By Jim Elmslie Oceanic Art means different things to different people. Made by indigenous peoples for traditional cultural and utilitarian practice, artefacts are now prized by many people far removed from their geographical origins. Just why this is so is sometimes hard to fathom. In the last … [Read more...]
All published stories from the OAS Journal
New Guinea: What I Did and What I Saw
Wednesday 19 September - OAS Lecture, 6:30pm, Australian Museum. Barry Craig will be presenting an illustrated talk on: New Guinea: What I Did and What I Saw I went to New Guinea in 1962 as an Education Officer (‘chalkie’) and asked to be posted to Telefomin where I remained until 1965. I … [Read more...]
Ninth OAS Forum in Sydney
Aboriginal and Pacific art: Collections and artists, then and now. OAS in conjunction with the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Australian Museum, 1-3 February 2019 After the stunning success of the 8th OAS Forum at the Savage Club in Melbourne in October last year, the Forum 2019 … [Read more...]
Aesthetics of New Guinea Art – Part II
Lecture by Michael Hamson, Savage Club, Melbourne, 21 October 2017 This article continues on from Part One which appeared in the last edition of the OAS Journal where Mr. Hamson looked at the criteria of Age; Technical Virtuosity, and Clarity in assessing New Guinea art. Colour It is hard to … [Read more...]
The Sam and Sharon Singer Collection of Oceanic Art
Based on a presentation by Sam Singer at the OAS Savage Club Forum, 2017 I want to thank OAS for bringing all of us, scholars, collectors, museums, dealers, and auction houses together for this auspicious and exciting symposium. My father, J.R. Singer, was a navigator on the ships of U.S. Army … [Read more...]
Tribal Art Fair Sydney (TAFS) Review – 2018
Dawn of a new era. The Tribal Art Fair Sydney-2018 was held on Saturday 21 July at a fabulous new venue: the heritage National Art School “Cell Block” building in Darlinghurst. A great success. This could be the start of an ever-expanding oceanic art fair in the antipodes. The new banner designed by … [Read more...]
Different Ways of Seeing
by Jim Elmslie Oceanic art creates fascination on many levels. In this edition of the OAS Journal we look at two quite different ways of seeing traditional artefacts. To Dr. Michael Mel, a Papua New Guinean scholar who grew up in a Highlands village before setting off on his own personal … [Read more...]
The Social Life of Aboriginal Breastplates: Encoded Objects of Colonisation
By Angel Bottaro The preservation of Aboriginal breastplates, with a degree of empathetic imagination, evoke powerful stories of colonisation. The physical weight of the objects around one’s neck and the ascriptions given to them – gorgets, brass shields, but most commonly ‘King’ and ‘Queen’ plates … [Read more...]
SAWIYANO: Life in the East Sepik Province
Betni Kalk is a professor of Design at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. As the daughter of missionaries, Betni grew up in the East Sepik Province in Sawiyano territory. She returned as a college student and later asked permission from the elders to film their lives, with them deciding which … [Read more...]
Aesthetics of New Guinea Art
Lecture by Michael Hamson, Savage Club, Melbourne, 21 October 2017 Introduction Aesthetics by definition are subjective — being one’s response to and appreciation of beauty. That subjective dimension becomes even more pronounced when discussing artifacts made by another culture where beauty may not … [Read more...]
