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 […]
Stories from all OAS Journal Volumes
Pacific Arts Association International Symposium, March 24 – 28, Brisbane
By Pierre Laffont The XIII Pacific Art Association (“PAA”) international Symposium took place over four days on 24-28 March in Brisbane. It was organised by the Queensland Museum in partnership with all the major cultural institutions on the South Bank of Brisbane (Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Queensland Gallery/ Gallery of Modern Art (“GOMA”), State Library […]
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Bridge and barrier: Torres Strait and curious artefact distributions between Queensland and New Guinea
In this talk, Ian McNiven will outline what he calls the “Coral Sea Cultural Interaction Sphere” as a framework to help shed light on why some ethnographic artefact types are shared between northern Queensland and southern New Guinea but other artefact types fail to extend across Torres Strait. Different distributions of artefact types provide new […]
Expanding the Visual Canon: Fifty years of Oceanic art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1969-2019)
By Maia Nuku The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of Oceanic art includes over two thousand works of art from the Pacific: ancestral treasures handed down across the generations that were created in islands and archipelagoes that extend across a vast expanse of ocean. Highlights of the collection include the landmark architectural installation or ‘Kwoma […]
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Review: Oceania
by Marina Garlick Oceania is the title of the catalogue of the eponymous exhibition held at the Royal Academy of Arts in London to mark 250 years since James Cook set out on his first voyage. It also celebrates 250 years since the founding of the Royal Academy. The exhibition was organised by the Royal […]
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Lost in transit
Lost in transit, Launceston, Tasmania. If anyone has any information concerning this woomera please contact John Hawkins via our contact page. A rare and early spear-thrower woomera– early 19th Century. Australian Aborigine, collected in the Murray River region 1830-1840. The subtly curved body of the thrower has a hand grip of gum and at the opposite end […]
Collectors and Collections: OAS Forum 2019 a Triumph
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 […]
Melanesian art: redux
By Natalie Wilson, Curator Australian & Pacific Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales In November, the Art Gallery of New South Wales will celebrate the life and art of its former deputy director, Tony Tuckson, with the exhibition Tony Tuckson: the abstract sublime. In his role as curator, Tuckson’s respect and admiration for the […]
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Interview: Crispin Howarth on Maori Markings: Ta Mokoat the NGA
Jim Elmslie interviews Crispin Howarth, Curator of Pacific Arts at the National Gallery of Australia on the stunning new exhibition of Maori facial markings that will open in Canberra on March 23 JE Crispin, you have been working on the forthcoming exhibition on Māori tattooing (I don’t think you use this term) for the […]
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A Successful Year – President’s Report on 2018
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, […]
