Jeffrey Feeger

New Bougainville Collection



Jeffry Feeger was born in Kerema which is located on the Southern Coast of mainland Papua New Guinea.

Having spent several years in Bougainville, Jeffry lives and works in Port Moresby where he is part of a new generation of PNG artists whose work reflects the convergence of traditional and contemporary life.



Jeffry describes his style as 'magic realism' where photo-realism meets surrealism, between the real world and the world of spirits. His work reflects his culture and the social and political realities of life in PNG, as Nina Tonga explains of A New Bougainville 2006, "the title evokes both a sense of political awareness but also a new era of portraiture. Inspired by the election of the first autonomous government Jeffry searched for an image that represented both place and the calming social-political climate." The painting of a girl clutching pieces of her grass skirt represents peace, hope, and unity for Bougainville.


Jeffry was awarded the inaugural Tautai Trust and Pacific Cooperation Foundation Artist Residency. He has exhibited in PNG, Australia, and New Zealand. (Extracted from Gallery Website http://www.whitespace.co.nz/).






First social meeting with "sista" Katrina, my Australian angel.

Bougainville is an island located Far East of the main territory of Papua New Guinea. In 1989 the rebels, BRA, initiated their armed struggle to get independence. Both sides of the conflict have violated human rights and have committed atrocities agianst the civilian population.

Several attempts of negotiations occurred throughout the conflict, usually with the help of regional neighbours. The 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement imposed large-scale autonomy for the island, and a referendum in the future on possible independence.



These are the faces of the war. The fear, anger and hate can be perceived in the eyes of these portraits.

This guy in pink T-shirt just went out from the jail, as Jeffrey explains to me. The red stripes falling down the paintures, are the blood of the war. This is the painture itself blooding and suffering...