docEXHIBITION FACTS AND DATES TITEL From the Pacific: A
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EXHIBITION FACTS AND DATES TITEL From the Pacific: A
EXHIBITION FACTS AND DATES TITEL From the Pacific: A Passionate Collector – F.H. Otto Finsch (1839–1917) LOCATION DURATION Museum of Ethnology, Vienna May 16, 2012 – October 8, 2012 PRESS CONFERENCE May 15 at 10 a.m., Hall of Columns, Museum of Ethnology FORMAL OPENING May 15 at 6 p.m., Hall of Columns, Museum of Ethnology NUMBER OF EXHIBITS 150 EXHIBITION CURATORS Gabriele Weiss, Museum of Ethnology, Vienna EXHIBITION SPACE 200 m² CATALOGUE An exhibition catalogue in german will be published in conjunction with the show PROGAMME AND EVENTS Christine Kaufmann, tel. +43 (0)664 605 14 – 5050 [email protected] From the Pacific: A Passionate Collector – F.H. Otto Finsch (1839–1917) Museum of Ethnology, Vienna May 16, 2012 – October 8, 2012 Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch, born August 8, 1839 in Warmbrunn, Silesia, became a well-known naturalist, ethnographer, and colonial explorer in an age shared with other famous German scientists and explorers such as Hermann Schlegel, Gustav Hartlaub, Alfred E. Brehm, Eduard Dallmann, Richard Andree, Rudolf Virchow, Franz Boas, Adolf Bastian, and Felix von Luschan. Along with his early interests in ornithology, Finsch became an assistant curator at the Museum of Natural History in Leiden, The Netherlands, from 1862 through 1864, where he was trained by the ornithologist H. Schlegel (1804–1884) in the study of birds of Southeast Asia and New Guinea. In 1864, with the recommendation of naturalist G. Hartlaub (1814–1900), Finsch became curator at the Museum of the Natural History Association in Bremen. In 1876, he accompanied zoologist A. E. Brehm (1829– 1884) on an expedition to Turkestan and Northwest China. With financial support from the Humboldt Foundation in Berlin, Finsch led his first South Sea Expedition to Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia and Australia from 1879 through 1882. His second expedition to the Pacific (1884–1885) was financed and operated by a group of wealthy German traders, entrepreneurs, and businessmen with colonial interests in Northeast New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. Otto Finsch was appointed “Imperial Commissioner” to establish a German Protectorate in the northeastern part of New Guinea (called “Kaiser-Wilhelms-Land”), and the “Bismarck Archipelago” by famous German statesman Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898), who became the first Chancellor of the German Empire under Prussian leadership from 1871 to 1890. The capital of the German Colony, a seaport on the northeast coast of mainland New Guinea, was named Finschhafen. Thousands of zoological specimens and ethnographic objects, as well as hundreds of human skulls and bones from Micronesia and Melanesia, were collected by Otto Finsch. Consistent with the colonial ideology and scientific perceptions of the late 19th century, he registered, measured, photographed, and did castings of indigenous men and women from the Pacific islands for the purpose of racial research. After his return to Bremen, he spent ten years (1886–1896) carefully documenting his collections and publishing his research work in scientific books, exhibition catalogues, lectures, newsletters, magazines, and newspapers. During these years, he sold most of his privately-collected ethnographic artifacts and zoological preserves to European, Russian, and American museums. Like his father Moritz Finsch, who was a trained draftsman and glass painter, he used his artistic skills to produce sketches, drawings, watercolor paintings, and photographs of Pacific islanders, landscapes, houses, settlements, clothing, tools, weapons, masks, and carved figures. In 1886, Otto Finsch married his second wife, Elisabeth Hoffman, daughter of the skilled artist Moritz Wilhelm Hoffman (1823–1896). Elisabeth and his assistant, Anna Strohmeyer at Brunswick Municipal Museum, and his father-in-law, Moritz W. Hoffman, supported his documentary and publication work in many ways. Finsch returned to Leiden to become the Chief Curator of the Ornithological Collections of the Museum of Natural History from 1897 to 1904. In 1904, he moved back to Germany to accept the position of Chief Conservator, and from 1914 to 1917, the directorship of the Ethnological Collections at the Municipal Museum in Brunswick (Braunschweig), dying there on January 31, 1917. The exhibition places the scientific legacy of German explorer, naturalist, and ethnographer Otto Finsch into the ideological context of 19th century anthropological scholarship and German colonial interests in the Pacific. From his two South Sea Expeditions (1879–1882 and 1884–1885) focusing on the Marshall, Gilbert, and Caroline Islands, the BismarckArchipelago, and the eastern part of mainland New Guinea, Otto Finsch brought back to Europe excellent records of his scientific work and a rich collection of