Global research and displays
What a wonderful time we have had with community and institutional events to mark the 50th anniversary of independence of Papua New Guinea. As I write this, we are looking …
Volume 30
Flight of the Tiki: Mapping Tiki across Pacific Islands settlement
by Judy Robinson Every voyager harbours a sense of home. In island cultures throughout Polynesia, there exists a spiritual homeland conceptualised as Hawaiki; “to get to the core of a culture, one …
Identifying two previously unattributed Mutuaga spatulas
by Stéphane Duckett Historically the world of tribal art collecting all too often has shown a lack of concern over identifying the authors of the works they collect or trade …
Marina Garlick (1940 – 2025)
by Rita Uechtritz Marina (known to the Uechtritz family as ‘Mia’) was a founding, active, and contributing member of the OAS, an honorary sister to my father and uncle, an …
The Met’s Renovated Rockefeller Wing: A Masterpiece of Scholarship and Museology
by Noelle Rathmell-Stiels On 31 May 2025 the New York Metropolitan Museum’s south side opened its doors to the public after a four-year, $70 million update. The redesign, which spans an …
Papua New Guinea Community Celebrations in Canberra
by Margaret Cassidy Institutional engagement with the local Papua New Guinea community and events to launch exhibitions to mark the 50th anniversary of independence of Papua New Guinea were held …
Papua New Guinea Art: Past, Present and Future
As we prepare for the 50th anniversary of independence of Papua New Guinea, this edition of the Journal focuses on this important milestone in the history of Australia’s nearest neighbour …
Bilong PNG: four works to discover
by Crispin Howarth, Curator Pacific Arts, National Gallery of Australia The 16th of September 2025 marks the historic milestone of the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s Independence, the beginning …
50 years on – Contemporary Art in Papua New Guinea
by Susan Cochrane As Papua New Guinea approaches its 50th anniversary of Independence on 16 September 2025, it is timely to widen the dialogue between Papua New Guinea's artists and …
Robin Grant (Leahy) Hodgson 1945 – 2025
by Amanda (Leahy) Cook Robin Hodgson was a colourful and generous person throughout her life. Born on 11 December 1945 to Jon and Elaine Bruce, in Dandenong Hospital, Victoria, Robin …
A Curious Portrait Carving Attributed to the Kiwai Area
by David Ferguson This article introduces a curious 'in the round' portrait carving of a European gentleman with carving conventions consistent to that of the Kiwai area; this novel carving …
MELANESIA – Travels in Black Oceania
Hamish McDonald, 2025, 330 pages, Black Ink. Review by John Greenshields Quite by chance I sat next to Hamish McDonald at the OAS Forum in Brisbane in 2013. He was …
Art, Creativity and Future Directions
As always, a trip to the APT XI at QAGOMA in Brisbane didn’t disappoint. One highlight was the detailed carved sculptures in the renowned Ātiawa style by Māori sculptor Brett …
Art and Creativity from a Cross-Cultural Perspective
This article is an edited version of a talk Ross Bowden gave at the Oceanic Art Society Forum in Melbourne in 2023. The purpose is to raise, very briefly, some of the ‘big picture’ questions about art cross-culturally.
Pacific Art Association Europe 2024
The 2024 three day annual Pacific Art Association Europe conference took place in October at the Ethnologisches Museum in the Humboldt Forum in Berlin.
OAS Strategy Meeting Report
by Jim Elmslie On 26 March 2025, the OAS held an important Strategy Meeting at Chau Chak Wing Museum in Sydney University, attended by past and present committee members and …
“Mi pen, em tasol” — Requiem for an Artist
Obituary - Elisabet Kauage 1958 -2025. Papua New Guinea lost a national treasure on 5 February 2025 with the passing of renowned artist Elisabet Kauage.
The Gulf of Papua through the lens and diaries of Kathleen Haddon
An English Girl in New Guinea: Kathleen Haddon’s Journal and Photographs from New Guinea 1914. Kathleen Haddon, edited by Virginia Lee-Webb and Jonathon Fogel. Hardcover, 192 pages, over 200 B/W photographs. …
Introducing Judy Robinson
Long term member Judy Robinson has stepped up in recent months as OAS Secretary and has now been appointed as Treasurer with the resignation of Ian Wamijo.
Ka ‘Ula Wena: Oceanic Red
I am fortunate to be given the catalogue to the groundbreaking exhibition Ka ‘Ula Wena: Oceanic Red, which was held from 25 May 2024 until 12 January 2025 at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
Tiki Collecting: Production, Purpose and Scale
What is tiki? This exotic word conjures vivid and iconic images. In discussing tiki, questions of production, purpose and scale emerge.
SEA Art: South East Asian Art
Ana and Antonio Casanovas have recently published this lavishly illustrated volume which is an indispensable reference companion for all those interested in the aesthetics of the material art of Southeast Asia and Oceania and in the evolution of the earliest known human cultures.
De ma peinture surgit et survit mon âme [From my painting, my soul emerges and lives on]
This exhibition’s title, which sounds as much like an urgent need for preservation as it does a victory against oblivion, has left its mark on the minds of all French lovers of contemporary art from Papua New Guinea (PNG).
BILONG PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Reflecting on 50 years of independence
BILONG PAPUA NEW GUINEA showcases the National Gallery of Australia’s impressive collection of Papua New Guinean art across diverse media – sculptures, prints, paintings, bark-cloth, and bilums.