Presented and reproduced by Sharjah Art Foundation for Sharjah Biennial 13, Beroana (shell money) IV (2016) takes beroana (traditional shell-based currency used on the Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea) as its point of departure. Passed down through generations and used in ceremonies, it can either be worn on the body or placed in an architectural setting, a stark contrast to today’s rigid financial order, in which value is apportioned to official coins and notes. By creating handmade replicas of shell money from extracted material, the artist references Bougainville’s recent mining history (1969–1989) as well as the rampant extraction of natural resources for a cash economy and wider systemic exploitation that continues around the world today. The rounded spire of stoneware, earthenware, porcelain and glaze, hanging from steel wire, alludes to indigenous systems of knowledge, value, wealth and exchange.