Within Curious Vanuatu
Why Vanuatu's Ancestral Effigies Are Not Curios
Returned Malakula effigies reveal how ancestral remains became collectibles and why communities, not tourists, must decide their future.
On this page
- How the Malakula mortuary figures were made
- From sacred ancestors to trafficked art
- Who has authority over display and return
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Introduction
Vanuatu’s ancestral effigies are among the most visually striking cultural objects in the Pacific, but they are not curiosities in the ordinary museum sense. Many were created as mortuary figures that incorporated the skulls of named ancestors, making them both works of ritual craftsmanship and human remains. Their appearance has long attracted collectors and museums, yet their meaning has always rested with the communities that created them. The recent return of Malakula effigies from the United States has therefore become far more than a restitution story. It has highlighted who has the right to decide whether these objects are displayed, stored, studied or removed from public view, and why customary authority remains central to those decisions.[Reuters]reuters.comDeputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The relics, including two skulls and three large effigies (rambaramp), were recognized by Vanuat…
How the Malakula mortuary figures were made
The best-known ancestral effigies from Vanuatu are the large mortuary figures associated with parts of Malakula, often referred to by the name rambaramp. They were not generic sculptures but carefully constructed memorials to particular deceased men. After complex funerary rites, a skull could be incorporated into a life-sized or larger figure modelled with clay, fibres, plant materials and pigments. The finished effigy represented the individual at a recognised stage of life rather than an anonymous ancestor.[Reuters]reuters.comDeputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The relics, including two skulls and three large effigies (rambaramp), were recognized by Vanuat…
These figures originally stood within sacred men’s houses rather than public spaces. Their purpose was tied to remembrance, lineage and relationships between the living and the dead. They were not created for trade or exhibition, and they were understood within local systems of customary authority that governed who could approach them, handle them or even speak about them.
Although the traditions surrounding these figures largely ceased in many communities after widespread conversion to Christianity during the twentieth century, this did not strip the surviving effigies of their cultural status. Communities continued to recognise them as ancestors rather than historical decorations. That distinction remains fundamental to current debates over collecting and display.[Reuters]reuters.comDeputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The relics, including two skulls and three large effigies (rambaramp), were recognized by Vanuat…
From sacred ancestors to trafficked art
During the colonial era and throughout much of the twentieth century, Pacific ceremonial objects and human remains entered international collecting networks. In Vanuatu, ancestral skulls, mortuary figures and other sacred objects were removed from villages, sometimes through purchase, sometimes through theft, and often with little regard for customary law or community consent. Anthropologists have documented a broader market in Pacific funerary material that treated sacred objects as ethnographic specimens or art commodities.[Reuters]reuters.comDeputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The relics, including two skulls and three large effigies (rambaramp), were recognized by Vanuat…
The 2024 repatriation of five crates from New York illustrates how these collecting histories continue to shape museum ethics today. Following an eight-year FBI investigation into the estate of a deceased collector, authorities returned two modelled skulls and three large Malakula effigies to Vanuatu. The largest measured approximately 3.5 metres in length and weighed around 318 kilograms, making its transport unusually difficult because of its fragility.[Reuters]reuters.comDeputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The relics, including two skulls and three large effigies (rambaramp), were recognized by Vanuat…
Equally significant was how the objects were identified. Curator Kaitip Kami of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre recognised the figures immediately as belonging to communities on his home island of Malakula. Their value lay not simply in artistic style but in the fact that they represented identifiable ancestors whose origins remained culturally legible despite decades abroad.[Reuters]reuters.comDeputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The relics, including two skulls and three large effigies (rambaramp), were recognized by Vanuat…
The case also exposed an uncomfortable reality behind the international market for Indigenous material. Objects incorporating human remains could circulate for decades as collectible art while remaining, from the perspective of descendant communities, members of an ancestral landscape rather than museum artefacts.
Who has authority over display and return?
The most important question is not whether ancestral effigies are historically valuable—they unquestionably are—but who has the authority to decide their future.
