art in oceania

7242019 Art in Oceania

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullart-in-oceania 123

A R T I N

A N E W H I S T O R Y

oceaniaPET ER BRUNT N ICHOLAS T HOMAS SEAN MALLON

L ISSANT BOLT ON D EID RE BROWN D AMIAN SK INNER

AN D S US AN NE KUuml CH LE R

ED IT ED BY PET ER BRUNT AND N ICHOLAS T HOMAS

AS SI ST ED BY STE LL A R AM AG E

with 983093983088983095 illustrations 983092983089983090 in colour



983088983096 Map o Oceania

983089983088 I N T R O D U C T I O N Nicholas Tomas Nguzunguzu in History 983089983091 bull Art and Aesthetics 983089983095 bull History and Histories 983090983089

P A R T O N E A R T I N E A R LY O C E A N I A A E S T H E T I C T R A C E S T H E S E T T L E M E N T O F W E S T

Lissant Bolton

Early Human Settlement in Near Oceania bull Lapita bull Feature Feathers bullPacific bull Voice lsquoEvery design is differentrsquo bull Developments in Western Oce

Feature Shrines and Stories

983093983088 A F T E R L A P I T A V O Y A G I N G A N D M O N U M E N T A L

c 983097983088983088 983138983139991251c 983137983140 983089983095983088983088 Deidre Brown and Peter Brunt

Lapita Foundations 983093983089 bull Exploratory Voyaging and the Settlement o Oceania 983093

bow o Hok ul elsquoarsquo 983093983093 bull Feature Remembering the Ocean 983093983094 bull Centres o Power

in Micronesia 983093983096 bull Centres o Power in Western Polynesia 983094983090 bull Voice lsquoFrom th

ransormations in Polynesian Marae 983094983095 bull Feature Rock Art 983094983096 bull Feature Te

Te Contingency o History 983095983093

P A R T T W O N E W G U I N E A 1 7 0 0 ndash 1 9 4 0

983095983096 A R T T R A D E A N D E X CH A N G E N E W G U I N E A 983089983095983088983088

Nicholas Tomas Susanne Kuumlchler and Lissant Bolton

Diversity and History 983095983097 bull Environment Production and Precolonial lsquoColoniali

Ramifications 983097983088 bull raders o the South Coast 983097983093 bull Feature Balancing Men and

worth takingrsquo 983089983088983091 bull Feature Crocodile into Man 983089983088983092

983089983088983094 A R T WA R A N D P A CI F I CA T I O N N E W G U I N E A 983089983096983092983088

Nicholas Tomas and Susanne Kuumlchler

Voice o the Commodore o the Australian Naval Station 983089983088983096 bull Te Art o the

Headhunting 983089983089983095 bull Te Art o Peacemaking 983089983090983089 bull Feature Rabu Banaky 983089983090983092 bull

and I sorry All finish nowrsquo 983089983090983095 bull Te Consequences o Peace 983089983090983096

983089983091983088 C O S M O L O G I E S A N D C O L L E C T I O N S N E W G U I N E

Nicholas Tomas

Christianity Iconoclasm and Culture 983089983091983090 bull Voice All the People Divided 983089983092983089 bullMoney 983089983092983090 bull Papuan Modernity and the Will to Change 983089983092983093 bull Voice One Day

Collections 983089983092983096 bull Voice lsquoEvery manrsquos house here is a museumrsquo 983089983093983088 bull Feature A

C O N T E N T S

First published in the United Kingdom in by Thames amp Hudson Ltd

High Holborn London

Copyright copy Thames amp Hudson Ltd London

Designed by Maggi Smith

All Rights Reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any

form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopy recording or any

other information storage and retrieval system without prior permission in writing from

the publisher

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN ----

Printed and bound in China by Hing Yip Printing Co Ltd

To find out about all our publications please visitwwwthamesandhudsoncom

There you can subscribe to our e-newsletter browse or download our current catalogue

and buy any titles that are in print

frontispiece

Timothy Akis Sikin i

Pulap Long Nil ( Skin Full

of Thorns ) 1977

Screenprint Image height

approx 57 cm (22frac12 in)

Museum of Archaeology and

Anthropology Cambridge

The publisher and authors are grateful to the following institutions and organizations for their generous support of this project



P A R T T H R E E I S L A N D M E L A N E S I A 1 7 0 0 ndash 19 4 0

983089983094983088 P L A CE WA R F A R E A N D T R A D E 983089983095983088983088ndash983089983096983092983088 Lissant Bolton

Voice lsquoTe village wakes earlyrsquo 983089983094983091 bull Voice lsquoTe eel is tabu to usrsquo 983089983094983092 bull Landscape and Place 983089983094983093 bull Warare 983089983095983089 bull

rade 983089983095983094 bull Feature Pigs as Art 983089983096983090

983089983096983094 I N CU R S I O N S L O S S CO N T I N U I T Y A N D A D A P T A T I O N 983089983096983092983088ndash983089983097983088983088 Lissant Bolton

Te Potential o New Materials 983089983096983095 bull Feature Creating or Collectors in the Admiralty Islands 983089983097983088 bull Te

Continuity o Ritual 983089983097983090 bull Voice lsquoSuddenly there is a rifle shotrsquo 983089983097983091 bull Depicting Europeans 983090983088983089 bull Feature Death

and Mourning 983090983088983090 bull Te Art in Dancing 983090983088983092 bull Voice lsquoMany people diedrsquo 983090983088983093 bull Feature Humour and History 983090983088983094

bull Political Power and Status 983090983089983090

983090983089983096 T R A N S F O R M A T I O N S 983089983096983097983088ndash983089983097983092983088 Lissant Bolton

Voice lsquoMaltantanu was a very high-ranking manrsquo 983090983090983089 bull Negotiating Christianity 983090983090983090 bull Clothing and

ransormation bull Food and Feasting 983090983090983095 bull Feature the Kalikongu Feast rough 983090983091983088 bull Te Art o Everyday

Lie 983090983091983090 bull Describing Island Melanesia 983090983091983093 bull Objects o Value 983090983091983096

P A R T F O U R E A S T E R N A N D N O R T H E R N O C E A N I A 1 7 0 0ndash 1 94 0 983090983092983092 P O L I T I CA L T R A N S F O R M A T I O N S A R T A N D P O WE R 983089983095983088983088ndash983089983096983088983088

Deidre Brown

Te Role o lsquoOro in ahitian Unification 983090983092983093 bull Te Role o Feathered Objects in Hawaiian Unification 983090983093983089 bull

Feature the Birdman Cult 983090983093983090 bull Voice O Ku Your Many Forms 983090983093983092 bull Feature Marquesan Style 983090983094983090 bull extiles

and Stone Money o the Yapese Empire 983090983094983092 bull Voice lsquoTis man is about to come under your mantlersquo 983090983094983094

983090983095983088 E U R O P E A N I N CU R S I O N S 983089983095983094983093ndash983089983096983096983088 Nicholas Tomas

Contact and Commerce 983090983095983089 bull Feature Arsquoa Te Fractal God 983090983096983088 bull Conversion Iconoclasm and Innovation 983090983096983090 bull

