented Solomon Islands National Museum at the re-launch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York’s newly reimagined Arts of Oceania galleries. Arts of Oceania showcases a diverse collection of art from the Pacific Islands – including many Solomon Islands artifacts – following a major renovation of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. The Museum invited Shirley, a curator, and Patricia, an educator – who had provided captions for these artifacts in order to enhance the displays and provide visitors with deeper insights into the art and cultural context – to attend the relaunch and to present on the collection’s Solomon Islands artifacts to the throngs of visitors who attended this relaunch in recognition of their invaluable knowledge base and contributions to greater understanding of Oceania’s diverse artistic traditions within the Museum. The Arts of Oceania Gallery, which was closed since 2021, features over 650 works, including new acquisitions and contemporary commissions by Indigenous artists. The redesigned space highlights the artistic traditions and cultural significance of Oceanic art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a treasury of rare and beautiful objects spanning 5,000 years and a vast variety of cultures in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas.

In addition, the Solomon Islands National Museum has closely collaborated with the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) for many years by securing permissions for the legal transfer of remains of missing U.S. servicemembers, enabling fullest possible accounting to their families and the U.S. government, and allowing their return home to their families. The U.S. government greatly values and appreciates this support, which allows the legal movement of the remains to the United States for testing and eventually, delivery of the remains to family members.

This is a joint press release of the U.S. Embassy to Solomon Islands, the Solomon Islands Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Solomon Islands National Museum.

Source: U.S. Embassy in Honiara, Solomon Islands