Between October 8th and 16th of 2019, Regenstein Collections Manager Chris Philipp and exhibitions developer Ryan Schuessler traveled to Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands.
The Regenstein curatorial team maintains an initiative to reconnect with Pacific Islander communities whose ancestors made and used the items that the Museum cares for today. The Field Museum has worked in the Marshall Islands before: former curator Alexander Spoehr conducted fieldwork there in 1947, and the 1980s the exhibitions department purchased a Marshallese canoe from Jaluit Atoll and arranged for its shipment to Chicago for the new Regenstein Hall (where it can now be seen in "Traveling the Pacific").
In service to that goal, the trip had the following aims:
1) establish new connections with the Marshallese community in Majuro,
2) update individuals and organizations in Majuro regarding the Museum's partnership with the Marshallese community in Enid, Oklahoma (in particular, the exhibit rotation in development co-curated with 5 Enid High School students earlier this year)
3) ask for feedback and input from individuals and organizations for this exhibit rotation, and
4) extend an invitation to co-curate the 250+ objects of cultural heritage that represent the Marshallese currently in the collection.
Philipp and Schuessler were successful in making contact and discussing the Marshallese collection and initiatives with numerous organizations and individuals, including the Alele Museum and Public Library, the University of the South Pacific (USP) Marshall Islands Campus, The College of the Marshall Islands (CMI), and Waan Aelõñ in Majel (WAM) - "Canoes of the Marshall Islands". 65 contemporary objects for the Museum were acquired on this trip including a canoe model made by one of WAM's recently graduated students, 2 jaki-ed (fine mats) commissioned with the help of Dr. Irene Tafaaki of USP, and 3 sitting and sleeping mats organized through Professor Hermon Lajar of the College of the Marshall Islands. The canoe model and mats both represent continuity in Marshallese arts and a recently revitalized art form in the case of the jaki-ed. At USP, Philipp and Schuessler also gave a presentation on the Museum collection, co-curation, the upcoming exhibit rotation to first year students.
The Enid High School co-curators plan to include a representation of contemporary living culture in their upcoming show: as such, a selection of woven bags, head ornaments, and other handicrafts were obtained for consideration of inclusion in the upcoming exhibit rotation in the front of the Regenstein Halls of the Pacific.
Travelling back home via Hawaii, Philipp and Schuessler visited the Bishop Museum. The layover proved productive: the team learned about current methods for storing kahili (Hawaiian feather standards) in collections, and saw some of the most recent mats from the Marshallese weaving resurgence.