Voice lsquoTe chie then ordered his people to make a large firersquo 983090983096983091 bull Te Mana o Script 983090983097983089 bull Voice lsquoImmediatelyafer ood trading beganrsquo 983090983097983092 bull Gain and Loss 983090983097983093 bull Feature lsquoKiribati Bobrsquo 983090983097983094

983090983097983096 C O L O N I A L S T Y L E S A R C H I T E C T U R E A N D I N D I G E N O U S M O D E R N I T Y Deidre Brown

echnological Appropriation 983090983097983097 bull Te Influence o Christianity 983091983088983091 bull Naturalism and Figurative Painting 983091983088983094 bull

Appropriating the West 983091983089983089 bull Feature Gauguinrsquos House o Pleasure 983091983089983092 bull Modernity and raditionalization 983091983089983094bull

Voice o the Minister o Maori Affai rs 983091983089983096 bull Feature Fabricating Society 983091983090983090

P A R T F I V E A R T W A R A N D T H E E N D O F E M P I R E 1940ndash89

983091983090983094 WA R A N D V I S U A L C U L T U R E 983089983097983091983097ndash983092983093 Sean Mallon

Influx Disruption Creation and Enterprise 983091983090983095 bull Voice Ersatz Curios A Flourishing rade in Polynesia 983091983091983090 bull

Cross-Cultural Exchange 983091983091983091 bull Voice War Songs 983091983091983093 bull Military raditions and Iconographies 983091983092983089 bull

Memories Ruins and New Beginnings 983091983092983091 bull Feature War Art 983091983092983092

983091983092983096 D E CO L O N I Z A T I O N I N D E P E N D E N CE A N D CU L T U R

Peter Brunt

Te Lull Kitsch Spectacle and the Lament or Lost Authenticity 983091983093983088 bull Voice lsquoW

estivalsrsquo 983091983093983090 bull Feature Art o the Abelam 983091983093983092 bull Nationhood the Arts and Cult

in the Pacific 983091983094983088 bull Voice lsquoBut what is also vitalhelliprsquo 983091983094983093 bull Modernism and the lsquoNe

should be or a new Oceaniarsquo 983091983095983091bull Feature Ralph Hotere 983091983095983094 bull owards the Pos

983091983096983092 T O U R I S T A R T A N D I T S M A R K E T S 983089983097983092983093ndash983096983097 Sean Mallon

Inrastructure Image and Opportunity 983091983096983094 bull Voice lsquoWhere shall we go this wee

Maori 983091983097983088 bull Fairs Festivals and Museums 983091983097983090 bull ourist Art Development and t

Authentic 983092983088983089 bull Voice lsquoFrom a native daughterrsquo 983092983088983091 bull Indigenous Agency and C

Tours

and the Postcolonial urn 983092983088983094

P A R T S I X A R T I N O C E A N I A N O W 19 89 ndash2

983092983089983088 C O N T E M P O R A R Y P A C I F I C A R T A N D I T S G L O B A L I

Te Space and ime o Contemporary Pacific Art 983092983089983090bull Creating Contemporary

Feature Te Asia Pacific riennial o Contemporary Art 983092983089983094 bull Contemporary Pa

Representation 983092983090983090 bull Feature Gordon Walters and the Cultural Appropriation D

a seabirdrsquo 983092983091983088 bull Contemporary Pacific Art in the Global Art World 983092983091983090 bull Voice

983092983092983088 U R B A N A R T A N D P O P U L A R C U L T U R E Sean Mallon

Protest Power and Politics 983092983092983090 bull Feature Carrying Cultures 983092983092983094 bull Street Culture

erritory 983092983092983096 bull Voice Ea 983092983092983097 bull Disjuncture Continuity and ransnational Conn

as Wearable Art 983092983094983088 bull Pacific Art ransnational Communities Urban Contexts

983092983094983094 C O N T I N U I T Y A N D C H A N G E I N C U S T O M A R Y A R T

Motivations or Change in Customary Art 983092983094983095 bull Feature John Hovell and the Ar

Revival 983092983095983091 bull Material Matters 983092983095983093 bull Culture as Place Culture as Identity 983092983096983089bull C

bull Feature Spiderweb and Vine Te Art o Oumlmie 983092983096983092 bull Voice lsquoWe started calling

Jaki-ed Marshall Islands extiles 983092983097983088 bull Feature Collaborating with the Contemp

983092983097983096 A F T E R W O R D Peter Brunt

Maps

Notes

Select Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Picture Credits

About the Authors

Index



In the Museum o Modern Art in New York Citymounted a watershed exhibition entitled lsquoArts o the

South Seasrsquo Te topicality o the exhibition reflected

the remarkable prominence o the Pacific Islands in

American consciousness in the afermath o the Second

World War For the Pacific had been a major theatre o

American participation in that conflict with hundreds

o thousands o soldiers stationed in the south Pacific

and numerous islands the scene o fierce battles in the

long campaign to drive back the Japanese Te

encounter between Americans and Islanders deeply

affected their perceptions o each other Te awesome

might o the American military complex transormed

the consciousness o many Islanders in places igniting

imaginings o a specifically American uture filled

with the promise o unlimited wealth material goods

and powers over nature1 Conversely the American

perception o the Pacific was equally ecstatic inspiring

popular musicals sucSouth Pacific which

and exhibitions such

Mounted the yea

the United Nations G

oversee the dismantl

ollowing decades th

o art in Oceania on t

political uture Te s

rom ethnographic c

museums which it a

artrsquo emphasizing the

selection lighting an

supplemented the aes

with a scholarly catal

and artistic tradition

Oceanic art was not n

century European m

Peter Brunt

D E C O L O N I Z A I O N I N D E P E N

A N D C U L U R A L R E V I V A L 1 9 4

opposite

Exhibition catalogue cover

lsquoArts of the South Seasrsquo

designer Ralph Linton

Museum of Modern Art

New York 1946

copy 2010 The Museum of

Modern Art New York

Scala Florence

below left

Installation view of the

exhibition lsquoArts of the South

Seasrsquo Museum of Modern

Art New York 1946


Modern Art New York

Scala Florence

below right

Album cover for a recording

of the Broadway musical

South Pacific



350 D E C O L O N I Z A T I O N I N D E P E N D E N C E A N D C U L T UP A R T F I V E

collected emulated written about and admired it

within the category o lsquoprimitive artrsquo What was new

according to art historian Robert Goldwater was the

broad public acceptance o such objects as art

occurring in Western metropolises in the mid-

twentieth century in large part through the sanction

o institutions such as the Museum o Modern Art3

But in view o the showrsquos historical moment the

significance o the recategorization was ambiguous

On the one hand it signalled the liberality o

modernist aesthetics drawing objects previously

regarded as curiosities idols or ethnographicdocuments into a discourse about the universality o

