Reflecting on the "Biography of Objects" through Melanesian Artifacts

A deep red body, a tongue extending from exposed teeth, sensual breasts, visible ribs, and a protruding lower abdomen. A "curious" statue that would surely astonish any first-time viewer is housed at Keio University. Based on its morphological characteristics, there is no doubt that it is an artifact related to the Malangan funerary rituals of the New Ireland region in the Bismarck Archipelago. In Malangan rituals, specialized carvers produce a wide variety of objects, including statues and masks. Statues, in particular, are displayed at the ritual site and presented to the attendees. After the ritual, the objects are discarded, and many are either cast into fires or left to decay in forests or caves.

Why and through what kind of history (biography) does this Malangan statue now reside at Keio University?

This statue was collected by Isokichi Komine, a trader active throughout Melanesia in the early 20th century. The number of Melanesian artifacts Komine collected during his lifetime reached into the thousands. At that time, the collection of artifacts by settlers was intensifying, and some objects were traded at high prices. The Malangan statue was one such object. After Komine's death, this statue, along with over 1,000 items from his collection, passed into the hands of Haruji Matsue, president of Nanyo Kohatsu. Later, through a stroke of fate, Keio University faculty member Nobuhiro Matsumoto and others were entrusted with organizing Komine's collection, which was compiled into the "Illustrated Collection of New Guinea Ethnographic Artifacts" (Volume 1 in 1937, Volume 2 in 1940). Shortly after the war, the management of these artifacts, including the Malangan statue, was handed over to Keio University.

Even at Keio University, the Malangan statue has continued to update its own biography. At times, its artistic merit was recognized, and it was displayed in art exhibitions alongside a diverse range of other objects. In recent years, it has continued to encounter objects from different regions and eras through exhibitions organized by the Archaeology and Ethnology laboratory.

The objects here today have woven their own biographies through interactions with various people and things in diverse settings such as production, use, collection, exhibition, and management. We hope you will visit the exhibition "The Eyes of Objects: Melanesian Artifacts and Secret Biographies" (March 9 – May 15, 2026, Keio Museum Commons) and reflect on the relationships and biographies these objects have woven.

(Kosuke Dai, Collaborative Researcher, Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI))