Oceanic Art Society

OAS Speaks - First Online Lecture Announced : Jerome Feldman
2025-06-25 16:00 (Australia/Sydney) | Victoria
Join us online to hear Jerome Feldman speak on Consultations in Heaven – Symbolism of council houses in Nias and Samoa. Jerome is Emeritus Professor of Art History at Hawaii Pacific University.
This first OAS Speaks Online lecture will be delivered live at 8:00PM on Tuesday 24 June (Hawai’i time); 4:00PM on Wednesday 25 June (Sydney/Canberra/Melbourne time) and available for streaming later via the OAS website.
Register to attend this free Online Lecture now.

Special General Meeting (SGM) of OAS
2025-06-18 18:00 | Victoria
Special General Meeting of the Oceanic Art Society Incorporated (OAS)
When: Wednesday 18 June 2025 commencing at 6:00 PM AEST
Where: via ZOOM – Details for joining the Zoom meeting will be sent by email to all OAS members
Further Information:

Notice of Special General Meeting including agenda and background information (Download links)
Proxy form (Download links)
Constitution of the Oceanic Art Society (Download links)
Link to Associations Incorporation Act 2009 (referenced in the special resolution):
https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2009-007
Link to Associations Incorporation Regulation 2022 (referenced in the special resolution):
https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2022-0522

Annual General Meeting (AGM)
2024-11-30 10:00 - 13:00 | Middle Harbour Skiffs Yacht Club, 237 Spit Road, Mosman, Mosman, NSW, 2088, Australia
Notice is given that the annual general meeting of the Oceanic Art Society Incorporated INC3442080 will be held as follows:
Date: Saturday November 30th 2024
Time: AGM to commence 10.30 am
Venue: Skiffies Bistro, 237 Spit Road, Mosman, NSW
AGENDA

Opening of meeting and acknowledgement of country
Apologies
Confirmation of Minutes of previous AGM
President’s Report
Treasurer’s Report & Financial Statement
Election of Office Bearers and Committee members.
Thanks to any outgoing Office Bearers and Committee Members.
Close of meeting

All members are welcome.
Following the AGM there will be a lecture given by Crispin Howarth, Curator, Pacific Arts, National Gallery of Australia, on the Arts of the Yuat River.
Lunch will then be available at Skiffies Bistro.
Note: Skiffies will open at 10.00 am and coffee will be available with the AGM starting at 10.30 am.
Members can access 2023-24 OAS Financial Documents; 2023 AGM Minutes and 2025 OAS Nominations for Office Bearers and Committee Members.
DOWNLOAD BOARD PAPERS

Sydney Oceanic Art Fair 2024
2024-10-26 17:00 - 2024-10-27 16:30 | Art Leven Gallery, 17 Thurlow Street, Redfern, NSW, 2016, Australia
MAIN FAIR DAY
SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER | 9.00AM – 4.30PM
Cooee Art Leven | 17 Thurlow Street Redfern

Ethnographic rarities and collectables from Oceania, Papua New Guinea, the Pacific, Australia, South East Asia, the Americas, New Zealand and many other parts of the world. Masks, carvings, weapons, textiles, artefacts, jewellery, utensils, pottery, prints and books on art, culture and anthropology. A fascinating display with great pieces at great prices!
ENTRY $5 PUBLIC, $2 STUDENTS
ENQUIRIES: 0422 010 051

GALA PREVIEW AND AUCTION EVENING
SATURDAY 26 OCTOBER | 5.00PM – 7.30PM
Cooee Art Leven | 17 Thurlow Street Redfern
OAS is excited to announce a Gala Preview and Auction evening. Participants will be able to preview traders’ exhibits, bid at an auction of items kindly donated by traders and members to raise funds for the OAS (Oceanic Art Society, a non-profit organisation), mingle with other guests and enjoy wine and hors d’oeuvres.
Purchases to be settled please (or suitable arrangements made) on the evening.
ENTRY $15 PER PERSON PAYABLE AT THE DOOR
Download PDF Flyer

