Penn Museum | Traveling Exhibits

Austin Super’s vivid color photographs feature Papua New Guinea natives as the subjects in Counterpoint: Anthropology and Photography in New Guinea. The accompanying written commentary by anthropologist Stuart Kirsch offers insights and invites the viewer to consider how what is photographed tells us something about our own search for the “exotic.”

Thirty-four enlarged color photographs, many of them close-ups of men, women and children in elaborate costume, face and body decorations, were taken by world-traveler and amateur photographer Austin Super on a three week trip to Papua New Guinea in August, 1988. Super visited several locations in the central highlands of Papua New Guinea, including Goroka, where he took the majority of his photographs during the annual highlands festival (known in Pidgin English as a “sing-sing”), an event attended by representatives of more than 100 different local ethnic groups celebrating cultural identity, costume, and dance.

Availability	Currently Available
Gallery Space	min. 175 running feet
Venue Period	12 weeks. Every effort will be made to accommodate special requests from borrowers.
Contents	34 wall-ready color photographs. Venues may alter the arrangement and number of images they exhibit. Piece labels, section captions, and text panels accompany the exhibit. These materials are also provided in disc form. Public relations material will be provided prior to the opening of the exhibit. Exhibit-related merchandise is also available.
Shipping	To be arranged by the University of Pennsylvania Museum. Venue is responsible for inbound shipping costs.
Insurance	Covered by Penn Museum.
Installation/ Deinstallation	No courier necessary. Qualified staff at borrowing institution will install and deinstall the exhibition.
Requirements	Facility report must be submitted for review before approval of loan. Borrowing institutions must complete incoming and outgoing condition reports. The borrower must adhere to temperature and light controls for this exhibit.
Contacts	Katherine Blanchard Traveling Exhibits Coordinator 215-746-6976 kblancha@sas.upenn.edu