National Museum & Art Gallery

Top choice in Port Moresby


This superb museum, beautifully remodelled for the country's 40th anniversary of independence, is the best introduction you can get to Papua New Guinea's rich indigenous culture. Subtly lit exhibits are divided by theme: musical instruments, body adornments, ceremonial kundu and garamut drums, seafaring equipment (including a magnificent Milne Bay outrigger canoe decorated in large cowrie shells and ornate canoe splashboards), elaborate masks and vast totem poles from the Sepik are all present and correct. Take your time.

See if you can spot an agiba (skull rack), yam cult masks, kina shell money, a kawarigit (carved ceremonial stool from the Sepik), bark cloth masks and colourful shields from New Britain and headgear featuring bird-of-paradise feathers.

Other displays cover the geography, fauna, culture, ethnography and history of PNG.


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