Carolyn McLennan, Artlab’s Objects conservator cleaning the Kula trading canoe in the Pacific Cultures Gallery at the South Australian Museum. Sopikarin, Kula Trade vessel, Kitava, Trobriand Islands. Donated by the Friends of the South Australian Museum. A64832.

Artlab was at the South Australian Museum this morning cleaning and stabilising a Trobriand Islands Kula trading canoe. Kula maritime traders used the canoe to transport non-utilitarian valuables throughout the Trobriand Islands. This particular canoe was made on Kitava Island, Trobriand Islands, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea.