Wantok Place is the LCA’s Museum of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Artefacts, and it is housed in the LLL Building in Archer Street, North Adelaide.  This valuable collection is governed by the LCA Committee for International Mission, and it also tells the story of Australia Lutheran mission work in PNG and other SE Asian countries from […]

Wantok Place is the LCA’s Museum of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Artefacts, and it is housed in the LLL Building in Archer Street, North Adelaide.  This valuable collection is governed by the LCA Committee for International Mission, and it also tells the story of Australia Lutheran mission work in PNG and other SE Asian countries from 1886 to the present.  Previously called the Louise Flierl Mission Museum when it was housed in Hahndorf, the Museum was relocated to North Adelaide in 2019.

Wantok Place also houses a growing collection of books and magazines, which have been donated to the museum over the years.  This includes a significant collection of books on PNG donated by the family of the late Dr Les Grope, former President of the LCA.  The Museum’s collection includes books on: history, art and culture, ethnology, biography, and travel, as well as Bibles, catechisms, hymnbooks and other theological texts in various languages (including early German texts).

As of this year, the ALC Library and Wantok Place have commenced collaborating on a project to catalogue the Museum’s book collection.  This project came about as a result of a suggestion from ALC’s Associate Dean for Research, Wendy Mayer, which led to further discussion with Timothy Pietsch, Wantok Place manager, Shaun Lancaster, ALC Director Library Services, and Lavinia Gent, ALC Cataloguing and Systems Librarian.

The task of cataloguing books donated to the museum has begun.  The Wantok Place collection will be searchable via the ALC online catalogue – the books will be easily identifiable as they will be placed in a discrete collection within the ALC Library catalogue.  The physical books will continue to be housed at the Museum and they will viewable at the Museum – they will also be searchable via the web.  While it is envisaged that these items will generally be in a ‘not for loan’ category, they may be available for occasional loan, by negotiation with the Museum Manager.

While the ALC Library holds a body of works related to PNG, such as the history of Christian mission in PNG, including Lutheran mission, as well as various language resources, the Museum holds a number of specialised and unusual resources which are not mainstream.  In this regard, it is believed that this collaboration between the ALC Library and Wantok Place will be of value to the LCA/NZ, in enabling research across a variety of fields.

Finally, the Museum would gratefully receive further donations of books and other printed material relating to the peoples and cultures of PNG, as well as the work of Lutheran mission in PNG and SE Asia.  Contact Timothy Pietsch, Manager, Wantok Place, email: wantok-place@lca.org.au or mobile: 0419 606 707.

The museum is open Wednesdays from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Bookings for Wantok Place can be made for group visits, by emailing wantok-place@lca.org.au or by phoning the museum manager, Timothy Pietsch, on 08 8267 7410. Visit the website for more information at www.lca.org.au/wantok-place