Oceanic Art Society 2024 Forum
2024-08-01 18:30 - 2024-08-03 17:00 | Chau Chak Wing Museum, University Pl, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia
Tradition to Transition: from kastom Objects to Pacific Art
Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney

Hear from Keynote speakers Professor Tarisi Vunidilo and Dr Jude Philp as they discuss current research and the connections between traditional cultural objects and contemporary institutions.
Professor Tarisi Vunidilo, formerly Secretary-General Pacific Islands Museum Association and a SIMA 2024 Faculty Fellow at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, is speaking on Working with Pacific Collections across the Globe.
Dr Jude Philp is Senior curator, Macleay Collections, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney and a member of the Oceanic Art Society, is speaking on Thinking Differently about Historical Objects.
Dr Susan Cochrane is a noted curator, researcher and author in the field of Pacific Art and will be talking with Dr Michael Mel on Living Art in Papua New Guinea.
Māori researcher and educator Brent Kerehona Pukepuke-Ahitapu will speak on recent advances in traditional object research.
Collaborations will be the focus of the presentation from co-curators and cultural researchers Steven Gagau and Alfred Malagisi.
Practicing Fijian-Australian artist, educator and curator, Salote Tawale will provide a review of the contemporary Pacific art scene.
Curator Ethnography, Macleay Collections, Rebecca Conway & Ronny Kareni talk about their “West Papua” exhibition development: working with the Robert Mitton collection.
Professor Tarisi Vunidilo Dr Jude Philp Brent Kerehona Pukepuke-Ahitapu Steven Gagau Salote Tawale Rebecca Conway
Event Details
The OAS 2024 Forum will commence with a Cocktail Welcome event on Thursday 1 August, followed by an all day Forum on Friday 2 August at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney, and a Society Dinner and Auction in the evening of Friday 2 August at the Rydges Hotel Camperdown and a range of activities on Saturday 3 August as part of the closing weekend of the Tidal Kin: Stories from the Pacific exhibition.
Accommodation
Please note that Forum attendees can claim a 20 percent discount for accommodation at Rydges Hotel Camperdown if booked through the OAS link https://www.rydges.com/private-page/oceanic-art-society-committee/ This also includes a reduced $25 per day parking if required (normal price $30 per day).
Timetable and Location Details
If you are experiencing any issues purchasing tickets please contact us.

Enzo Hamel - Current research on Gregory Bateson’s PNG photographic archives
2024-04-03 18:00 - 21:00 | Art Leven Gallery, 17 Thurlow Street, Redfern, NSW, 2016, Australia
LECTURE

Recovering Indigenous agencies in ethnographic visual archives: Gregory Bateson’s photographs in the Iatmul region.

We are excited to announce that Enzo Hamel is presenting the first OAS Lecture for 2024 in April. Enzo is a PhD-funded student at the Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich (UK) and is also a funded scholar at the Stuart Hall Foundation. He is a graduate in both Art History from the Ecole du Louvre, Paris and Social Anthropology at the Université of Paris-Nanterre.

Enzo’s research focuses mainly on visual archives and the intertwined colonial history of anthropology and photography. In this lecture, he will discuss his current research project on the visual archives deriving from the fieldwork of the anthropologist Gregory Bateson in the East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea between 1929 and 1938. These visual archives remain largely ignored but have the potential to shed new light on Indigenous agencies in colonial photographic archives by interrogating the photographic act in which photographed subjects are seen but silenced, thereby recovering the historical and relational contexts of these photographic encounters.

Through these photographic archives, it is possible to have a more detailed and nuanced understanding of everyday life in the field and the relationships at stake.

Please arrive at 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start at the Cooee ART Leven Gallery, 17 Thurlow Street Redfern, New South Wales 2016. Gallery website: www.cooeeart.com.au

The lecture will be followed by an optional dinner at own cost from 8pm at ‘Sumac and Onion’, 684 Bourke Street, Redfern. www.sumacandonion.com

Purchase your tickets using our online ticketing below. Tickets also available for purchase at the event. Note: Please select ticket numbers by clicking the + symbol below.

