abstract:Alvina is a female given name with the meaning "elf friend", "amicable", "friendly", and "magical being". In English It is the feminine form of Alvin, which comes from either the Old English name Ælfwine, containing the words ælf meaning "elf" and wine meaning "friend", or from the Old High German name Adelwin / Adalwin, meaning Noble Friend.
The exhibition's co-curators the Filipino anthropologist Corazon Alvina and the Quai Branly's Constance de Monbrison haven't shied away from representing the archipelago's ancient and controversial head-hunter culture through a collection of painted shields and long throwing spears.