artistic orm and eeling Teir new status challenged

centuries o racial prejudice about art as an exclusive

index o European superiority On the other hand

becoming art carried more problematic implications

particularly or the cultures whose art was on view

As Goldwater pointed out writing in the lsquotrendrsquo

towards lsquocomplete aesthetic acceptancersquo coincided

with the process o global decolonization It was

lsquohastened by the establishment o the ormer colonies

as independent nations and the transormation o their

traditional cultures under the impact o modern

technology and economy Te result was that with only

a ew exceptions the primitive arts became arts o the

past (in some cases the very recent past) and thus lost

part o their previous unction as documentation o

contemporary primitive culturesrsquo4 In other words

becoming art in the modern sense was allied to anarrative o modern nationhood in which lsquotraditional

culturesrsquo and lsquoprimitiversquo lie orms were doomed

to obsolescence

Behind Goldwaterrsquos statement is a undamental

modernist narrative about the ate o art in modernity

encapsulated in the nineteenth-century philosopher

G W F Hegelrsquos amous dictum that lsquoart considered

in its highest vocation is and remains or us a thing

o the pastrsquo5 Written in the wake o the French

Revolution the lsquousrsquo Hegel reers to are Western

Europeans caught up in the turbulence o their own

transition into modern nationhood more than a

hundred years earlier Te dictum summarized what

he saw as the destiny o art in the modern world in

which the power o art to give lsquosensuous immediacyrsquo

to human worlds (its lsquohighest vocationrsquo) is eclipsed by

the statersquos rational secular legalistic and bureaucratic

character Art is rendered obsolete and marginal to

the operations o the mo dern state However it is

revalorized as something essentially aesthetic and

historical Hence the birth o the two dominant

institutions o art in Western modernity the art

museum and art history Moreover the continuance

o art in Western modernity was premised on this

sense o its historical nature and marginal social

status ndash as the history o Western modernism and the

avant-garde with their rapid succession o lsquoismsrsquo and

lsquomovementsrsquo has shown

lsquoArts o the South Seasrsquo poised on the thresholdo global decolonization was thus a deeply loaded

exhibition Its objects gathered rom museums pointed

to the impact o colonialism and the imperial order on

Pacific societies while its occasion pointed

enigmatically to a postcolonial uture It begged the

question o the uture o the soc ieties that its artworks

displayed For Goldwater they must give way to t he

irresistible transormations entailed in the making

o modern nation states and the spread o lsquouniversal

civilizationrsquo summed up by Paul Ricoeur in as

the ineluctable orces o democratization capitalist

economics and science and technology 6 In this context

the artistic traditions o these societies were ated to

become arts o the past a s many already had But the

history o decolonization in the Pacific would prove

less punctual more contradictory and ambiguous

than Goldwaterrsquos stoic aestheticism allowed

Te Lull Kitsch Spectacle and theLament for Lost Authenticity

Te first decade or so afer the Second World War

was marked by a kind o lull in the Pacific a pause

between the demise o the imperial system and the

political restructuring that dominated the region rom

the s to the s Tis was a period o anticipation

but uncertainty Many developments clearly pointed to

a postcolonial uture Te lsquogreat powersrsquo had signalled

their intention to reorder the world system at various

summits afer the war Colonies in Arica and South

Asia were already crumbling More locally indentured

labour laws were lifed in Australian New Guinea

France granted greater political autonomy to its Pacific

territories independence parties ormed in ahiti and

New Caledonia preparations or independence were

under way in Western Samoa and so on Nonetheless

the uture o imperial rule was still unclear Pre-war

governance structures were restored in many places

afer the war Racial ideologies o white superiority

and right to rule remained in place (and would not

definitively crumble until the s or later) Settlers in

colonial towns expected reorm but not necessarily thecomplete dismantling o the imperial order And in

places where lsquodevelopmentrsquo was minimal ndash in much

o New Guinea and the New Hebrides or example ndash

indigenous sel-government seemed a long way off

In this liminal state the subject o art in the

Pacific was largely inchoate dispersed in a variety o

aesthetically ambiguous contexts One o these lay

at the intersection between art museums cultural

anthropology the tribal art trade and an uncounted

number o small hamlets and villages particularly

in New Guinea and island Melanesia which still

produced or possessed the lsquoauthenticrsquo or lsquoquality piecesrsquo

that primitive art collectors and museums desired

lsquoArts o the South Seasrsquo exemplified this intersection

While this nexus o activities was certainly continuous

with practices beore the war the post-war period was

marked by a growing anxiety about the shrinking

opportunities to colle

the prolieration o a

the disruptive effects

commercial enterpri

kind o societies that

lsquovanishing primitiversquo

European collecting

Te anthropologist C

this ear in his popul

published in in w

anthropologyrsquos quest

given the pervasiventhroughout the world

mounted collecting e

to acquire ndash lsquoBeore I

it ndash what remained o

ake or examp

expedition to the Asm

in (lsquoill-atedrsquo bec

circumstances afer h

Rockeeller son o N

Rockeeller was a we

and photographer wh

acquire examples o A

established Museum

where he was also a t

recently and very par

Dutch administrator

priests were among

Guinearsquos tribes becautraditions associated

headhunting While

abandoned by m

culture was still thriv

the interests o missi

anthropologists ndash all

acilitating Rockeell

what was seen by him

the spectacular canoe

array o shields cere

out or bargaining ndash w

cameras ( page )In

ethnographic value c

terms o the importa

relationships Wester

rom prestigious art

superpowers were cle

Advertisement lsquoYour native

servantrsquo Pacific Islands

Monthly February 1951

This advertisement from a 1951

issue of Pacific Islands Monthly

reveals racial hierarchies and

colonial social norms still in

place after the Second World

War ndash though not for much

longer Published between

1931 and 2000 the regional

magazine reflected the

transformation of political and

ideological attitudes during the

decolonization era



V

O

I C

E

D E C O L O N I Z A T I O N I N D E P E N D E N C E A N D C U L T U

relationships were vital to the uture o Asmat culture

Nonetheless tropes o the lsquolastrsquo and the lsquovanishingrsquo

were indomitable and widely recycled in documentary

films illustrated magazines television eatures

newspaper articles and so on

Te counterpart to this lament or lost authenticity

in the immediate post-war decades was the

prolieration o tourist art and Oceanic kitsch As

discussed in the previous chapter the presence o

hundreds o thousands o soldiers in the Pacific duringthe Second World War created a lucrative t rade in

arteacts and souvenirs ndash lsquoersatz curiosrsquo as one writer

called them10 Te impact o that exchange reverberates

in the post-war popularization o Oceanic art within

the visual culture o the American leisure industry

Hotels motels restaurant chains and cocktail lounges

with names like lsquorader Vicsrsquo lsquoiki Bobsrsquo and lsquoAloha

Joesrsquo multiplied across the American suburban

landscape in the s and s Teir decor schemes

and advertising graphics appropriated Oceanic art

orms rom art books and exhibition catalogues Masks

and figurines became lounge ornaments while

entertainment shows mimicked cannibals headhunters

and hula dancers in a vast burlesque o Leacutevi-Straussrsquos

historical lament11 Although the genre has its charms

the translation o god figures and ritual sacra into

paperweights and saltshakers represents at its urthest

above left

Dr Adrian Gerbrands

Assistant Director of

the Rijksmuseum voor

Volkenkunde in Leiden

assists Michael Rockefeller

in making a selection of

Asmat shields for the

Museum of Primitive Art

in New York 1961

above right

Barney Westrsquos lsquoTiki Junctionrsquo

Sausalito California c 1968

Ersatz copies of Oceanic art

were made for sale to decorate

motel grounds bar rooms

home gardens and the like

This was part of a post-war

fad for tribal styles and there

was little concern for issues of

authenticity or cultural property

lsquo W H Y D I D M Y P E O P L E A B A N D O N T H E I R F E S T I V A L S rsquo

