The Oceanic Art Society is very pleased to announce the election of a new President, Dr. Bill Rathmell. Bill, and his wife, Noelle, have had a long association with the OAS, summarised in a brief introduction inside this edition of the OAS Journal. We also welcome on board Dr. Krisztina Turza as Editorial Assistant. These […]
The Moon, the Stars and the Demon Shrimp
Peter McCabe will be presenting a lecture on: The Moon, the Stars and the Demon Shrimp: Deciphering Patterns in Beaded Aprons of Geelvink Bay, North West New Guinea A little extra : After the lecture, there will be a very short introduction to our newest OAS international members, Shiva Lynn Burgos and her partner Dominic […]
Update on Australia’s Rock Art by Mike Donaldson
Mike Donaldson advised that his book covering Australia’s Rock Art is yet to be published as he awaits Aboriginal comments/approvals from a number of organisations. The book is ready to print and the approvals are hoped for early this year from several groups in the Alice Springs region, some of the Western Australian groups, the […]
Secretary’s Report on AGM
The new OAS Executive Committee as elected at the AGM on November 12 last year: President: Dr Bill Rathmel Vice President and Journal Editor: Dr James Elmslie Treasurer: Rita Uechtritz Secretary: Robin Hodgson Past President and Vice President: David Welch Tribal Art Fair organiser: Geoff Carey International Communications: Noelle Rathmell-Stiels Advertising: Irene Ashburn Website design, […]
New Britain art in the Melanesian Gallery
By Crispin Howarth, Curator Pacific Arts, NGA The majority of the National Gallery’s Pacific Arts collection comes from Papua New Guinea; the newly reinstalled Melanesian gallery reflects this with arts from several of PNG’s provinces, especially New Britain and New Ireland. The arts produced in this region are characterised by arresting and radically inventive sculptural […]
Solomon Islands – Re-enchantment and the Colonial Shadow Exhibition
At the University of Queensland Anthropology Museum. Review by Krisztina Turza. Since I missed the opening of the University of Queensland Anthropology Museum’s recent exhibition on the Solomon Islands as I was travelling in Europe, I was eager to pay a visit on my return in September. It is not a common occurrence that an […]
A Focus on Some of the Exhibition’s Gems
Solomon Islands – Re-enchantment and the Colonial Shadow Exhibition See linked article Dr. Diana Young, Director, University of Queensland Anthropology Museum, assembled the following notes on some of the more fascinating objects that are in the exhibition. All come from the museum founder, Dr L. P. Winterbotham’s collection, made mainly during the 1940s and 1950s. […]
Oceanic Knowledges Conference
Australian National University, 27-28 January 2017. Review by Michael Gunn The ANU Humanities Research Centre, in partnership with the Centre of Collective Biography of Archaeology in the Pacific and the ANU Pacific Institute held a conference on knowledge and culture in Oceania on 27-28 January. Organised by Peter Brown, Matthew Spriggs, and Kylie Moloney, the […]
No.1 Neighbour: Art in Papua New Guinea 1966–2016
By Ruth McDougall, Curator, Pacific Art, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Geographically, the mainland of Papua New Guinea lies just 3.7 kilometres from the island of Saibai in the Torres Strait, at the far-northern tip of Queensland. Historically, Australia and Papua New Guinea share colonial and modern histories. Yet PNG still holds […]
Mystery Object
Found in Lae, PNG, in the mid 1980’s. Possibly a river stone or a meteorite that has been carved and may be a fertility symbol. The stone is 25cm round and 8cm diameter at its largest. If anyone knows what this stone is or what it represents please contact the Editor.