THE FIELD MUSEUM
THE FIELD MUSEUM
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
At nearly 35,000 items, the Field Museum cares for the largest collection of material from the country of Papua New Guinea currently in the United States.
https://www.fieldmuseum.org/project-narrative/science/melanesian-collections
A selection of these PNG art and objects are on display in the Regenstein Halls of the Pacific. Here visitors can explore the history and culture of PNG and the Pacific through hundreds of contemporary and historical objects on display, including masks, wood carvings, and instruments. These items, alongside stories shared by Pacific Islanders themselves, showcase the geographic and cultural diversity of this region
https://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibition/halls-and-galleries/regenstein-halls-of-the-pacific
For WanBel the Field Museum will host a series of events where the public can get a close look at some of their PNG masterpieces and discuss them with experts. The events are free with museum entrance and booking is not required.
The next event is on Wednesday 18 February, see our Events page for these and other future events.
The first event was held on Wednesday 17 September 2025 at the Grainger Science Hub as part of their Meet a Scientist program where Field Museum Collections staff Chris Philipp and Julia Kennedy discussed rarely displayed masks, contemporary items, and media from the Field’s PNG collection.
Meet a Scientist, 18 September 2025. Photos courtesy of the Field Museum