DRESDEN.- The GRASSI Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig is marking a major milestone in global history with a thoughtful and timely exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s independence. Titled WanBel, the special presentation opened on 5 December 2025 and runs through 28 June 2026, bringing together remarkable works from the museum’s own collection while situating them within an international moment of reflection, connection, and cultural exchange.

The word WanBel, drawn from one of Papua New Guinea’s official languages, translates literally as “one belly.” Its meaning reaches far beyond the phrase itself, evoking ideas of shared origin, solidarity, and mutual responsibility. These values lie at the heart of the exhibition, which has been developed in close collaboration with Papua New Guinea’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the National Museum and Art Gallery in Port Moresby, and the National Cultural Commission. Together, these partners are fostering new forms of dialogue between museums and source communities across the world.

The Leipzig exhibition forms part of a much larger, global initiative. Under the banner “WanBel – connecting Papua New Guinea’s cultural heritage across the world,” nearly 50 museums and cultural institutions are contributing exhibitions, events, and workshops throughout 2025. A shared digital platform allows audiences worldwide to explore key artworks online, creating what is now the largest global exhibition of art from Papua New Guinea—accessible to millions beyond the walls of any single museum.

At the GRASSI Museum, visitors will encounter a carefully curated selection of 45 objects drawn from its extensive holdings of around 15,000 works from New Guinea, collected between 1885 and 2025. Highlights include six Malanggan carvings from the Bismarck Archipelago, their striking red, white, and black forms depicting human and animal figures created for ceremonial commemorations of the dead. Works from the Sepik region—among them a richly carved hook with an ancestral figure, an orator’s chair, and numerous amulets—underscore the central role of ancestor veneration in Papua New Guinean cultures.

Painted and carved shields from the Gulf of Papua and the Sepik region reveal powerful stylized faces, while ceremonial masks made from tapa bark cloth—once worn during male initiation rituals—speak to traditions that remain alive today. Together, these objects offer insight into artistic practices that are inseparable from social life, ritual, and collective memory.

For Lars-Christian Koch, Director of the Ethnological Museums in Leipzig, Dresden, and Herrnhut, the exhibition points toward the future of museum work. He emphasizes that meaningful networks between museums and countries of origin are no longer optional but essential. Only through collaboration, he argues, can research be responsibly conducted and cultural histories shared with wider audiences.

With WanBel, the GRASSI Museum does more than commemorate an anniversary. It opens a space for encounter—between past and present, between institutions and communities, and between visitors and a living cultural heritage that continues to resonate far beyond Papua New Guinea’s borders.