Transformation and Understanding
Developing a greater understanding and hence appreciation of Oceanic art is surely the aspiration of all readers of this Journal. The place from which each reader and viewer commences this voyage …
Stories from all OAS Journal Volumes
Tools of Intervention: Re-examining German and Papua New Guinean Art and Histories
by Lisa Hilli In late 2020, I was invited to be part of a curatorial advisory at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Led by former curator of Modern Art, Beatrice von Bormann, …
The Evolution of the Contemporary Aboriginal Art Market
by Adrian Newstead Have you ever wondered how it is that Aboriginal art became an international phenomenon with pieces selling for thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars, while indigenous …
Ömie barkcloth Exhibition Opening Speech
This speech was presented by Steven Gagau at the opening of Ömie barkcloth: Pathways of nioge Exhibition, Thursday 9 February at the Chau Chak Wing Museum Steven Gagau speaking at the launch …
Masked Histories: Turtle Shell Masks and Torres Strait Islander People
2022, 215 pages, Leah Lui-Chivizhe, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne University Publishing Review by Stan Florek I opened this book with great anticipation. My interest in Torres Strait Islander culture and …
Ma’ori
2023, 352 pages, Elise Patole-Edoumba & Helene Guiot, La Geste www.gesteditions.com Review by Pierre Laffont Thanks to an alert on the Oceanic Art Society’s Facebook page, I participated in the …
Guraban: Where the Saltwater meets the Freshwater
Hurstville Museum and Gallery – 29 October 2022 to 29 January 2023 Review by Margaret Cassidy At the OAS Adelaide Forum in November 2022 keynote speaker Djon Mundine (Bandjalung) presented …
Curiosity about the Pacific
Oceanic art and objects have travelled the world from the “Blue Continent”. Along the way they have been traded and stories about them have embellished their reputations and attracted new …
Stolen God in Museum
Page five of the News (Adelaide, SA) on Saturday 3rd March 1934 featured the headline 'Stolen God in Museum' and this account of how and when the carved figure arrived at the South Australian Museum.
David Said (1945 – 2022)
Founding Newsletter editor for the Oceanic Art Society, David Said was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1945, the start of a long and interesting life enriched by his love of tribal people, their cultures and their artworks
Pacific Arts Association 2022 Conference ‘Gendered objects in Oceania’ – Paris, France
By Krisztina Turza. Gender was central to this conference commencing with Yuki Kihara’s 'Paradise Camp', New Zealand’s offering at the 59th Venice Biennale. This focuses on Fa’afafine (Sāmoa’s third gender) utopia – …
Oceans, Reflections, Collections
George Nuku’s presentation at the Pacific Arts Association 2022 Conference Review by Pierre Laffont George Nuku has become one of the best-known Māori artists due to his creation of a …
Magic Masks and Figures from Oceania
Leif Birger Holmstedt, Torso Publishing, 2021, 158 pages. Review by Jim Elmslie The strength of this book is in its excellent images, many previously unpublished. The images are mostly of …
OAS Tour 8 – 9 September 2022 – The museums in Rochefort and La Rochelle
By Pierre Laffont & Bill Rathmell. It is easy to fall for the peaceful charm of Rochefort and La Rochelle, two ports on the Atlantic Coast of France only a …
Segar Passi, meriba ged a gur (our land and sea)
Cairns Art Gallery, 8 October-11 December 2022. Review by Margaret Cassidy This comprehensive retrospective of Torres Strait Islander artist Segar Passi was an unexpected discovery on a recent visit to the …
Personal encounters with objects
Creators, curators, collectors, students, visitors, audiences all have encounters with cultural objects both old and new. The new can be a celebration of the old or it can be a …
Life in a Museum, Papua New Guinea style
Grace Vele, a/Chief Curator Anthropology, PNG National Museum and Art Gallery The Papua New Guinea (PNG) National Museum and Art Gallery [NMAG] is a world of its own with multiple …
Kevin Conru, Oceanic art collector
Interviewed by Bill Rathmell in Brussels, May 2022 BR: In 2003 you were interviewed by Tribalmania in Santa Fe (https://www.tribalmania.com/interviewconru.html) where you described your early career playing professionally in symphony orchestras …
Bruce Laurie Seaman (1926 – 2022)
by Chris Boylan Bruce Seaman will be remembered as a great family man, married to his beautiful Tahitian wife, Ramine, for 61 years, and as a Voyager and collector of …
Carnets Kanak, Voyage en Inventaire de Roger Boulay – Musée Hèbre, Rochefort
by Pierre Laffont As a local precursor to a similar exhibition being hosted later this year in Paris at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques-Chirac, the exhibition Kanak Notebooks, Journey …
Hongi’s Hikoi: Tales through Tāonga
18 June 2022 - Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney. Review by Margaret Cassidy A highly successful project launch of Hongi’s Hikoi: Tales through Tāonga was held at the Chau Chak …
Mariw Minaral (Spiritual Patterns)
Australian National Maritime Museum. Review by Margaret Cassidy Ngay, Alick Tipoti 2009. Linocut and handcoloured print on paper. ANMM Collection 00055474. In recent years the Australian National Maritime Museum has …
Marquesan Festival Matavaa O Te Fenua Enata
July 2022. By Chris Boylan and Sophy Dennett The Marquesas with six main islands in the north-eastern section of French Polynesia has long been a place of imaginings, beyond the …
Uli: Powerful Ancestors from the Pacific
2021, 392 pages, Jean-Philippe Beaulieu, Primedia, Bornival, Belgium. Review by Noelle Rathmell-Stiels This superb book has been six years in the making, but it is well worth the wait. In …