Karen Coote - Archiving in a Community
2023-12-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Art Leven Gallery, 17 Thurlow Street, Redfern, NSW, 2016, Australia
Karen has recently been working with the artists of Injalak Arts from Gunbalanya (Oenpelli). The objective has been to create a purpose built room that now houses chosen works of bark, paper, fibre and related historical material. Karen has worked in the Kimberley and Top End since the mid 1980’s. It has been Karen’s vital focus to enable artists and their families to visit their original work.
Karen has worked at the Australian Museum for 20 years as Senior Conservator specialising in Aboriginal and Pacific Island Cultural Material.
Details:
When: Thursday 7th December 2023.
Location: Cooee Art Leven, 17 Thurlow Street, Redfern NSW, Australia.
Time: 7:00pm
Lecture will be followed at 8:30pm by the end of year dinner for OAS members and friends at:
Sumac and Onion, 684 Bourke Street, Redfern. (Dinner is at attendees own cost).
Lecture costs:
Members: $15
Non-members: $20
Students: $5
Tickets available at the door (cash or card).

Tribal Art Fair - Amsterdam
2023-10-27 11:00 - 2023-10-29 18:00 | De Duif, Prinsengracht 756, Amsterdam
21st Tribal Art Fair at De Duif in Amsterdam.

Art and artefacts from Africa, Asia and Oceania.

For the 21st edition of the Tribal Art Fair (TAF) from 26 to 29 October, 20 dealers from 9 countries will gather at De Duif in Amsterdam. The TAF is internationally renowned among collectors and art lovers for the quality and variety of objects. The fair attracts visitors from all over the world.

Every year, on the last weekend of October, the church De Duif on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam is the extraordinary setting for the TAF where dealers exhibit their best objects from Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America. The range of objects varies from African masks, statues, jewellery and textiles from Asia, to wickerwork, shields and ancestor statues from Oceania. These and other enchanting works of art can be found in all price categories.

“For both exhibitors and visitors, the TAF is an annual event to look forward to,” says initiator Finette Lemaire. “The beautiful location, the historic church De Duif, in combination with the most beautiful objects from all over the world and a program of interesting lectures, makes this yearly fair an inspiring experience for all visitors, both experienced collectors and simply lovers of beautiful objects. Feedback shows that those who have visited the TAF once are so enthusiastic that they return every year.”

Among the exhibitors this year, there are many returning participants, such as Adam Prout Ethnographic Art from UK, Galerie Punchinello from France, Michael Woerner Oriental Art from Thailand, Raccanello Tribal Art from Austria and Zubek Gallery from Germany. New participants this year are Joe Loux from the United States and Raphaël Sevette from Switzerland. Prior to the fair, experts check the authenticity of all objects exhibited.

The lecture program during the TAF this year will include two book presentations, a mini-symposium on ‘Authenticity in tribal art’ and a lecture by Arnold Wentholt on the collection of the architect Aldo van Eyck. The book presentations include “Oog in oog met de goden” by Alexander Reeuwijk about the idol of Nataraja, the dancing Shiva, in the Rijksmuseum, and Cache-sexe by Emeritus Professor of Urology Philip Van Kerrebroeck, an anthropological study of the human need to cover the genitals.

The TAF is held in De Duif the last weekend of October and welcomes everyone.with an interest in ethnographic art.

Preview: Thursday, October 26, 3-7 PM, by invitation only.Date: Friday October 27 to Sunday October 29, 2023.Opening hours: from 11 am to 6 pm.Location: De Duif, Prinsengracht 756, Amsterdam.Entrance: € 7.50.Catalogue: Appears online mid-September

Exhibitors TAF 2023

Adam Prout Ethnographic Art, UK

Astamangala, The Netherlands

Bryan Reeves – Tribal Gathering London, UK

Christophe Rolley, France

Dick Meijer Antiquities and Curiosities, The Netherlands

Eric Piffret, France

Frans Faber – Tribal Arts, The Netherlands

Galerie Lemaire, The Netherlands

Galerie Punchinello, France

Jack Nelis – Asian & Tribal Art, The Netherlands

Joe Loux, USA

Kenn Mackay – Tribal Art Antiques, UK

Louis Nierijnck, The Netherlands

Michael Woerner Oriental Art, Thailand

Raccanello Tribal Art, Austria

Raphaël Sevette, Suisse

Rob Temple, Belgium

Stothert & Trice works of Art & Antiques, UK

Tribal Design, The Netherlands

Zubek Gallery, Germany

Tribal Art Magazine

Oceanic Art Society Forum | Melbourne
2023-10-20 09:00 - 2023-10-21 22:00 | Melbourne Savage Club, 12 Bank Pl, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
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.

