Over 300 Artifact Illustrations and over 200 Traditional Story Illustrations
by Rosalie Christensen

Plant reference drawings for ethnobotanical studies - estimated to be several hundred by Rosalie Christensen

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TRADITIONAL STORIES
Collection of traditional stories - estimated to be over 400.

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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL STORIES
Collection of true stories from students - who remained anonymous - describing their first experience with Europeans and school. These are small booklets made very simply and stapled together containing the experiences of nearly 100 people.

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AUDIO
Tape recordings - transcripts - several tapes - some in pidgin/place-tok - to be studied - currently not played until copies can be made to protect the original recordings from use

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TEACHING PUBLICATIONS
Traditional Art and Craft Volume 1 - published by Madang Teachers College 1973

Traditional Art and Craft Volume Two - Madang and Siassi - Published by Madang Teachers College 1975

Traditional Art and Craft Volume Three - Materials and Ideas - Published by Madang Teachers College 1977

Kabuna Story Books - Madang Teachers College 1970's

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FIELD NOTES
Processing of plant materials for food and for craft work.
Carving, weaving and building techniques.
(Supported by photo-documentation)

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NOTES AND DOCUMENTS
Original drafts for publications she prepared as curriculum aids and the expressive arts syllabus for PNG primary schools.

A 57 page document outlining her work and other cultural and government programmes in the 1970's. It describes in detail not only her work, but her impressions, concerns and obstacles. Also includes extensive listing of bush materials and their use, carving techniques, statements from villagers and local food processing techniques.

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GENERAL
Rosalie wrote the art syllabus for primary schools in Papua New Guinea in the 1970's. Her notes and teaching materials are extensive and she kept much of her original documents and materials.

Further data and materials remain in boxes and files. Her children have not gone through this. It is stored as Rosalie had filed it and fills half an attic. It was decided to leave the material as she had organized it until proper study and archiving is made possible by interest in her work.

She completed over 200 illustrations for traditional stories collected while in PNG. Most of these drawings were done over a period of years in between illnesses after she left Papua New Guinea and returned to America. A group of these stories and their illustrations were compiled by Rosalie, xeroxed and bound. The few copies she made were sent to Madang Teachers College PNG, some former colleagues and her children.

At this time she was quite ill with lupus flares and heart problems. She felt she had to stop working on the idea of a book as she didn't feel it could be done properly under the circumstances. Also it was evident that she was losing the ability to draw owing to radiation therapy for breast cancer damaging the nerves in her left arm in the mid-1970's. Further illustrative work would be impossible and she was exhausted by the work she had done over many years. The lupus had begun to cause her psychological problems and she suffered from seizures and situational depression.

It is hoped that interest in her work will help in the publication of a book printed on good paper using the collection she put together as a guide with correct accreditation to the people who contributed. She had always wanted to see her drawings printed on "good quality paper" and the idea of books going back to Papua New Guinea to schools, cultural institutions and villages was important to her.

This is a simple summary of her PNG archives. Not all documentation and materials have been looked at. In the event that archiving, protective display/storage and future publication becomes a reality, a plan to represent this body of work properly will include all pertinent data in detail as well as acknowledgement to all participants and contributors to the collection according to her notes and publications.

For enquiries and interest regarding publishing, exhibition and educational use of this material please e-mail .

Thank you