The Anthropology Museum and The Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) have recently acquired a pair of garamuts (slit log gongs) from the Madang region of PNG, collected by School of Social Science RHD student Alphonse Aime. Mr Aime is the recipient of the Peter Goodenough and Wantoks PhD Scholarship in Anthropology and is researching the art and skill of garamut making in PNG. Peter Goodenough was an independent entrepreneur with strong connections to PNG, but who sadly in 2004 died of motor neuron disease (MND) in 2004. In addition to the scholarship, Mr Goodenough left a major bequest to QBI for research into MND. 

On June 3 the two organisations will be hosting a ‘beating of the garamuts’ ceremony to celebrate both Mr Aime’s project and the advances made in MND research. All are welcome to attend.

 

Arnold Jongtai, Philip Apa, Paul Kuri, Teddy Tamone, Willie Kawang Raing (Rumbung / garamut / slit gong), 2012 45 x 160 x 40cm New Guinea teak (diwai garamut/Vitex sp.), acrylic paint, dyed sago leaves, plastic rice bags Kayan Village, Bogia District, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea Collected by Alphonse Aime