When the Hevehe masks finally came out of the eravo they danced in

the village for a month In the end the spirits had to be driven back into

the spirit world after staying with us for so long This was accomplished

ceremonially by the slaying of the Hevehe in which a young man was

selected to shoot an arrow at the leader of the masks and lsquokillrsquo it After

that the masks are ceremonially burned and the ashes and all other

remains from the Hevehe festival are thrown into the sea where the great

spirit of all Hevehes resides who will swallow them up

Unfortunately this ceremony was discontinued just before the war and

even the Kovave itself was abandoned some t wenty-five years ago My

own Kovave initiation was the one before the last

Why did my people abandon their festivals The missionaries got a lot of

the blame It is true of course that they did not like the initiation rites and

rather tended to discourage them But at that time their influence was not

all that great in Orokolo

I believe that taxation was a major factor Even though the tax was only

ten shillings per head at first and one pound later on t he young men had

to go out and earn it for themselves and their fathers So they drifted off

to Kerema and maybe Moresby seeking employment in shops or with

white masters While they were earning the money nobody remained athome to take an active part in the ceremonies Many of them lost interest

when they saw other more lsquorespecta blersquo ways of life

Excerpt from Albert Maori Kiki Kiki Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime

A New Guinea Autobiography Melbourne 1968 i



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T

HE ABELAM ARE ONE OF THE LARGEST

groups in lowland Papua New Guinea They live

in villages of up to 900 people in the foothills of

the Prince Alexander Mountains north of the

Sepik River The Australian administration first

established a government post in their territory in 1937

re-establishing it in 1948 after the Japanese occupation

Thus it was only from the Second World War that the Abelam

were significantly affected by colonial influence and only after

that time that their art came to the attention of the wider world

The energetic brightly painted carvings and paintings made as

part of the long yam cult displayed on and in the cult houses

have since attracted substantial international interest especially

on the part of museums Whole cult house facades and the

carved and woven displays within them have been collected by

a number of museums the Australian Museum and the British

Museum among them A number of anthropologists notably

Anthony Forge and Diane Losche have worked with Abelam

communities and have been drawn by that engagement into

discussing the anthropology of art to questions about the

meaning and significance of specific designs and images

and into broader questions about the nature of art in those

societies where such a category does not exist

Abelam art is displayed in the village in and in front of

menrsquos cult houses Abelam hamlets are built on ridges the

houses are built around a central plaza the forest behind

them Many hamlets have a cult house which towers over

the domestic houses Houses have an A-frame construction

dependent on a long ridge pole supported close to the

ground at the back of the house and sweeping up at the front

cult-house ridge poles can rear up to 18 metres (59 ft) high

The sides of the house sloping away from the ridge pole to

the ground are at the same time its roof thatched with sago

palm leaves The Abelam see the roof-sides of the house as

being like the folded wings of a bird enclosing the space

withini The facade of the cult house is painted in a range of

reds yellows black and white in designs that often represent

the clan spirits or ngwalndu

The long yam cult focuses on the growing display and

exchange of special yams single straight cylindrical tubers

that are carefully and ritually cultivated to reach lengths of

more than 25 or 3 metres (8ndash10 ft) To be a man of substance

a man must be able to grow such yams as the anthropologist

Phyllis Kaberry observed there is a great deal of identification

between a man and his yam there is also a great deal of

identification between the yam and the supernaturalii Initiation

rituals focused on the long yam cult involve the manufacture

of woven and carved painted figures representing clan spirits

which are displayed inside the house decorated with leaves

flowers and fruit This process of making ndash the production

of yams of carvings and paintings ndash draws man and spirit

together The Abelam see paint as crucial to that process

The Abelam do not think about art but about the power

of images and especially of paint itself All Abelam magical

substances are classed as paint various colours being suitable

for various purposes red and a sort of purple the colours of

the substances used for sorcery and long yams are regarded

as the most powerfuliii For the Abelam painting is a sacred

activity in ritual contexts the paint itself is the medium

through which the benefits of the ceremony are transferred

to the initiates and to the village as a whole Paint is t he

essential magical substance of the yam cult LB

Art of the Ab ela m

Decorated menrsquos house

Abelam tribe Sepik District

New Guinea

Photograph Anthony Forge

1962




extreme the radical dissemination o Oceanic art

into mass-produced commodities unredeemed by the

quasi-sanctity o the art museum Te phenomenon

was not confined to the United States It extended into

Oceania as well in towns such as Honolulu Papeete

Apia Rotorua Port Vila Agana and elsewhere

Indigenous artists made carvings and handicrafs or

commercial enterprises overseas and Islanders

provided perormers or entertainment shows in hotels

and tourist parks Te Pacific was also translated into

countless pictorial variations o noble chies sunsetbeaches dusky maidens palm-tree villages and other

clicheacuted variations o the erotic and picturesque ndash a set

o genres produced by a host o travelling artists

amateur painters and Islanders as well As Sima

Urale demonstrates in her documentary film on

the velvet painter Charles McPhee the heyday o

these popular genres corresponded with the twilight

years o the colonial Pacific when its visual stereotype

reigned unchallenged12

Customary arts were also increasingly bound to

tourism and media spectacle From the late s the

Pacific Islands upgraded or built new airfields and

hotels and linked into international airline routes in

order to capitalize on the economic opportunities o

an expanded tourist industry in the looming lsquojet agersquo

In the first Goroka show was staged in the New

Guinea Highlands as a spectacular event eaturing

some ten thousand native perormers assembled or

dances games mock fights and the like dressed in

dazzling displays o traditional costume Although the

show was conceived by the Australian administration

in order to build regional unity across rival tribal

groups its success was inseparable rom the attendance

o hundreds o European visitors lsquowith expensive

cameras exposure meters and tripodshelliptaking movies

or expensive colour stillsrsquo13 In a similar event the

Mount Hagen show also in New Guinea described by

Pacific Islands Monthly as lsquothe greatest native show on

earthrsquo eatured a staggering seventy thousandparticipants and was attended by over a thousand

