Living Arts and Living Archives
In line with the theme of the articles in this edition, the Oceanic Art Society is also changing. A new and free full digital subscription for everyone Under 30 has been launched.
OAS Journal | Online
Living Archives: The F.E. Williams Collection and PNG’s 50th Independence Anniversary
September 16, 2024, marked the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s independence from Australian administration. To commemorate this milestone, the National Archives of Australia embarked on multiple projects connecting our collections to PNG communities both in Australia and overseas.
Tiki in Architecture
Carved anthropomorphic figures of Pacific Oceania are known by the general term of tiki. Their place in protohistoric architecture was first recorded in the accounts of explorers, scientific observers and missionaries between 1769 and the 1800s, as new belief systems were being superimposed on island cultures.
Where Taiwan Meets the World – Contemporary Museology of Oceania
You have to travel to the southeast of the island of Taiwan, to Taitung, to see this remarkably up-to-date Museum of Prehistory. But for Oceanic arts, culture and anthropology buffs, it is very much worth the effort.
Living Art Papua New Guinea
The title of this book summarises so simply but accurately the contents of this important book that was launched at the Oceanic Art Society’s XIII Forum “Papua New Guinea Art: Past, Present, Future” in Canberra celebrating Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) arts.
Emeritus Professor Roger Byard AC PSM
Meet Our Members I grew up in Wynyard on the North West coast of Tasmania and spent many happy hours exploring the shoreline at places like Rocky Cape where I …
Exploring Objects and Stories of Oceania
The 50th anniversary of independence of Papua New Guinea has been a great opportunity for Australians to really engage with PNG art both traditional and modern. This theme was at …
Nawian: a creative experience
by Yatha Baram and Nicolas Garnier The large artwork Nawian acquired in June 2025 by the National Gallery of Australia is part of a broad project at the crossroad between …
Sydney Oceanic Art Fair
Sydney Oceanic Art Fair was held on the weekend of 1 and 2 November at Art Leven in Redfern, Sydney. A highly successful Gala Preview and Auction held on the …
I am Gurgun
Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, 24 October 2025 – 31 January 2026 Review by Margaret Cassidy Two years in the preparation, this exhibition is a retrospective of fifty years of art …
Sea of Islands: Exploring Objects, Stories, and Memories from Ocean
By Carol E. Mayer, 2025, 226 pages, Museum of Anthropology at University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Review by Margaret Cassidy
OAS 30th Anniversary Lunch
Twenty-five members of the Oceanic Art Society gathered for a thirtieth birthday lunch at the Centennial Homestead, set in the grounds of Centennial Park in Sydney on Sunday 1 February.
Global research and displays
What a wonderful time we have had with community and institutional events to mark the 50th anniversary of independence of Papua New Guinea. As I write this, we are looking …
Flight of the Tiki: Mapping Tiki across Pacific Islands settlement
by Judy Robinson Every voyager harbours a sense of home. In island cultures throughout Polynesia, there exists a spiritual homeland conceptualised as Hawaiki; “to get to the core of a culture, one …
Identifying two previously unattributed Mutuaga spatulas
by Stéphane Duckett Historically the world of tribal art collecting all too often has shown a lack of concern over identifying the authors of the works they collect or trade …
Marina Garlick (1940 – 2025)
by Rita Uechtritz Marina (known to the Uechtritz family as ‘Mia’) was a founding, active, and contributing member of the OAS, an honorary sister to my father and uncle, an …
The Met’s Renovated Rockefeller Wing: A Masterpiece of Scholarship and Museology
by Noelle Rathmell-Stiels On 31 May 2025 the New York Metropolitan Museum’s south side opened its doors to the public after a four-year, $70 million update. The redesign, which spans an …
Papua New Guinea Community Celebrations in Canberra
by Margaret Cassidy Institutional engagement with the local Papua New Guinea community and events to launch exhibitions to mark the 50th anniversary of independence of Papua New Guinea were held …
Papua New Guinea Art: Past, Present and Future
As we prepare for the 50th anniversary of independence of Papua New Guinea, this edition of the Journal focuses on this important milestone in the history of Australia’s nearest neighbour …
Bilong PNG: four works to discover
by Crispin Howarth, Curator Pacific Arts, National Gallery of Australia The 16th of September 2025 marks the historic milestone of the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s Independence, the beginning …
50 years on – Contemporary Art in Papua New Guinea
by Susan Cochrane As Papua New Guinea approaches its 50th anniversary of Independence on 16 September 2025, it is timely to widen the dialogue between Papua New Guinea's artists and …
Robin Grant (Leahy) Hodgson 1945 – 2025
by Amanda (Leahy) Cook Robin Hodgson was a colourful and generous person throughout her life. Born on 11 December 1945 to Jon and Elaine Bruce, in Dandenong Hospital, Victoria, Robin …
A Curious Portrait Carving Attributed to the Kiwai Area
by David Ferguson This article introduces a curious 'in the round' portrait carving of a European gentleman with carving conventions consistent to that of the Kiwai area; this novel carving …
MELANESIA – Travels in Black Oceania
Hamish McDonald, 2025, 330 pages, Black Ink. Review by John Greenshields Quite by chance I sat next to Hamish McDonald at the OAS Forum in Brisbane in 2013. He was …