http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf6w1008pf No online items Anthony Forge Papers Finding aid prepared by Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, California, 92093-0175 858-534-2533 [email protected] Copyright 2005 Anthony Forge Papers MSS 0411 1 Descriptive Summary Title: Anthony Forge Papers Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0411 Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, California, 92093-0175 Languages: English Physical Description: 26.3 Linear feet(39 archives boxes, 5 records cartons, 13 film cans and 36 oversize folders) Date (inclusive): 1908 - 1991 Abstract: The papers of Anthony Forge, British anthropologist, professor and specialist in the art and aesthetics of the Abelam people of Papua New Guinea, include field notes, photographs and original Abelam art commissioned by Forge during his fieldwork in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea, 1958-1963. Creator: Forge, Anthony Scope and Content of Collection The papers of Anthony Forge, British anthropologist, professor and specialist in the art and aesthetics of the Abelam people of Papua New Guinea, include field notes, photographs and original Abelam art commissioned by Forge during his fieldwork in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea, 1958-1963. Also included in this collection are correspondence, writings by Forge, writings of others, photographs of Sepik art in museum collections, research proposals, audio recordings, and films, as well as material regarding his teaching and professional conferences that he attended, such as the Wenner-Gren Foundation conferences in Basel, Switzerland (1984) and Mijas, Spain (1986). Notably absent from the collection are materials related to Forge's research in London and Bali. Arranged in eleven series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) FIELDWORK RESEARCH, PAPUA NEW GUINEA, 4) WRITINGS, 5) PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS, 6) RESEARCH PROPOSALS, 7) TEACHING MATERIALS, 8) SUBJECT FILES, 9) MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES, 10) AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS, and 11) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES. Biography Born in West London, England, on February 27, 1929, Anthony Forge was educated at Highgate School. In 1948 he went on to do national service in Intelligence. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1953, where he studied anthropology under Edmund Leach. After graduation he spent three years in the printing industry, his father's profession, before enrolling in the London School of Economics, where he began graduate studies in anthropology and formed a close and lasting friendship with anthropologist Sir Raymond Firth. In 1958, Forge undertook the first of two fieldwork studies among the Abelam people of the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. This initial period in the field sharpened his anthropological interests and narrowed his focus to Abelam social organization, aesthetics and ritual. Forge's study methods included photography, daily journals and notes on basic cultural ideals (e.g. kinship, ritual, etc.). In 1960, on returning from the field, Forge became a research officer for the London School of Economics "London Kinship Project." A year later he was appointed Assistant Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the London School of Economics, and in 1962 he returned to Papua New Guinea. Forge's second fieldwork investigation (1962 - 1963) with the Abelam centered on the art of the region. He commissioned the production of 363 works of original Abelam art housed in this collection, of which over 150 came from the village of Kwanimbandu in the North Wosera. Much of this original artwork was documented piece by piece as it was being produced, both in field journals (i.e., through sketches and descriptive narrative) and photographically (i.e., sequential photos were taken every 15 - 20 minutes as the work was being created). Many of these photographs were used in Sheila Korn's formal study on the properties of Abelam painting, completed as her thesis: "The Structure of an Art-System" (University of London, 1974). Forge spent a year as a Visiting Professor at Yale University in 1969, and by 1970 he had been appointed Senior Lecturer at the London School of Economics. In 1970 he coauthored a book with Raymond Firth and Jane Hubert entitled, Families and Their Relatives: Kinship in a Middle-Class Sector of London. In 1973 Forge completed the editing of Primitive Art and Society, which included a chapter he authored entitled "Style and Meaning in Sepik Art." Soon after, he delivered the prestigious Malinowski Memorial Lecture entitled "The Golden Fleece." Subsequently, fieldwork took Forge and his family to Bali for a year to study art and ritual. While on Bali, he was invited to visit the Australian National University and was selected to become