TRIBUS 50,2001
some menace, an appearance, as the photographs and conservation work show, it did
not originally possess so strongly (ills. 11&12). The Paruai malagan was not just given
a brisk cleaning and a freshening up of its colours so that it did the museum proud on
opening day 1968. It was time-consumingly re-decorated in a particular manner with
particular motifs and designs used repeatedly despite their restrained application or
absence on the original.
III.11. Figure no.8 as it appeared from 1967 to 2000. Note the black paint on the bird’s
beak and legs, and on the figure’s right forehead, teeth, shoulders and chest.