For Vanuatu, authority is rooted first in customary ownership. The Vanuatu Cultural Centre’s research policy explicitly states that cultural knowledge, practices and associated heritage belong to individuals, families, lineages and communities. It also recognises that some knowledge and objects are tabu, meaning access is restricted, and that traditional custodians retain rights over how cultural material is used and interpreted.[Vanuatu Cultural Centre]vanuatuculturalcentre.gov.vuVanuatu Cultural Centre VANUATU CULTURAL RESEARCH POLICYVanuatu Cultural Centre VANUATU CULTURAL RESEARCH POLICY
This framework differs from conventional museum assumptions that acquisition automatically grants unrestricted display rights. Instead, museums increasingly act as custodians working alongside communities whose authority predates any institutional collection.
The country’s long-established network of community cultural fieldworkers reinforces this model. Rather than treating heritage as something removed from villages and interpreted solely by specialists, the network documents traditions through local researchers who remain accountable to their own communities. That approach has become influential internationally because it places cultural governance alongside documentation rather than separating the two.[Vanuatu Cultural Centre]vanuatuculturalcentre.gov.vuVanuatu Cultural CentreWoman Cultural Program. The Vanuatu Cultural Centre & Side by Side Film PresentSeptember 25, 2018…
The implication for ancestral effigies is clear. Decisions about exhibition, conservation, photography or restricted access are not purely technical museum questions. They are matters of cultural governance.
Why repatriation does not automatically mean public display
Returning an object to its country of origin is only the first stage of repatriation.
Once ancestral remains arrive in Vanuatu, further decisions must be made about whether they should remain in secure museum care, return to their original communities, be stored with restricted access or, in some cases, no longer be publicly exhibited at all. Those decisions are guided by consultation rather than a single universal rule.[Reuters]reuters.comDeputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The relics, including two skulls and three large effigies (rambaramp), were recognized by Vanuat…
Curator Kaitip Kami expressed this principle directly during the 2024 return, describing the effigies as “part of a human being” and arguing that they should not be displayed outside Vanuatu. His remarks underline that these are not simply historical objects but ancestors whose treatment carries continuing ethical and spiritual responsibilities.[Reuters]reuters.comDeputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The relics, including two skulls and three large effigies (rambaramp), were recognized by Vanuat…
This perspective explains why repatriation debates increasingly distinguish between ordinary ethnographic collections and collections containing human remains. The latter involve questions of dignity, descendant rights and customary law that cannot be resolved solely through museum acquisition records.
Why this matters for Vanuatu’s unusual collections
For visitors interested in unusual museums and extraordinary artefacts, Malakula’s ancestral effigies are undeniably remarkable. Yet their importance lies precisely in resisting the label of curiosity.
They demonstrate how an object can appear extraordinary to outsiders while remaining, to its own community, part of an ongoing relationship with named ancestors. That difference changes how museums interpret them, how governments negotiate their return and how tourism must approach them.
Within Vanuatu’s broader landscape of unusual heritage, ancestral effigies therefore represent an important shift in museum practice. They remind visitors that the most compelling objects are sometimes those whose significance cannot be separated from the people who continue to hold authority over them. The story is ultimately not about exotic sculptures returning to a national collection, but about communities reclaiming the right to determine how their ancestors should be remembered.
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Endnotes
1.
Source: reuters.com
Link:https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vanuatu-ancestral-relics-trafficked-art-new-york-return-home-with-fbi-escort-2024-08-29/
Source snippet
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. The relics, including two skulls and three large effigies (rambaramp), were recognized by Vanuat...
2.
Source: reuters.com
Link:https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-government-museums-urged-stop-display-ancestral-remains-repatriate-them-2025-03-13/
3.
Source: reuters.com
Title: peru reclaims ancient pre hispanic objects dating back 2000 years 2024 01 16
Link:https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/peru-reclaims-ancient-pre-hispanic-objects-dating-back-2000-years-2024-01-16/
4.