the Foundation Professor of Anthropology in the Faculty Anthony Forge Papers MSS 0411 2 of the Arts, where he built a strong research and teaching department. During the late 1980s, Forge spent much time editing a draft entitled "Sepik Culture History," a collection of papers presented at the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Symposium in 1986. Although this volume was never published, the collection contains Forge's original introduction as well as much of the correspondence (dated 1984-1989) with other potential contributors. Forge also completed an important nine-chapter work titled "Abelam Exchange and Society," which was never published but survives in draft form in this collection. Anthony Forge was heavily involved in collecting, most notably for the Museum of Ethnography in Basel, Switzerland, for which he assembled an impressive collection of Sepik art. He also assembled a large collection of traditional Balinese paintings for the Australian Museum in Sydney. Anthony Forge died on October 7, 1991. Publication Rights Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection. Preferred Citation Anthony Forge Papers, MSS 411. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego. Acquisition Information Acquired 1996. Restrictions Original audio recordings and films are restricted. Patrons must request user copies be produced. Subjects and Indexing Terms Hogbin, Herbert Ian, 1904-1989 Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. Abelam (Papua New Guinea people) -- Religion Abelam (Papua New Guinea people) -- Rites and ceremonies Abelam (Papua New Guinea people) -- Social life and customs Anthropologists -- England -- Biography Art -- Papua New Guinea -- East Sepik Province Art -- Sepik River Valley (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) Art, Abelam East Sepik Province (Papua New Guinea) -- Ethnic relations East Sepik Province (Papua New Guinea) -- Maps East Sepik Province (Papua New Guinea) -- Social life and customs Ethnology -- Papua New Guinea -- East Sepik Province Ethnology -- Sepik River Valley (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) Mountain Arapesh language Painting, Abelam (Papua New Guinea) Photographic prints -- 20th century Rites and ceremonies -- Papua New Guinea -- East Sepik Province Rites and ceremonies -- Sepik River Valley (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) Sepik River Valley (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) -- Ethnic relations Sepik River Valley (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) -- Maps Sepik River Valley (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) -- Social life and customs BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS Scope and Content of Series SERIES 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS: Photographs of Forge, news clippings, Forge's curriculum vitae (1950-1974), and a three-page document outlining his research interests. Box 1, Folder 1 Certificate for crossing the equator on the S.S. Orion, undated Box 1, Folder 2 Curriculum vitae and publication list 1950 - 1974 Anthony Forge Papers MSS 0411 3 BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS Box 1, Folder 3 News clippings 1975 - 1978 Box 1, Folder 4 Photographs of Anthony Forge Box 1, Folder 5 Research interests and research intended - Three-page document written by Forge, undated CORRESPONDENCE Scope and Content of Series SERIES 2) CORRESPONDENCE: Letters exchanged with Forge's colleagues, friends and associates spanning the years 1962 - 1991. Major correspondents include Philip J. C. Dark, Raymond Firth, David Lea, Robert and Wendy MacLennan, Mervyn Meggitt, Michel Panoff, and David M. Schneider. Additional correspondence regarding Primitive Art and Society and other writings may be found in Series 4A. Box 1, Folder 6 American Ethnologist 1984 - 1985 Box 1, Folder 7 Australian National University 1963 - 1989 Box 1, Folder 8 Bailey, F.G. 1968 Box 1, Folder 9 Barnes, J.A. 1964 Box 1, Folder 10 Barnett, H.G. 1969 Box 1, Folder 11 Betsy 1963 Box 1, Folder 12 Blacking, John 1964 - 1969 Box 1, Folder 13 British Broadcasting Corporation 1963 Box 1, Folder 14 Bulmer, Ralph 1971 Box 1, Folder 15 Burridge, Kenelm O.L. 1966 - 1970 Box 1, Folder 16 Celia 1979 Box 1, Folder 17 Clarendon Press, Oxford 1967 Box 1, Folder 18 Clarke, William C. 1975 - 1976 Box 1, Folder 19 Crawford, John G. 1976 Box 1, Folder 20 Curtain, Richard 1976 Box 1, Folder 21 Dark, Philip J.C. 1964 - 1965 Box 1, Folder 22 Dart, Raymond A. 1968 Box 1, Folder 23 Director of Prosecutions, Brisbane, Queensland 1985 Box 1, Folder 24 Dye, T. Wayne 1984 Box 1, Folder 25 Erskine, Robert 1962 - 1963 General note 1 page of correspondence includes an enclosure which describes 10 Abelam paintings. Box 1, Folder 26 Evans-Pritchard, E.E. 1967 Box 1, Folder 27 Fagg, William 1967 Box 1, Folder 28 Fajans, Jane 1976 Box 1, Folder 29 Firth, Raymond 1958 - 1970 Box 1, Folder 30 Fortes, Meyer 1968 - 1975