Haus Yuriyal
By Ruth McDougall
‘11th Asia Pacific Triennial’ August 2024
Haus Yuriyal
Established 2015, Papua New Guinea
Enock Aron, Mendi region, Southern Highlands Province, PNG / Isaiiah Bepi, Kondi Kainem tribe, Jiwaka Province, PNG / Yuriyal E Bridgeman, Yuri tribe, b.1986, Australia/PNG / Digine Dickson, Yuri tribe, b.1996, Simbu Province, PNG / Peter Dii, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province, PNG / Veronica Gikope, Yuri tribe, b.1964, Simbu Province / Tony Jackson, Kondi Kanem tribe, Jiwaka Province / Maiboi Kamung, Kondi Kanem and Yuri tribes, Jiwaka and Simbu Provinces / Philip Kaupa, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province / Steven Kaupa, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province / Simbel Ken, Kondi Kanem tribe, Jiwaka Province, PNG / Moses Kirua, Yuri tribe, b.1992, Simbu Province / John Laif, Kondi Kanem tribe, Jiwaka Province / Philipai Matthew, Mendi region, Southern Highlands Province / Felix Michael, Kondi Kanem tribe, Jiwaka Province / Sima Mote, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province / Mondo Munaum, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province / Paul Nulai Philip, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province / Kale Philip, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province / Hole Remon, Wabag, Enga Province, PNG / Jason Taimel, Kondi Kanem tribe, Jiwaka Province / Rowel Tala, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province / Yuan Tala, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province / Yuwanis Tala, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province, PNG / Toya Momal Tolpari, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province / Munum Tolpari, Yuri tribe, Simbu Province / Alison Wel, Yuri tribe, b.1996, Simbu Province / Ai Yopa, Yuri tribe, b.1984, Simbu Province
Live and work in Jiwaka and Simbu Provinces, Papua New Guinea
The Haus Yuriyal collective gathers to work in a circular Hausman (men’s house), traditional in the Jiwaka region of the Papua New Guinea Highlands. Its members originate from a number of provinces including Simbu, Jiwaka and South Highlands, with many sharing a genealogical connection to the Yuri tribe. The group began as a gathering of men keen to learn and share cultural practices; in recent years, the collective has expanded to include collaboration from Yuri women.
The vibrant designs customarily created on fighting shields within a Hausman provides the inspiration for Haus Yuriyal, who develop dazzling, individualised designs with paint, paper, plywood and wool. For the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial, Haus Yuriyal — alongside Veronica Gikope and Alison Wel — presents a grand display encompassing a functioning garden, architectural structures, kuman (shield) paintings, textiles and videos that express their unity and collective journey.

Views of works by Haus Yuriyal, including Kuman (shield) paintings 2024, Bopa 2024, Kalabus 2024, Kamkau Ike (Haus toktok) 2024, Yuri Alai Eagles (ceiling shield paintings) 2024 and Garpa (ground) paintings 2023, installed for the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial, QAG, 2023 / © The artists / Photograph: C Callistemon, QAGOMA
Enamel paint on plywood
Courtesy of the artists and Milani Gallery, Meanjin/Brisbane
The kuman (shields) of the Yuri tribe are customarily painted with designs that mark an individual’s connection to their tribal lineage. When brought together en masse and at close range, such as in times of battle, the shields’ bold colours and geometric patterning would dazzle opponents. While inter-tribal warfare remains an ongoing fact of life in the Highlands region of Papua New Guinea, decorated timber shields no longer function as protective weapons. Undergoing a similar process of loss are the structures of knowledge transfer and cultural value that guide the collective practices of men who create the shields, limiting the opportunities they provided to young men to positively express a sense of collective identity.
Haus Yuriyal’s ‘Kuman (shields)’ series 2024 reimagines a new role for Simbu Waghi shields of the PNG Highlands. Made by a new generation of men — with not only strong ties to spiritual beliefs and tribal affiliation, but a passion for popular culture, sports and politics — each image asserts the importance of an individual’s creative signature.
Synthetic yarn embroidery on rice bags
Courtesy of the artists and Milani Gallery, Meanjin/Brisbane
‘Kalabus (prison)’ series 2024 brings together 33 textiles embroidered by members of the Haus Yuriyal collective. Each of the artists’ bold designs is a translation of those they created for their kuman (shield) paintings. The use of rice bags as a surface for embroidering these eye-popping designs in colourful yarn is inspired by the equally vibrant works created by people incarcerated at Bihute Prison in Goroka. The installation of ‘Kalabus’ along the front of Alison Wel’s Kamkau Ike (Haus Toktok) 2024 references the ways in which these structures are ornamented with brightly coloured flowers and fruit from local gardens — a symbol of the community’s wealth and vitality.
Organic material on paper
Purchased 2024 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation
Each of these artworks is a shield design completed in July 2023, made with natural pigments and ochres of red, yellow, black, white, brown and blue. The works in ‘Garpa/Ground Paintings’ series 2023 feature references to Arebaa — from the Yuri words for ‘sun’ (are) and ‘moon’ (baa) — in motifs and colours; for example, where the dominant colour is white, this is a tribute to the moon. Some of the artworks also feature faces, skulls, birds and abstracted landscapes that highlight Haus Yuriyal’s intricate connection to land and nature, as well as expressing their strong brotherhood and ancestry. The paintings are accompanied by photographic documentation of the collective during the making of the series.
Carved tree fern (Cyathea angiensis) stumps with enamel paint
Courtesy: The artists and Milani Gallery, Meanjin/Brisbane
Carved from the trunks of the Cyathea angiensis (tree fern), Bopa are sentinel-like figures that are placed outside of dwellings in Jiwaka and Simbu Provinces as a form of protection. Exhibiting the distinctive aesthetic styles of individual members of Haus Yuriyal, these Bopa act as both security and an audience for the collective’s Kamkau Ike (Haus Toktok) 2024. Close inspection reveals the influence of tribal creation stories, ancestor figures, popular culture, local flora and fauna, as well as the collective’s playful sense of humour.
HAUS YURIYAL
est. 2015
- present
Full profile for HAUS YURIYAL
BRIDGEMAN, Yuriyal
1986
- present
Full profile for BRIDGEMAN, Yuriyal