Oceanic Art Society
Promoting the understanding and appreciation of Oceanic art.
September 16, 2024, marked the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s independence from Australian administration. To commemorate this milestone, the National Archives of Australia embarked on multiple projects connecting our collections to PNG communities both in Australia and overseas.
You have to travel to the southeast of the island of Taiwan, to Taitung, to see this remarkably up-to-date Museum of Prehistory. But for Oceanic arts, culture and anthropology buffs, it is very much worth the effort.
The title of this book summarises so simply but accurately the contents of this important book that was launched at the Oceanic Art Society’s XIII Forum “Papua New Guinea Art: Past, Present, Future” in Canberra celebrating Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) arts.
by Yatha Baram and Nicolas Garnier The large artwork Nawian acquired in June 2025 by the National Gallery of Australia is part of a broad project at the crossroad between …
Sydney Oceanic Art Fair was held on the weekend of 1 and 2 November at Art Leven in Redfern, Sydney. A highly successful Gala Preview and Auction held on the …
Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, 24 October 2025 – 31 January 2026 Review by Margaret Cassidy Two years in the preparation, this exhibition is a retrospective of fifty years of art …
By Carol E. Mayer, 2025, 226 pages, Museum of Anthropology at University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Review by Margaret Cassidy
Twenty-five members of the Oceanic Art Society gathered for a thirtieth birthday lunch at the Centennial Homestead, set in the grounds of Centennial Park in Sydney on Sunday 1 February.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
International Connections: 3000 years of shared object histories between Australia and New Guinea.
Professor Ian McNiven
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
"We are no longer Maisin": The impact of Climate Change on Art and Culture in Papua New Guinea.
Dr. Anna-Karina Hermkens.
Consultations in Heaven - Symbolism of council houses in Nias and Samoa.
Professor Jerome Feldman
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.
The 2024 three day annual Pacific Art Association Europe conference took place in October at the Ethnologisches Museum in the Humboldt Forum in Berlin.
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 …
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. …
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.
