NEWS
2025
THE MARIWAI PROJECT
— MAY 2025 Overview
In May 2025, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York inaugurated the newly reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, marking a historic moment for the presentation of Oceanic art. At the center of this unveiling was The Mariwai Project, a unique cultural and artistic collaboration led by artist and cultural mediator Shiva Lynn Burgos, and featuring a ceremonial delegation from Papua New Guinea.
The project celebrates the Kwoma people’s artistic and spiritual heritage, focusing on the reconstruction and exhibition of a Kwoma ceremonial ceiling — originally from the Mariwai ceremonial house — now installed in its full architectural form within the MET for the very first time.
As lead cameraman, I was invited to document this extraordinary convergence of cultures, art, and ancestral continuity.
Key Participants
Shiva Lynn Burgos – Artist and project leader
Chief Mathew Kuarchinj – Cultural leader of the Kwoma delegation
Tobi Borungai – Kwoma artist and painter
Dr. Michael Mel – Cultural consultant and key liaison for Papua New Guinea
Delegation members from Mariwai village, East Sepik Province, PNG
Cultural Significance
The ceiling represents not just an artistic artifact but a living cosmology — each panel painted by Kwoma artists reflects ancestral spirits, clan stories, and the living forest of the Sepik region. Its relocation and reconstruction at the MET is both a preservation and a reinvention, prompting discussions about identity, ownership, and visibility in the Western museum world.
“For the past 30 years, Composers Concordance has been a booster for local composers, through both its concerts across the city and a record label.” -The Wall Street Journal. “Enterprising new music organization” -The New York Times. “The Composers Concordance folks are unpredictable and at times refreshingly irreverent in a reverent sort of way….ingenious fun” – Classical-Modern Music Review. “Edgy…boisterous…demanding our attention” – San Diego Story. “These men and women are creating exciting music with elements of jazz, world music and many experimental techniques blended with equal parts classical tradition and playing techniques.” – Music Notes: Classical music evolves, By Carlton Wilkinson
The Fiddlers. Concert.
Composers concordance
NYC. A pril 2025
Gene Pritsker is a New York-based composer, guitarist, rapper, and record producer known for his eclectic and genre-blending style. He is a co-director of the non-profit organization Composers Concordance, co-founder of the Absolute Ensemble, and the leader of the genre-defying group Sound Liberation.
Post-Production (stage 1) and Editorial Progress
As 2025 began, editorial work intensified on Echoes of Siberut: The Mentawaian Legacy, with a focus on shaping the narrative and refining the film’s multilingual dimensions. Key activities included:
Logging of Raw Footage: Systematic review and organization of materials filmed throughout 2024.
Narrative Structure Development: Research and conceptual refinement of the film’s storytelling arc.
Translation & Subtitling: all Mentawaian, Indonesian, languages and Shamanic incantations and conversations in-situ have been translated and subtitled into English.
Original Music Composition: A close collaboration with composer Gene Pritsker began, aligning musical themes with the emotional and cultural tone of the film.