European visitors including documentary filmmakers

and editors o international magazines like National

Geographic and American Readerrsquos Digest people

flown in on chartered aircraf14 In other words the

Pacific was bound up in what Guy Debord called the

vast lsquospectaculariz ationrsquo o society in the post-war era

dominated by consumer capitalism in which the

image itsel in a variety o media was the primary

object o production

and stereotyped Pac

spectacle but they w

consumers Te Pacifi

magazines and Islan

Wayne and Mickey M

global lsquoculture indus

lsquospectaclersquo by post-wa

turned into society a

the Pacific

Yet the expansio

commercialization opredominant vehicle

a growing anxiety w

particularly among t

movements or politi

the s and s t

over the production

legacy Consider or

o Māori Arts and Cr

Rotorua had been a t

above left

Savea Malietoa

untitled painting nd

Oil on board 65 x 124 cm

(25 5 frasl 8 x 48 7 frasl 8 in) Courtesy

Maina Afamasaga

Oil paintings of village scenes

and tropical sunsets were

and still are commonplace

in many Samoan homes and

businesses One of Samoarsquos

best and most prolific artists

was Savea Malietoa In this

painting he depicts a faletele

(big house) and modern church

in a village setting

below left

Charlie McPhee untitled oil

painting on velvet c 1960

In 1997 Samoan filmmaker

Sima Urale made a film about

velvet painter Charlie McPhee

who had lived a lsquocolourful lifersquo

in the Pacific seeking pleasure

adventure and women A

lsquomockumentaryrsquo and a tribute

the film used this painting by

the artist as the exemplary

lsquoobject of desirersquo for an era

that was passing

Mount Hagen show 1965

Photograph David BealANTA

State Library NSW Sydney




nineteenth century eaturing Māori cultural

perormances tours in geothermal parks and souvenirs

or sale It was also where Sir Apirana Ngata established

the School o Māori Arts and Crafs in which

spearheaded the recovery o the art o carving rom

near oblivion and did much to rehabilitate whare

whakairo (carved and decorated meeting houses) and

Māori ceremonies among tribes and sub-tribes in the

s and s16 Te School had waned afer the war

but was re-established by an Act o Parliament in

as the Institute o Māori Arts and Crafs and placed

under the Department o ourism But while theSchool had managed to balance its services to the

tourist industry with the goals o cultural preservation

the Institute ound itsel increasingly dominated by

tourism It became a closed system producing

qualified carvers to produce high-end souvenirs or

a very limited market effectively centred around the

Institute itsel However in a telling shif the Institute

was criticized by other Māori Some Māori modernists

(to be discussed later in the chapter) saw the Institute

as irrelevant and out o date while Māori academic

Hirini Moko Mead elt that its educational unctions

had been compromised by its placement under the

Department o ourism Pointing to the lsquoenced and

raised walk-wayrsquo provided or tourists to lsquolook down

in saety upon the curiosities working at their benchesrsquo

(see page ) Mead concluded lsquoTe trainees and their

instructor are exhibited like prize animals in a zoorsquo17

Such critiques indicated a new assertiveness about the value and meaning o ind igenous art and culture Te

lull was over

Nationhood the Arts and Cultural Revival

Te drive or independence and political

re-empowerment which galvanized the Pacific rom

the s to the s reocused the relevance o art

and the arts in Oceania Above all the prospect o new

nationhood brought about a dramatic resurgence o

customary culture and tradition recoded in national

terms Te ethos o revival was encapsulated by Sir

Apirana Ngata in (the year New Zealand became

ormally independent rom Great Britain) when he

predicted that lsquoa great uture lay ahead o the Pacificrsquo

and admonished Māori to lsquotake a bigger part in the

economic social and commercial lie o New Zealand

and to keep alive their native traditions and bring about

a full revival of Māori culturersquo 18 Ngatarsquos philosophy

o reviving lsquonative traditionsrsquo while embracing the

conditions o modern nationhood would be echoed by

indigenous leaders across the Pacific as decolonization

became a political reality beginning in the s

Te political history o decolonization is complex

and cannot be ully recounted here but a ew salient

points are worth making One is the dramatic nature

o imperial withdrawal rom the Pacific (as rom other

parts o the world) At the end o the Second World

War the entire region was under some orm o direct

imperial or external rule By the end o the simperial governance had largely been dismantled

leaving in its wake a host o new Pacific states Bar

some exceptions most were ully independent nations

or independent lsquoin ree association withrsquo their ormer

colonial power Where independence had not been

achieved or stalled or ormally rejected those

continuing territories nonetheless enjoyed significantly

greater political autonomy than existed in the pre-war

era19 In other words however qualified by the messy

specificities o particular situations decolonization

was part o a concerted process to restructure the

global political social and economic order

(Decolonization in this sense should not be conused

with myriad struggles against colonialism which

certainly made the most o the opportunities o ormal

decolonization but have much older histories and

continue into the present)

A second point is the uneven incomplete andcontradictory character o decolonization in the

Pacific Te possibility o national independence

was undoubtedly the dominant political ambition o

Pacific leaders though it played out differently across

the region and no simple generalization is possible

In territories administered by anglophone powers

(Britain Australia New Zealand and the United

States) independence was generally agreed upon as

the mutually preerred outcome (However this was

not true in all cases American Samoa and Guam

elected to remain territories o the United States and

there were many people ndash in Fiji onga and Austra lian

New Guinea or example ndash who elt independence was

being oisted on them whether they wanted it or not)

Western Samoa got the ball rolling when it became

independent rom New Zealand administration in

An impressive succession o new states ollowed the

Cook Islands in Nauru in onga and Fiji in

Niue in Papua New Guinea in uvalu

and the Solomon Islands in Vanuatu in

the Marshall Islands and the Federated States o

Micronesia in and Belau in Te list testifies

to the supra-national orces driving decolonization

But it also obscures the difficult business o actually

achieving nationhood and the precarious nature o

many o the states thus created It obscures too the

many disputes ndash about the timing o decolonization

the geography o borders the nature o constitutions

and parliamentary structures the continuedexploitation o islands used as naval bases and nuclear

testing sites in the politics o the Cold War etcetera

ndash that complicated and interered with decolonizationrsquos

inexorable outcome

In the French Pacific independence was a much

more contested objective France saw decolonization

differently to the anglophone powers20 While it

granted French citizenship rights and significant

political autonomy to its Pacific territories soon afer

the Second World War it stopped short o ull

independence and generally opposed and even

obstructed political movements in that direction

seeing decolonization rather as transpiring within

the greater rancophone republic Moreover loyalties

to France among local settler lsquodemirsquo and migrant

populations made the indigenous struggle or

independence a matter o intense and sometimes

violent political dispute Only in the c ase o the NewHebrides (Vanuatu) which France had jointly ruled

