Eric Coote – always reaching for the sky We acknowledge the recent passing of Eric Coote, one of the founders of the Oceanic Art Society (OAS) in 1995. In the early years of the Society, its committee and other members worked hard at curating exhibitions of Oceanic Art primarily loaned from Society members. Eric Coote and fellow member Alison Ellis curated an exhibition called First Arts – Melanesian Arts, held at PLC in Sydney in 2003. The catalogue prepared by Eric Coote was later published by the OAS on CD. Eric’s last writing for the OAS was an obituary of his wife Evarne Coote, inaugural secretary of the OAS, who died in January 2021. Current members can read Eric’s account of Evarne’s life here. Dolly Guise – Papua New Guinea’s first female anthropologist Dolly Guise – cultural anthropologist The OAS acknowledges the recent passing of Dolly Guise in Coffs Harbour. After finishing her Bachelor of Arts at Macquarie University as a mature age student, Dolly completed her PhD at the University of Sydney in Social and Cultural Anthropology of Melanesia. She later worked in Papua New Guinea. Read her thoughts on the importance of understanding the local Goilala culture and the need for external companies to listen to the advice of local Chief when addressing potential violence with conflict resolution. Adrienne Kaeppler – Pacific arts scholar The OAS also acknowledges the recent passing of American Anthropologist Adrienne Kaeppler in Washington DC. After completing a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Music at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Adrienne moved to the University of Hawai’i to commence her studies in Anthropology, starting her research in Tongan dance and music in 1964. She worked as a curator in oceanic ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History in the Smithsonian Institute for 40 years. Read the University of Wisconsin’s tribute and also an obituary published by Radio New Zealand. Obituaries for these outstanding champions of Pacific arts and culture will be published in the Winter 2022 edition of the Journal of the Oceanic Art Society. Margaret Cassidy, OAS Journal Editor. |