Cultural History In Focus | “The Brisbane Museum’s Collection of Queensland Shields” by Bill Evans from Tribal Art Magazine + Rainforest Shields: A Tribute to Bill Evans

Portrait of a group of Yidinjdji men and boys standing out of doors, holding spears, boomerangs and shields, one man is lying on the ground holding a shield, one man is wearing a neck ornament, all have designs painted onto their bodies; North Queensland, Australia.
Black and white photograph, gelatin silver print. Photographed by A Atkinson, 1893. Oc,B73.33
© The Trustees of the British Museum

The Brisbane Museum’s Collection of Queensland Shields

by Bill Evans

Tribal Art Magazine — Number 51 | Spring 2009

CLICK TO READ THE ARTICLE

This article was generously provided by Tribal Art Magazine.
Special thank you to Alex Arthur.

Rainforest Shields

A Tribute to Bill Evans

Curated by Steven G. Alpert

Bill Evans was a true original. A kind and visionary man, Bill was also a passionate impresario and a collector par excellence. His article, The Brisbane Museum's Collection of Queensland Shields, first appeared in Tribal Art Magazine (No. 51: Spring 2009) and, through their kind permission, is being reproduced here. It is a fine work that profoundly expands our appreciation for these shields by exposing their diverse range of abstract beauty along with providing specificity and thoughtfully researched information regarding their history and deployment.

Bill loved shields. He, too, saw them as canvases. It was a great pleasure to write for him. Bill worked easily with his co-authors in his ambitious and beautiful double volume, War Art & Ritual: Shields From the Pacific (2018). With his encouragement, I was able to re-explore and re-imagine shields from Borneo, which resulted in Dayak Shields: Courting and Defying Death (Alpert: pp 24-39).

Bill, thank you for your work and for so much more. You will be sorely missed. Art of the Ancestors celebrates shields in your spirit and honor this month.

— Steven G. Alpert, founder of Art of the Ancestors