with Britain since did a French colony become

ully independent Nationhood and independence

were also complicated in the anglophone settler states

o Hawailsquoi New Zealand and Australia where

nineteenth-century colonization and massive settler

migration had reduced indigenous people to minorities

in their own land Indeed the weight o this history

led to the Hawaiian Islands becoming an American

state in In these places settler withdrawal was

impossible and decolonization played out rather as

a struggle or rights recognition return o illegally

expropriated land and social political and economic

re-empowerment

Te contradictory character o decolonization is

also illustrated by the ate o West Papua ormerly

Netherlands New Guinea which ound itsel caught

up in the opportunis

neighbour Indonesia

Afer winning its ind

Indonesia laid claim

part o its national te

quit the colony and h

disputed the legitima

developed between th

s Recognizing th

rantically strugg led

tasks o sel-governm

national flag o West

was raised in the terr

set or independenceIndonesia pressed its

President Sukarno in

rhetoric against the D

War ears to neutrali

Australia and the Un

the rise o communis

to make an enemy o

threatening to take N

and indeed he invade

With little internatio

to war or the colony

control o West Papu

United Nations ndash to I

renamed it West Iria

to this affair Indones

on sel-government i

circumstances in whi

The Morning Star flag of

independent West Papua

now illegal under

Indonesian law



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

F

RO M 1946 T O 1996 the American British

and French governments conducted atomic and

hydrogen bomb testing in the atolls and islands of

Micronesia and Polynesia Nuclear testing destroyed

environments and contaminated ecosystems already

struggling to recover from the effects of the Second World War

In the 1950s international calls began for nuclear disarmam ent

and by the 1970s activist groups such as Greenpeace had

initiated highly visible protest campaigns within the region

and the international media In the post-war period the visual

art generated by these protest movements played on iconic

tourist images and the vocabulary of the mass media

No Nukes in the Pacific (1984) is a memorable example

of the type of visual a rt produced by individuals and groups

opposed to nuclear testing Made by Australian artist Pam

Debenham the shirt in this po ster was inspired by one of

the rarest Hawaiian-style shirts from the 1950s supposedly

produced in celebration of the United States testing on Bikini

Atoll In Debenhamrsquos version of the Hawaiian shirt the fabric

design is dominated by mushroom clouds each titled with

the name of a nuclear testing site from across the region The

distinctive atomic explosions over the atolls of Moruroa Bikini

Enewetak rise above the coconut palms and islets of the blue

ocean The protest yacht Pacific Peacemaker sails between

these sites signifying the voyages it made with a multinational

crew in 1982

The image of the shirt is ambiguous Is it a celebration

or a protest Is the tanned person wearing it an Islander or

a tourist The face is cropped from the image so we donrsquot

know their identity The juxtaposition of the iconic Hawaiian

shirt and atomic explosions evoke another tourist icon ndash the

bikini The irony is that both garments are made for the

tourist to cover the touristrsquos body and mark or celebrate a

fleeting moment or experience of the Pacific in doing so both

garments obscure the infamous history of Bikini Atoll as a key

site in the history of nuclear testing and the displacement and

suffering of Pacific people

The visual art and culture of anti-nuclear protest took

form in a range of popular media including banners T-shirts

button badges and pins These were accessible mass-

produced objects easily disseminated and effective

in conveying important political messages Slogans such

as lsquoIf itrsquos Safe ndash Test it in Paris Dump it in Tokyo and Keep

our Pacific Nuclear Freersquo lsquoBan the Bombrsquo and lsquoStop French

Testingrsquo were key slogans of the anti-nuclear movement

Mass media were critical to the success of anti-nuclear

activists However indigenous artists such as Ralph Hotere

have been inspired to respond to the nuclear threat through

their art and have exhibited in gallerie s within and beyond

the Pacific The work of these activists and artists has drawn

worldwide attention to the environmental costs of nuclear

testing in the Pacific region and put pressure on governments

about their activities

In the nuclear age the re gionrsquos peoples would confront

a new set of political cultural a nd environmental challenges

In the post-war period of decolonization in the Pacific nuclear

testing galvanized indigenous resistance toward colonial

powers Pacific governments rallied on anti-nuclear issues

when few other issues can this is what has brought them

together with a common cause A significant achievement

was the Treaty of Rarotonga (1985) prohibiting the location

or testing of nuclear weapons in the region

In the twenty-first century concerns about nuclear

energy and its risks remain high on the agenda of the regionrsquos

environmental activists Nuclear-powered navy vessels still s ail

on and under the Pacific Oceanrsquos surface Uranium ore is still

moved between the regionrsquos ports For some experts nuclear

technology is the answer to servicing the planetrsquos future energy

needs The art of protest and activism remains important in

asking questions and maintaining vigilance SM

No Nukes in the Pacif ic

Pam Debenham

No Nukes in the Pacific 1984

Screenprint poster 88 x 62 cm

(34 5 frasl 8 x 24 3 frasl 8 in) Image

courtesy of the artist




Papuans lsquovotedrsquo on behal o the entire population to

remain part o Indonesia Although bitterly condemned

by Papuans as the lsquoact o no choicersquo the reerendum was

controversially ratified by the United Nations (with the

support o the United States) thus sea ling West Papuarsquos

ate as a province o Indonesia Decoloniz ation in the

Pacific had not got off to a good start 22

Te subject o art in the context o these complex

political histories was both central and marginal

Nations are obviously more than the machinery o

modern states Tey depend on the mediation o

material signs and symbols and the affects and ideasthey are designed (or co-opted) to evoke or

communicate about the nation New nations orced

more or less willingly into being are aced in addition

with the task o bridging their past and their historical

novelty Every new Pacific nation every movement or

national sovereignty emerging rom the colonial era

aced this troublesome challenge Te Morning Star

flag or example galvanized West Papuan hopes or

independence in December using the most

conventional o modern national symbols the flag

Tat flag however was banned by Indonesia when

it took control o the country in and has since

become the rebel sign o dissident nationalism in

the province the sy mbol o West Papuarsquos stolen

nationhood all the more powerul or the absence

o that which it had been promised by the Dutch

Conversely Indonesia was aced with the enormous

task o remaking this strange culturally heterogeneousand as they were thought o at the time still lsquoprimitiversquo

people into lsquoIndonesiansrsquo Among its strategies in the

s was to suppress the role o art in many o the

countryrsquos tribal groups It banned customary body

adornments such as penis gourds worn by the Dani

people in the Baliem valley prohibited traditional

easts estivals and rituals among the Asmat and

systematically destroyed Asmat carvings and menrsquos

houses23 ndash iconoclastic strategies both colonial and

modern that aim to erase tradition creating a blank

slate on which a new national consciousness may

be written Tus in Sukarno commissioned

a series o national monuments in Jakarta the

capital o Indonesia to commemorate the origins

o Indonesiarsquos modern nationhood in a narrative o

anti-colonial struggle against the Dutch Among

them was a monument to the lsquoliberationrsquo o West Irian

a bronze statue o a man o ambiguous identity (is

he Papuan Indonesian both or neither) exclaiming

his reedom rom oppression with his arms

outstretched and broken chains dangling rom his

wrists and ankles

As the momentum o indigenous decolonization

picked up in the Pacific rom the s the semaphore

o postcolonial nationhood turned increasingly to the

sanction o customary culture translated into national

terms As already noted the arts in the immediate

postwar years were in a somewhat nebulous state

dispersed in the opportunities o commercialproduction dominated by oreign discourses about