Source: vanuatuculturalcentre.gov.vu
Title: Vanuatu Cultural Centre VANUATU CULTURAL RESEARCH POLICY
Link:https://vanuatuculturalcentre.gov.vu/research/research-permits/research-policy
5.
Source: culture.org
Title: Sacred Human Remains Returned to Vanuatu After FBI Probe
Link:https://culture.org/art-and-culture/stolen-art-human-remains/
Source snippet
September 9, 2024 — SACRED HUMAN REMAINS TRAFFICKED TO NEW YORK FINALLY RETURNED TO VANUATU AFTER FBI ART INVESTIGATION * Luke David * |...
Published: September 9, 2024
6.
Source: vanuatuculturalcentre.gov.vu
Link:https://vanuatuculturalcentre.gov.vu/index.php/woman-culture-program
Source snippet
Vanuatu Cultural CentreWoman Cultural Program. The Vanuatu Cultural Centre & Side by Side Film PresentSeptember 25, 2018...
Published: September 25, 2018
7.
Source: ngv.vic.gov.au
Link:https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/88638/
8.
Source: ngv.vic.gov.au
Link:https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/88637/
9.
Source: nma.gov.au
Link:https://www.nma.gov.au/about/publications/repatriation-handbook/chapter-13
10.
Source: nma.gov.au
Link:https://www.nma.gov.au/about/publications/repatriation-handbook/chapter-9
11.
Source: nma.gov.au
Link:https://www.nma.gov.au/about/publications/repatriation-handbook/chapter-5
12.
Source: reutersconnect.com
Title: d GFn On Jld XRlcn Mu Y29t LDIw Mj Q6bm V3c21s X1JDMkh QOUEx Qk VPOQ
Link:https://www.reutersconnect.com/item/ceremony-for-repatriation-of-sacred-human-relics-by-us-in-port-vila-vanuatu/dGFnOnJldXRlcnMuY29tLDIwMjQ6bmV3c21sX1JDMkhQOUExQkVPOQ
Additional References
13.
Source: restitutionmatters.org
Link:https://restitutionmatters.org/news-item/immediate-withdrawal-request-vanuatu-ancestral-human-remains/
Source snippet
November 25, 2025 — IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL REQUEST – VANUATU ANCESTRAL HUMAN REMAINS * [National Museum]({{ 'national-museum-09b7d7/' | relative_url }}) of Vanuatu * 24 Nov 2025 * Vanuaatu...
Published: November 25, 2025
14.
Source: sydney.edu.au
Title: The University of Sydney Repatriation: bringing remains home to Vanuatu
Link:https://www.sydney.edu.au/content/corporate/arts/news-and-events/news/2021/10/08/repatriation–bringing-remains-home-to-vanuatu.html
Source snippet
Repatriation: bringing remains home to Vanuatu - The University of SydneyOctober 8, 2021 — Repatriation: bringing remains home to Vanuatu...
Published: October 8, 2021
15.
Source: hindustantimes.com
Link:https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/vanuatu-ancestral-relics-trafficked-as-art-to-new-york-return-home-with-fbi-escort-101725119922437.html
Source snippet
DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE KURT CAMPBELL ATTENDED A CEREMONY ON THURSDAY IN PORT VILA, THE CAPITAL, TO REPATR...
16.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Unveiling the Traditional Culture of Vanuatu: Everything You Need to Know
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rva4T4adkW4
Source snippet
Vanuatu ancestral repatriation Repatriation to Futuna School of Culture, History & Language ANU...
17.
Source: youtube.com
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18.
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19.
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20.
Source: facebook.com
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21.
Source: ucldigitalpress.co.uk
Link:https://ucldigitalpress.co.uk/Book/Article/50/75/3718/
22.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/LivingInVanuatuNews/posts/vanuatu-ancestral-relics-trafficked-as-art-to-new-york-return-home-with-fbi-esco/831731479156202/