Oceanic Art Society

Promoting the understanding and appreciation of Oceanic art.

Stories from all OAS Journal Volumes

25 years of the OAS

By

Photo Caption: The 2012 OAS Forum at the SA Museum. Photo by Michelle Haywood.  2020 is a very significant milestone in the history of the Oceanic Art Society. As is outlined in former OAS President Crispin Howarth’s detailed history in this special 25th Anniversary edition, this is a remarkable achievement for the group of Oceanic Art […]

Creating change for a quarter of a century: The Oceanic Art Society

By

by Crispin Howarth The Australian-based international Oceanic Art Society (OAS) is celebrating its quarter of a century recognising and appreciating non-western arts of Australia and the Pacific. It began with a real desire to address the relative lack of recognition of non-western arts and more specifically for the start of the OAS in Sydney was […]

To ACCESS this content and provide your support, BECOME A MEMBER of the OAS, OR pleaseLOG IN if you are already a member.

Oh boy… 25 years already!

By

by Anthony Meyer I remember the inception of the Oceanic Art Society when Harry Beran first mentioned the idea in the early 1990s. We discussed it face to face during my trips, and over the phone, and by mail (the postal kind) and we took it quite seriously because there were two sides to the […]

To ACCESS this content and provide your support, BECOME A MEMBER of the OAS, OR pleaseLOG IN if you are already a member.

Comments on the Oceanic Art Society

By

by Michael Hamson I have been a part of the Oceanic Art Society for so long I cannot remember ever NOT being a member. In fact, I don’t even ever recall joining in the first place over 20 years ago.  It was as if the newsletters just started showing up in my mailbox. There must have […]

To ACCESS this content and provide your support, BECOME A MEMBER of the OAS, OR pleaseLOG IN if you are already a member.

A Bird-Headed Kanak club in Norwich

By

by Carolina Gallarini While objects from Oceania can be viewed in several museums in the United Kingdom including the British Museum in London, the National Museums of Scotland or the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, one of the most interesting English museums holding Oceanic art is the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (SCVKasarA), located at the […]

To ACCESS this content and provide your support, BECOME A MEMBER of the OAS, OR pleaseLOG IN if you are already a member.

Profile: Todd Barlin

By

by Margaret Cassidy Photo caption: Todd Barlin with his shields – Oceanic Arts Pacifica Casula Powerhouse, 2014. Down a quiet tree-lined street in inner-city Paddington sits the last remaining physical gallery in New South Wales devoted solely to the art of Australia’s Pacific Island neighbours. Long time resident and foundation member of the Oceanic Art Society Todd […]

To ACCESS this content and provide your support, BECOME A MEMBER of the OAS, OR pleaseLOG IN if you are already a member.

Jutta Malnic (1924 – 20 October 2020)

By

by Chris Boylan Photographer and author; above all, a person of great learning, wisdom and generosity. Jutta was educated in Switzerland where her father was the German Consul-General, but after his death in 1934, she and her mother returned to their home in Berlin, and lived there throughout the Second World War. Jutta studied philosophy and art […]

To ACCESS this content and provide your support, BECOME A MEMBER of the OAS, OR pleaseLOG IN if you are already a member.

Oceanic art market in the time of COVID

By

This edition of the Journal features Barry Craig’s account of the Pacific collection at the new Wantok Place Museum in North Adelaide as well as Jim Elmslie’s story behind the recent sales with remarkable provenance of works from the Hermannsburg school in Central Australia. We’ve introduced a new feature, the President’s Corner, where Bill Rathmell interviewed Nick Mitzevich, Director of the National Gallery of Australia, following news reports of the deaccession of Pacific pieces from the collection.

Albert Namatjira, Rex Battarbee and the Birth of the Hermannsburg School

By

By Jim Elmslie | Water colour paintings of the Hermannsburg School are instantly recognizable by their subject matter, form and the delicate hues employed. These landscape paintings of the ranges of central Australia, many near the eponymous Hermannsburg Mission, are distinctively unique.

To ACCESS this content and provide your support, BECOME A MEMBER of the OAS, OR pleaseLOG IN if you are already a member.