lsquoprimitive artrsquo politically unocused and uncertain

o their uture Many arts had been suppressed or

were lost under colonial rule or abandoned in the

wake o Christian conversion Lacheret Dioposoi a

contemporary Kanak carver rom New Caledonia or

example recalls the complete absence o carving in his

country until the s and s lsquoNothing nothing

nothing at all you donrsquot find any carving between

the arrival o the whites and the s or rsquosrsquo24 Te

promise o nationhood changed this situation giving

rise to concerted efforts to revive lost or languishing

art orms For example Dioposoi and French

anthropologist Roger Boulay (among others) began to

compile a complete photographic inventory o Kanak

sculpture scattered in the worldrsquos museums with the

idea that the resultin

or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an

cultural estival in N

Caledonia called lsquoM

participants and orw

o the estival was bo

aimed to counteract

previous decades to

the Kanak population

those decades lsquoTesemisortune when it w

deep crisis chefferies

tribes abandoned alo

are some people who

French citizens in th

this had become the

humanityhellip In act

thingsrsquo25 In its attem

gathered Kanaks rom

or several days o cu

perormances tradit

an epic theatrical pro

history o New Caled

o the estival was als

the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order

identity and also bro

basis o a mounting cindependence It was

but one turned to po

on a big show a reall

Te aim o lsquoMelanesi

on our culture or the

Melanesians involved

where they would lea

to their own heritage

Pacific the arts were

purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu

Arts Festival as lsquoa rea

preserving and devel

tradition as a means

and to show lsquoto t he w

But attitudes to c

shifing across multip

Roger Boulay Sculptures

Kanak documentation

project Office Culturel

Scientifique et Technique

Canaque New Caledonia

1984

Monument to the liberation of West Irian Jakarta Indonesia

bronze 1963

Sculptor Edhi Sunarso designer Frederik Silaban

No modern sculpture in the Pacific captures the irony and

contradictions of decolonization in the region better than this

monument to the lsquoliberationrsquo of West Irian now the Indonesian

province of West Papua



364 P A R T F I V E

signalling a broad ideological sea change While

colonial attitudes still persisted (to be broken down)

the revival and preservationist aspirations o Islanders

increasingly converged with the decolonizing objectives

o international organizations departing empires

reorming Churches publicity-conscious corporations

and new nation states ndash all seeking ways to

accommodate the postcolonial uture lsquoMelanesia rsquo

it should be noted in this context was staged with the

aid o French unding Indonesia reversed its draconian

policy towards Asmat culture in the late s

permitting the United Nations to establish the United

Nations Asmat Art Project in 1968 and a group o

Catholic missionaries to establish the Asmat Museum

o Progress and Culture in In the South Pacific

Commission an alliance o states overseeing regional

development inaugurated the quadrennial South

Pacific Festival o Arts (later the Pacific Festival o Arts)

