The exhibit features 30 storyboards by different Palauan artists, ranging from the 1940s, 1950s, 1970s, all the way to present.
According to Simeon Adelbai, Belau National Museum Curator, this is not the first time that the Museum is holding a storyboard exhibit. The first one was done in the old building. “But it was morel like a storyboard project. We had a storyboard workshop here. We trained carvers and exhibited their works,” Adelbai said.
This one, according to Adelbai, features the evolution of storyboards in Palau.
“The storyboards are based mainly on Palau legends, but different artists render different versions of different stories.”
One of the featured artists is Baris Sylvester, a master carver who spent his many years in jail carving storyboards. Adelbai said that many of the present storyboard carvers in Palau learned from him, so his style is one of the most recognizable these days.
Another is Petrus Sikyang, whose sculpture on the story of Uab, the giant that fell and became an island of Palau, is on display.
“What is exciting about Sikyang is that when he goes out to look for wood, he’d see the material and he would know right away what story he will carve,” Adelabai said.
The exhibit also highlights an old bai beam from Airai State, which bears carvings of stories about the village, and a door from the old museum, carved by one of the students of who learned to carve during the Japanese time.
According to Adelbai, it was during the Japanese time that Palauans learned to do intricate carvings and outlines using carving tools from Japan.
“These storyboards will be on display for at least one year,” Pia Morei, Director of the Belau National Museum, said. “We will be changing the items from time to time because we have a lot of storyboards to showcase.”
The Museum is open from Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
