We are delighted to welcome the Field Museum as a participant in the global WanBel project.

The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago is one of the world’s leading museums, dedicated to exploring natural history, anthropology, and science through innovative exhibits, education, and research. Founded in 1893 as the Columbian Museum to house artifacts from the World’s Columbian Exposition, it was renamed to honor its benefactor Marshall Field and now contains nearly 40 million specimens

With its landmark research on Sepik coast pottery and 1990s fieldwork revisiting sites first documented in 1909, the Field Museum has demonstrated a profound respect for Papua New Guinea’s diverse cultural heritage. The museum's studies, including compositional analysis of traditional ceramics and ethnographic documentation, reveal an unbroken two-thousand-year tradition of craftsmanship passed down through generations of Sepik potters.

We extend this invitation to deepen our collaboration, honoring the institution’s enduring dedication to safeguarding traditions and strengthening community ties, thereby enriching the collective understanding of Melanesian cultural legacies within the WanBel framework.