About the Artist: Daniel Waswas

Journey to Womanhood, by Daniel Waswas

Acrylic on canvas, 2006, 150 cm x 130 cm.

From the Manukau City Council collection, Auckland, New Zealand.

Daniel Waswas is a celebrated Papua New Guinean artist, educator, and the founder of GalleryPNG and Kingdom Power Ministries. He completed a master's degree in fine arts from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and a bachelor's degree in art and design from Whitecliffe College of Art and Design, also in Auckland. He also holds a certificate in adult education from Auckland's Manukau Institute of Technology.

Daniel's work has been exhibited in major international exhibitions including the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, at Queensland Art Gallery, in Brisbane, Australia, and The Latitudes 2005: Terres du Pacifique (Contemporary Art from Pacific), at Hotel de Ville de Paris, France.

In February 2006, he attended the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania conference in San Diego, California, and presented a paper on art and gender issues in Papua New Guinea from his artistic perspective. From there, he spent some time at the De Young Museum, San Francisco, as a guest for the Jolika Collection, carrying out artist demonstrations and giving talks on the cultures of Papua New Guinea. In October of that year, Daniel was selected to be part of the two-week-long Emerging Pacific Leaders Dialogue 2006, titled "Navigating our Future Together," which opened in Brisbane, Australia, and closed in Auckland, funded by Commonwealth governments.

In 2007, Daniel was awarded a research scholar-in-residence at the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury, Christ-church, New Zealand. Also in 2007, he was invited as a guest speaker by the Museum of Confluences, Lyon, France, to talk about the development of PNG contemporary art, and he took part in the exhibition "Art contemporain Papou" at the Galerie IUFM Confluences, Lyon Croix–Rousse.

Daniel Waswas's artworks are found in both private and public collections.

The art featured in this issue can be viewed in full color in the online version of The Contemporary Pacific via Project MUSE.

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Think Outside Your Box, by Daniel Waswas

Acrylic on canvas, 2006, 130 cm x 110 cm.

From a private collection in Australia.

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Essence of Culture and Environment, by Daniel Waswas

Oil pastels on paper, 2007, 80 cm x 60 cm. From a private collection in New Caledonia.

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Shifting Mindset, by Daniel Waswas

Oil sticks and acrylic on canvas, 2008, 120 cm x 100 cm.

From PostPNG on Stamps collection.

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Sacred Ritual, by Daniel Waswas

Oil pastels on paper, 2007, 80 cm x 60 cm.

From a private collection in New Caledonia.

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Reflection

Acrylic on canvas, 2005, 150 cm x 130 cm.

From the PNG National Superannuation Fund collection.

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Elegance, by Daniel Waswas

Oil pastels on paper, 2005, 80 cm x 60 cm.

From a private collection in Papua New Guinea.

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People and Their Environment, by Daniel Waswas

Acrylic on canvas, 2006, 130 cm x 110 cm.

From a private collection in Australia.