“road trip behind the boat”
Nicki Wynnychuk
14 Nov → 13 Dec 2014

road trip behind the boat traces a series of serendipitous discoveries made by Nicki Wynnychuk with the help of local residents on the north coast of Madang province, PNG. Upon visiting the WeltKulturen Museum, Frankfurt and delving into the Oceanic Collection, Wynnychuk viewed many images from PNG. However, there were two photographs that stood out. Due to the highly considered composition, they enticed a closer look and during this process Wynnychuk recognised the landscape as the familiar Manam. Manam is a very distinctive volcanic island and located near to one of the communities Tupira Surf Club, (a development project that Wynnchuk is employed by) works with in PNG.

The Welt Kulturen Museum archive confirms that the two slides were taken in 1959, on the north coast of the Bogia District by Anthropologist, Hans Sinn. Tupira Surf Club is located in the Bogia District, also on the north coast of Madang, PNG.

Using the photographs as a map, Wynnychuk was then able to pinpoint where Sinn's camera took these photographs in the region. He then repatriated copies of Sinns images to schools in the area and individuals who became involved in his search.? The photographic repatriation imbedded in road trip behind the boat contributes to a contemporary dialogue surrounding colonial ethnographic museum collections.

This project has been supported by the Tupira Surf Club & The WeltKulturen Museum.

Nicki Wynnychuk lives and works in Papua New Guinea for six months of the year & manages an independent, community development project. Tupira is a reverse spiral, grass roots project, designed by and for the local people to maintain a win win tourism structure, one that uses the ocean as a sustainable resource to bring educational, cultural and financial opportunities to the resource owners.

Since completing his residency at Gertrude Contemporary in 2010, Wynnychuk has exhibited in Austria, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain and conducted field work in Germany, Papua New Guinea and Switzerland.