On a foggy day in March 1926, two intrepid women, portrait artist Caroline Mytinger and her close friend Margaret Warner, set out from San Francisco on a four-year journey to the South Pacific. With little more than $400, a few art supplies, and a trunk of clothing--including a pith helmet and pearls--they made their way for about a year on freighters and missionary boats to the mysterious islands and coastal areas of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, known then as the "land of headhunters." Their objective was to document the existing cultural traditions that were fast disappearing under the influence of western expansion. Their medium was portraiture--oil painting, and sketching--and their method was nothing short of madness.

In 2005, two equally intrepid women re-traced this journey, and documented existing cultural traditions with modern, digital photography equipment. Michele Westmorland and Karen Huntt, photographers and writers from Seattle, encountered many of the same mysteries, such as sorcerers and witchcraft, stinging ants and big furry spiders, babies in bags and an island of skulls. But most importantly, in the process of re-kindling the spirit of the original expedition, they found living descendants of Caroline's portrait subjects, and a resurgence of cultural pride. They also witnessed a rich natural environment under threat from logging and industrial fishing.

Join them on their journey, meet the expedition team, and discover the mysterious beauty, resurgent cultural traditions, and the rich natural heritage of this region and its people.

View the expedition journal. Click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Paintings Courtesy of the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology and the Regents of the University of California at Berkeley