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Gope Spirit Boards - Drake Memorial Library Art Installation: Overview

Twenty hand-carved wooden gope boards from Papua, New Guinea are on permanent display in Drake Memorial Library. They showcase an array of artistry and provide a glimpse into New Guinea’s history and culture.

From Papua New Guinea to Brockport: A renowned former United Nations official has given the College a rare collection of 20 gope boards in honor of Daniel Munzert ’05.

Gope Boards in Drake Library.
You are invited to view hand-carved wooden gope boards from Papua, New Guinea on display in Drake Memorial Library. (Daily Eagle: SUNY Brockport, 23 August 2016)

James Wasserstrom (left) and Daniel Munzert '05 with some of the gope boards being given to the College.

Digital Commons @ Brockport

Background Information and Details

Papuan Gulf Spirit Boards: Background information and details

"Carving a gope board." The Artefact 2010 - Vol. 33, pp. 49 - 55 David Frankel

Carving a gope board.
Gope (spirit) boards are characteristic carvings in the Gulf of Papua, Papua
New Guinea. The processes involved in laying out the design, carving and painting
a gope board are described using information gathered in Kinomere Village in 1981.

Gope Boards (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Gope Boards (from other museums)

Gope, Ancestor or Spirit Boards - Center for History and New Media