Programme Details – PDF

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

Art Oceanic – Malcolm Davidson – info@artoceanic.com – 0419 355 126

Alex Philips Oceanic – tribal.oceanic@gmail.com – 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 info@oceanicartsociety.org.au

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

Location

Parcours des mondes
2023-09-05 08:00 - 2023-09-10 17:00 | Beaux-Arts area, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris
For more than twenty years, Parcours des Mondes is the most important art fair worldwide, dedicated to Tribal Art, Asian cultures and Archeology.

The fair gathers each year at the beginning of September, around fifty galleries, specialised in artworks from Africa, Asia, Oceania, America and Archeology at Saint-Germain-des-Prés, in the center of Paris.With more than twenty years of experience, Parcours des Mondes is an institution working for the dissemination of knowledge and works of art from African, Oceanic, American and Asian cultures and we would like to share our passion with you.

Tuesday September 5 : 11am – 9pm

From Wednesday 6 until Saturday 9 : 11am – 7pm

Sunday September 10 : 11am – 6pm

When the "natives" talk back: a century on from Frank Hurley's last Papua expedition
2023-03-15 18:30 - 21:00 | Art Leven Gallery, 17 Thurlow Street, Redfern, NSW, 2016, Australia
The Oceanic Art Society invites you to attend a lecture by Hamish McDonald.

Cooee Art Gallery | 17 Thurlow Street, Redfern, NSW, 2016

6:30 Registration & Drinks, 7:00 Lecture

Last June, journalist Hamish McDonald travelled by river from Kiunga into Lake Murray. It was almost the 100th anniversary of the 1922 expedition by photographer Frank Hurley and Australian Museum scientist Allan McCulloch aboard their ketch Eureka. On their return to Port Moresby, they were in great controversy after accusations of unethical collecting and use of force. Their collection of artefacts was impounded, and only returned some months later after some items were confiscated and returned to their owners. On his trip last year, Hamish went to a village where the Hurley-McCulloch looting of their longhouse is still a sore memory. They told him they want their “powerful objects” returned. Exactly how they are still discussing.

Hamish McDonald is an Australian foreign correspondent and editor who has been posted to many parts of Asia for The Sydney Morning Herald and the Far Eastern Economic Review. His visits into the Melanesian world started with a trip into West Papua in 1976 and continued from time to time since then. He is currently researching and writing a book on his encounters with the region.

Purchase Tickets

To purchase tickets via Credit Card, select your ticket type and quantity by using the ‘+’ symbol below then ‘Get Tickets’. A record of your ticket will be saved on completion of the purchase and a ticket sent via email. Please check your spam folders if a ticket is not received. Contact us to resend your ticket if required.

Ömie barkcloth: Pathways of nioge
2023-01-09 00:00 - 23:59 | Chau Chai Wing Museum, University Place, University of Sydney,, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
An exhibition of dynamic contemporary nioge (barkcloth) made by Ömie artists from the rainforested highlands of Northern (Oro) Province, Papua New Guinea.

These vibrant and stylistically distinct works resonate with the cultural jagor’e (law), environmental knowledge, and creativity of their makers.

This is the first showcase of an extensive holding of Ömie nioge in the Macleay Collections, including some of the earliest commercially collected works.

The pathways in the title references the Ömie word, or’eseegé, that describes the painted black lines that frame and compose the designs. These iconographic pathways theme an immersive exhibition introducing the historic and contemporary contexts of nioge creation.

Header image: Jessie Bujava, [odunaigö’e, design of the ödae climbing vine], 2004, natural pigments on barkcloth, donated by T Barlin through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program 2018, Macleay Collections, ET2018.32
