Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden, Sculpture garden at Stanford University, Santa Clara County, US
The Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden at Stanford University features intricately carved wooden posts, stone works, and traditional drums created by artists from the Sepik River region. The pieces are arranged along winding pathways that create a cohesive artistic installation throughout the site.
In 1994, ten master carvers from Papua New Guinea spent four months transforming an oak grove into a sculptural installation. The project resulted from direct collaboration between Stanford University and Sepik Region artists to preserve their cultural expressions.
The garden displays traditional village layouts with ancestral spirit houses and figures that hold deep meaning in Sepik River communities. Visitors can observe how these spaces shaped daily life and spiritual practices for the people who created them.
The pathways wind gently between sculptures and are easy to walk through at a relaxed pace. Evening lighting highlights the carved details, so visiting at different times of day offers different viewing experiences.
Two artists reinterpreted Rodin's famous works The Thinker and The Gates of Hell, connecting Iatmul mythology with Western artistic traditions. This reinterpretation shows how the carvers reimagined universal themes through their own cultural lens.
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