Oceanic Art Society

Promoting the understanding and appreciation of Oceanic art.

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

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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 […]

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Oh boy… 25 years already!

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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 […]

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Comments on the Oceanic Art Society

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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 […]

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A Bird-Headed Kanak club in Norwich

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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 […]

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Profile: Todd Barlin

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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 […]

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Jutta Malnic (1924 – 20 October 2020)

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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 […]

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Oceanic art market in the time of COVID

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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

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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.

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