Oceanic Art Society Forum | Melbourne

The 11th Oceanic Art Society Forum will be held in Melbourne at the Savage Club on Saturday 21 October followed by a Gala Dinner for attendees and guests.

Listen to talks from a distinguished international panel of experts, including Kevin Conru (Belgium), Ross Bowden (Australia), Nicolas Garnier (France), Michael Hamson (USA), Crispin Howarth (Australia), Eric Kjellgren (USA) and Michael Martin (Australia).

The event program will start on Friday 20th October with an exclusive tour of the Melbourne Museum storage rooms in groups of ten for the first thirty ticket holders. This event is now booked out.

International and interstate visitors may however be interested in visiting the following private galleries, by appointment only.

Art Oceanic – Malcolm Davidson – [email protected] – 0419 355 126

Alex Philips Oceanic – [email protected] – 0412 390 384

An optional dinner and book auction is also available on Friday evening (at own cost) for those who wish to attend.

A range of cultural institutions have current Australian Aboriginal and Pacific art exhibitions that may be of interest as well.

Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton.

The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria, Federation Square.

The Lume, Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

Event Program

Friday 20th

An exclusive visit in small groups to the Melbourne Museum storage rooms (sold out).

A visit to Art Oceanic (Malcolm Davidson) and Alex Phillips Oceanic galleries (by invitation only).

An optional evening dinner at the Ombra Salumi Bar and book auction (extra cost) will also be arranged.

Saturday 21st

All day at the Melbourne Savage Club with eight talks by distinguished international speakers, including:

• Ross Bowden (Anthropologist, Australia): “Creativity in Art in a New Guinea Society – a Cross-cultural Perspective”.
• Kevin Conru (Oceanic Art Consultant, Belgium) will show rare early 20th century footage and images of Polynesian god-figure rituals from the Ontong Java atoll.
• Nicolas Garnier (Curator, Oceanic Art, Musée du Quai Branly, France) will talk about Herman Somuk, a pioneering artist from Bougainville, active in the 1930s.
• Michael Hamson (Oceanic Art Gallery owner, USA): “Connoisseurship of New Guinea Art – From Fake to Great”.
• Crispin Howarth (Curator of Pacific Art, National Gallery of Australia): “Masterpieces of Pacific Art at the National Gallery of Australia”.
• Eric Kjellgren (Formerly curator of Oceanic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) : “More Than You Might Think : Exploring Micronesian Sculpture”.
• Dr Michael Martin (Forum Convenor, Australia): “The Seaman Collection of New Guinea Art”, his book which will be launched at the Parcours des Mondes in September 2023.

Includes morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea, and gala dinner at the Savage Club.

Saturday Evening Gala Dinner (with a prominent after-dinner speaker).

• An additional ticket is available for purchase for guests of attendees (Forum tickets include Gala Dinner for 1 person). Only 1 additional Gala Dinner Ticket allowed per Forum guest.

Ticketing for this event is now closed. For further information please write to [email protected] 

Note: 50% refunds will be considered in case of hardship only up to 6 October.

Location