PNG National Museum and Art Gallery
The national collection in Waigani, holding masks, carvings, canoes and material from across the country's cultures.
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The National Museum holds the country's principal ethnographic collection, which matters in a place with over eight hundred languages and a corresponding range of material culture: Sepik carvings and spirit house posts, Gulf province bark cloth and gope boards, masks from the Baining and the Tolai, Trobriand carving, shields, drums, bilums and a collection of canoes including large trading vessels. There are also natural history and contemporary art holdings and material on the country's history. Funding has been thin and parts of the display are dated, but the objects are of the first rank and a great many of the traditions represented are no longer practised. It stands next to Parliament Haus in Waigani.
What you actually see
- Sepik carving - the spirit house posts, masks and figures.
- Gulf gope boards - the painted bark and wood ancestor boards.
- Canoes - the large trading and ceremonial vessels.
- Masks - the Baining, Tolai and other mask traditions.
When to go
Year round; the museum is indoors and open on weekdays with limited weekend hours. Mornings are best. It combines with Parliament Haus and the Nature Park in the same district.
Honest expectations
Funding constraints show in the displays and some galleries have been closed at times. Labelling is uneven. Getting around Port Moresby means arranged transport rather than walking between districts. Photography may be restricted.
Nearby
Parliament Haus is adjacent; the Nature Park is close by.
What to pack for PNG National Museum and Art Gallery
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
