I was approached by Polly Wiessner, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Utah, to design a 5,000 ft2 exhibit space in the Highland area of Papua New Guinea. I teamed up with another designer and Polly says, “We were the only ones interested in taking on such a challenge”. The center is a place where a culture in transition is recorded and kept alive.
We designed the exhibits to help trigger discussion among the Enga. And we used larger-than-life murals, photos, and artifacts to tell the story of the Enga. Walls covered with poems, songs, and traditional images; artifacts from the people, spaces still to be filled by the people - the center is a place to discuss the past and plan for the future.
It was challenging to design an exhibit in Salt Lake City, have it printed in Sydney, Australia and then work on the installation with a community that had never done anything like it. Working on this project was also one of the best experiences that I’ve had!