ethnographic artifacts. Twenty-six handwritten diaries, field notes, object catalogues, native language word lists, sketches, drawings and (anthropometric) photographs are stored in the archives of the Vienna Museum of Ethnology. About 2000 ethnographic objects from Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia, such as implements, weapons, shell money, as well as adornment and ritual objects reflect masterful craftsmanship and outstandingly skilled artistry. PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS Dr. Otto Finsch (1839–1917) Frontispiece to Otto Finsch 1888. Samoafahrten. Reisen ins Kaiser Wilhelms-Land und Englisch-NeuGuinea in den Jahren 1884 u. 1885 an Bord des deutschen Dampfers „Samoa“. Leipzig: Ferdinand Hirt & Sohn © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM „Reception of Dr. Finsch in Dallmannshafen (KaiserWilhelms-Land)“ April 1885 The German Expedition 1884 under the leadership of Otto Finsch to New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago Moritz Wilhelm Hoffman (1823–1896), about 1885/90 Tempera on canvas Übersee-Museum Bremen, Inv. No. D 15.393 © Bildagentur akg-images Gmbh Berlin Pendant kap kap New Ireland, New Guinea Coll. Finsch, about 1885 Museum of Ethnology, Vienna Inv. No. 90.270 © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM Mourning Ceremony Matupi, New Britain, New Guinea Otto Finsch, dated 15 March 1881 Coloured pencil drawing Museum of Ethnology, Vienna, Finsch Drawing No. 14 © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM „Group of Natives. Gilbert-Islands, Micronesia.“ Foto by Otto Finsch, dated about 1880 Museum of Ethnology, Vienna, Photo Archive, Inv. No. VF 12.520 © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM Dance stick New Ireland, New Guinea Coll. Finsch, about 1880 Museum of Ethnology, Vienna, Inv. No. 27.644 © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM Artefacts made of Mother of Pearl and Ovula Shells New Guinea Otto Finsch, about 1885 Colour Plate Museum of Ethnology, Vienna, Object Sheet No. VIII © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM Pediment of a meeting house with bird sculpture Village of Kapaterong, NW-Coast of New Ireland (Neu Mecklenburg) Coll. Finsch, about 1880 Wood carving, pigment, Turboshell operculum Museum of Ethnology, Vienna Inv. No. 27.611 © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM Pendant for Warriors New Guinea Otto Finsch, about 1882 Coloured Pencil Drawing Museum of Ethnology, Vienna, Finsch Drawing No. 16 © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM Otto Finsch (1839–1917) with bird of prey © Koloniales Bildarchiv, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt/Main; repr. Esther Finsch, Freiburg/Br. „Tu Woine, Chief of Beretni, Gazelle Peninsula, Neu Pommern, Bismarck-Archipel, Man of Melanesia (East Melanesian Type)“ En face Photographer: Otto Finsch, about 1880 Museum of Ethnology, Vienna, Photo Archive, Inv. No. 5.350a © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM „Tu Woine, Chief of Beretni, Gazelle Peninsula, Neu Pommern, Bismarck-Archipel, Man of Melanesia“. In profile Photographer: Otto Finsch, about 1880 Museum of Ethnology, Vienna, Photo Archive, Inv. No. 5.350a © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM F. H. Otto Finsch (1839–1917) © Koloniales Bildarchiv, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt/Main; repr. Esther Finsch, Freiburg/Br. Portrait of Otto Finsch (1839–1917) Hans Schadow (1862–1924), Brunswick, 1905 Oilpaint on cardboard 67 x 59 cm © Städtisches Museum Braunschweig Otto Finsch within the Ethnographical Collection of the Municipal Museum of Brunswick © Städtisches Museum Braunschweig The Expedition vessel „Samoa“ in command of Captain E. Dallmann accompanies the 2nd Southseas Expedition (1884/85) of F.H. Otto Finsch from Sydney to New Britain and Kaiser Wilhelms-Land 1885 Copperplate engraving © Koloniales Bildarchiv, UB Frankfurt/Main, Bild Nr. 043-4001-01 Ladschia, Man of Kuschai, Central Carolines In squatting position and in backside lateral position Drawing by Otto Finsch, about 1880 Coloured Pencil Drawing 270 x 180 mm Museum of Ethnology, Vienna, Finsch Drawing No. 9 © KHM mit MVK und ÖTM OPENING HOURS Museum of Ethnology 1010 Vienna, Heldenplatz Daily except Tuesdays 10 am – 6 pm Library Mondays and Tuesdays 10 am – 4 pm Wednesdays 10 am – 6 pm Thursdays 10 am – 4 pm closed on Fridays ENTRANCE FEES adults concessions Vienna-Card holders Groups of 10 or over, p.p. Guided tour, p.p. Children under 19 Annual Ticket € 8,– € 6,– € 7,– € 6,– € 2,– free € 29,– GUIDED TOURS Christine Kaufmann Tel. +43 (0)664 605 14 -5050 EXHIBITION CATALOGUE An exhibition catalogue in german will be published in conjunction with the show PRESS OFFICE Nina Auinger-Sutterlüty, MAS head of the press office/ Abteilung Kommunikation und Marketing Kunsthistorisches Museum mit MVK und ÖTM 1010 Vienna, Burgring 5 Tel.: + 43 1 525 24 – 4021 Fax: + 43 1 525 24 – 4098 e-mail: [email protected] www.khm.at www.ethno-museum.ac.at
