Promoting the understanding and appreciation of Oceanic art.
With so much information available in the modern digital age it sometimes feels that we know, collectively, almost everything. In this edition Professor Ian McNiven shows us that this is wrong and that something as simple as the geographic origin of an artefact is still a matter of research. In Ian’s thought provoking paper, Beyond Bridge […]
In this issue of the of the OAS Journal we are fortunate to have Dr Maia Nuku, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, chart the evolution of that institution over the last 50 years, particularly in the decisions taken that resulted in its present day collections of Pacific art. Through the actions […]
The 2019 Oceanic Art Society Forum was an intellectual and emotional odyssey. Oceanic art represents and encompasses many things: sublime beauty and irresistible mystery; cultural treasure; markers of colonial dispossession and loss, but also continuity and hope. That indeed is what Oceanic art is: objects that bind people through time; binding those who made them […]
The Oceanic Art Society’s Annual General Meeting was held on 10th November at the Middle Harbour 16ft Skiff Club, Mosman NSW – a lovely venue on a sunny day. Twenty-one members were present, with apologies from three more. After the formalities, the President, Bill Rathmell, provided a brief report on the state of the Society, […]
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 edition of the OAS Journal, and continuing in […]
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 odyssey, they are the […]
by Crispin Howarth The Prince Alexander Ranges in northern Papua New Guinea are home to a number of cultures. The largest group are the Abelam with a population of some 50,000 whose arts have heavily influenced their neighbours – the Arapesh and the Yangoru-Boiken people. These communities share artistic and cultural overlaps with the Abelam […]
The OAS Forum, held at the Melbourne Savage Club on October 21st, was a fantastic success and the Victorian members of the OAS, especially Dr. Michael Martin, are to be most heartily congratulated. The venue was superb; the speakers all truly world class and the food and company unsurpassable. Indeed it is fair to say […]
After a very successful Tribal Art Fair Sydney, eyes, minds and tastebuds are turning eagerly toward Melbourne. This year’s OAS Forum is to be held at the iconic Savage Club, an institution in the world’s ‘most livable’ city, and certainly home to one of the country’s largest private Oceanic art collections. Full details are available […]
This edition of the OAS Journal once again traverses through time and space exploring aspects of Pacific cultures, from the first contact made by Captain James Cook in Hawaii to the current interactions of New York artist, Shiva Lynn Burgos, with the Kwoma people in PNG. Oceanic art plays a central role in both these […]