in Suva Fiji which enshrined the ethos o cultural

preservation and identity as a national theme across

the region ( pages ndash ) New museums and cultural

centres established across the region at various points

afer the Second World War signalled the same idea

the imperative to preserve traditional arts as part o a

national heritage28 In the sailing o the Hōkūlelsquoa

between Hawailsquoi and ahiti re-enacted the ancient art

top

Scene from stage play Kanakeacute written

by Georges Dobbelaere and Jean-Marie

Tjibaou for the festival lsquoMelanesia 2000rsquo

New Caledonia 1975

lsquoThe dance of the arrival of the Whitesrsquo from

the historical pageant Kanakeacute The Whites

are played by masked Melanesians while

behind them are giant figures representing th e

missionary the merchant and the m ilitary officer

above

Jean-Marie Tjibaou at the festival

lsquoMelanesia 2000rsquo New Caledonia 1975

lsquo B U T W H A T I S A L S O V I T A L

The present situation that Melanesians in New C

through is one of transition characterized by mu

elements of modernity are there but we lack mod

traditional and the modern So it is a time of deba

for modernity and the fear of losing onersquos identity

be a long one and we shall have to overcome thi

symbiosis between the traditional and the moder

by the force of things The new forms of express

material sounds come out of the guitar for exam

specifically Melanesian poetic or contemporary t

way the manous [traditional skirts] the rhythmic

decorative powders the harmonica and the drum

dances our pilous all these draw modernity into

Less obviously perhaps we are incorporating ele

around us into our choreography

Finally there is use of linguistic material ndash French

English ndash in poems and songs alongside borrow

cultures You could say that there is movement b

an historic scale to win for itself a new identity b

mobilizing borrowed material elements and using

the universal culture on offer everywhere but esp

We should doubtless be looking to a new floweri

creation which will set new models with t heir roo

but adapted to the contemporary environment of

is that of the town A long with regular pay accult

frame of reference is vital But what is also vital is

ourselves an environment in which the mode rn is

breathed into us by the ancestors without which

with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in

Jean-Marie Tjibaou (1936ndash1

of the Kanak Independen




o Polynesian voyaging urther galvanizing (through

much publicity) a region-wide pride in the heritage o

the past Te upshot o all this was a proound reversal

in the status o customar y culture lsquoKastomrsquo as it is

called in island Melanesia went rom its colonial

meaning o old ways and old t hings given up in the

process o Christian conversion or mission schooling

to a postcolonial term implying cultural sanction

and legitimation29

Yet behind this theatre o revivified customs

and traditions lay many conflicts and tensions Te

resurgence ofen sat awkwardly with the complex

social realities o post-war Oceania with the expanded

currents o migration and urbanization or example

rom rural villages into towns and cities rom small

islands into large Westernized and industrialized

countries between islands in the region and into

the islands rom places like France Japan South

Asia and Southeast Asia Te rhetoric o revival also

expressed an ongoing anxiety about the massive

inroads o commercialization in the Pacific including

that o the arts As stated in the programme o the

South Pacific Festival o Arts lsquostrenuous efforts are

needed to prevent these age-old arts rom succumbing

to the pervading sense o sameness that exists in much

o our society o being swamped by commercialism

or cheapened to provide mere entertainment or

touristsrsquo30 Te authority o custom and tradition also

played a significant role in the nature o the hybrid

democracies being created in the Pacific empowering

traditional chies and educated elites Te elevation

o customary art orms to national traditions ofen

reflected particular class and political attitudes while

glossing over historical losses and social differences

Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au

Nationalismrsquo the lec

staged at the Creativ

entitled lsquoTe Seized C

rom among thousan

at ports in Madang W

destined or ma

States (overleaf ) OrdMichael Somare in th

police raids were des

illegal trade in cultur

intend to stop the tra

that Papua New Guin

profits) Contemplati

remarked on their ro

o local communities

origin in police raids

oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea

From this idealized a

depredations o mod

be seen as lsquospiritual d

At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th

South Pacific Festival of Arts

poster 1972

National Library of Australia

Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea

Photograph Gil Hanly




In act Narokobi is in two minds about the value o

these popular cultural orms Having condemned them

as lsquospiritual deathrsquo he considers the possibility o

embracing them recast with the content o Papua New

Guinearsquos vast cultural legacy

Our myths legends and histories are enough to

provide material or millions o novels comic strips

and cheap films that will make Cowboy-and-Indian

and Kung Fu films look unimportant34

But the suggestion is only hal-hearted In the end

Narokobi upholds these traditional arts as the lsquogenuine

artrsquo o Papua New Guinea by virtue o the social and

spiritual role they served He then admonishes its

contemporary artists to create lsquonew orms o

expressionrsquo that remain true to these spiritual and

communal purposes but with respect to the nation

Tat challenge was taken up in its own way by another

strand o art-making in the Pacific more secular in

its orientation but no less ambivalent about artrsquos high

calling and its troubled place in modern society

Modernism and the lsquoNew Oceaniarsquo

Tese were practices influenced by Western

modernism Te latter enters the post-war Pacific

primarily through its large anglophone settler states

ndash Australia New Zealand and Hawailsquoi ndash where settler

cultures had established art galleries art societies

and art collections in the late nineteenth and early

twentieth centuries laying claim to the legacy o

European lsquohigh culturersquo as a civilizing influence in

the colonial situation Tese settler lsquoart worldsrsquo

provided the context or the emergence o indigenous

modernisms in the s and s Elsewhere in the

Pacific where there were no lsquoart worldsrsquo in the Western

sense the advent o modernist practices was more

improvised and sporadic though no less significant

or post-war nationhood

Several social actors contributed to this

development One was the nurture provided by the

establishment o tertiary educational institutions

Te late s saw the inauguration o the University

o Papua New Guinea the University o the South

Pacific in Suva Fiji (with satellite campuses in other

islands) and the University o Guam Along with

universities and teacher-training colleges in New

Zealand Australia and Hawailsquoi these institutions

provided a milieu that cultivated a variety o

experimental ventures into art literature and theatre

ndash art orms derived rom the West but used to express

a contemporary postcolonial consciousness Te first

exhibition o modernist Māori art in New Zealand

or example was held at the Adult Education Centre

Auckland in organized by Matiu e Hau who

worked or Continuing Education at the University

o Auckland35 Te exhibition showed the work o five

Māori artists ndash Selwyn Wilson Ralph Hotere Katerina

Mataira Muru Walters and Arnold Wilson ndash all o

whom had been educated either in teacher-training

colleges or university art schools Other exhibitions

such as the one held at the Hamilton Festival o Māori

Arts in ollowed Similarly the new Pacific

universities became hubs or a variety o new artistic

expressions mounting exhibitions staging plays

publishing literary journals holding art workshops

and so on

Another actor was post-war urbanization All o

the Māori modernists exhibited in were urban

migrants rom rural backgrounds Te same was true

in a different sense o the first contemporary artists in

Papua New Guinea ndash

within the ambit o t

either as villagers wh

as adults or as part o

imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim

generation o contact

was brought to Port M

Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was

Highlands ndash another

with Europeans ndash wh

on his own account w

contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their

afer their villages ha

renounced their resp

at various jobs in Por

by nuns worked as a

Hamilton Festival of Maori

Arts August 1966

Archives New Zealand

Wellington

A pioneering group of Maori

artists familiar with the formal

and expressive freedoms of

Western modernism began to

experiment with the lexicon

of customary Mamacrori sculpture

from the late 1950s In this

photograph Cliff Whiting

and Para Matchitt prepare an

exhibition of their work for a

mainly Maori audience

lsquoThe Seized Collections of the

Papua New Guinea Museumrsquo

exhibition poster 1972

Screenprint 41 x 71 cm

(16 1 frasl 8 x 28 in) National Gallery

of Australia Canberra




mission36 In New Caledonia artist Aloiuml Pilioko was a

villager rom Wallis Island (par t o French Polynesia)

working as a migrant labourer in Noumea where he

came across an improvised art gallery in set up

in a colonial villa by French-Russian eacutemigreacute Nicolaiuml

Michoutouchkine Tese snippets o biography are

mentioned only to indicate the social complexity rom

which indigenous modernism emerged in the Pacific

A third actor was the influence o expatriate

Europeans or white settlers who acted as lsquotalent

spottersrsquo mentors and conduits or modernist values

and concepts It is commonplace in New Zealandor example to speak o the lsquoovey generationrsquo when

describing the contemporary Māori artists who

emerged in the s and s Gordon ovey was a

white New Zealander appointed National Supervisor

Arts and Crafs in and in charge o the lsquoart

specialistrsquo scheme that employed art educators within

the New Zealand school system In this context ovey

met and beriended several Māori modernists

employed in the scheme introducing them to many

o the belies that ed modernist art in the twentieth

century He was or example a ollower o Carl Jung

and his theory o the collective unconscious and shared

mythic symbols ovey believed that lsquoWestern

civilisation had become over-intellectualised and that

the natural well-springs o innate drives had dried

uprsquo37 Like other modernists he saw those lsquonatural

well-springsrsquo exemplified in lsquoprimitiversquo art including

Māori art and the art o children

Similarly the origins o indigenous modernism in

Papua New Guinea were inseparable rom the influence

o European expatriates Ulli Beier and Georgina Beier

who shared an admiration o indigenous art and a

belie in the innate sources o artistic creativity Te

Beiers arrived in Port Moresby in where Ulli Beier

had taken a position teaching literature at the

University o Papua New Guinea Both were previously

resident in Nigeria where they had played an in fluential

role in that countryrsquos artistic lie over several years

spanning its independence in Born in Germany

Ulli Beier was a literary scholar translator and critic

while Georgina British-born was an artist printmaker

and art educator Tey were charismatic figures

sensitive to the intricate social dynamics o Port

Moresby and keen to engage with its indigenous

inhabitants who had an historic sense o their role in

introducing modern modes o artistic expression in

Papua New Guinea Te Beiers sought out the

artistically gifed among the people around them ndash

individuals like Akis Kauage Fame Aihi and others

introduced them to new media and techniques ndash and

encouraged them in the novel vocation o being lsquoartistsrsquo

on their own individual terms making lsquoartrsquo as a

potentially saleable commodity Tey also orchestrated

around their proteacutegeacutes an improvised world o art

workshops commercial ventures in making and selling

art and exhibitions in university classrooms and

abroad that presented their work as lsquocontemporary artrsquo

rom the young nation o Papua New Guinea Teir

impact on students at the university was equally

galvanizing Students were challenged to turn not to

Western models o literature art and theatre but to

the oral perormative and visual traditions o their

own natal villages ndash traditions that could be renewed

and reinterpreted in contemporary ways Although

modest in origin these artistic experiments were

quickly incorporated into the discourse o Papua

New Guinearsquos imminent nationhood Tey were

institutionalized through the creation o the National

Art School in (along with corollary initiatives such

as the National Teatre Company and the Institute o

Papua New Guinea Studies) and used to signiy the

new nation in exhibitions civic architecture public

sculpture and so orth

In New Zealand in the s Māori modernism

was also engaged in the discourse o nationhood

Tere decolonization had two trajectories one driven

by settler culture concerned to lsquoreinventrsquo New Zealand

as a culture independent o Britain and the Britishness

that pervaded settler society38 and the other driven by

Māoridom increasingly asserting its cultural claim on

the national uture Te Māori modernists exhibiting

in the Pākehā art world clearly saw their movement

as contesting the terms o the representation o

nationhood I there was to be a modern art reflecting

the unique character o New Zealand society they

argued in one exhibition it surely would draw its

inspiration rom the countryrsquos indigenous art since

that is what made New Zealand society unique 39

Aloiuml Pilioko and Nicolaiuml Michoutouchkine are

interesting in this period because o their eccentric

relationship to nationalist discourse in the absence

o an institutionalized art world Afer meeting in

Noumea they ormed a lie-long partnership with

Michoutouchkine nurturing Piliokorsquos lsquonaturalrsquo artistic

gifs In afer a period on the tiny island o

Futuna they set up a permanent home and studio

base in Port Vila in the then New Hebrides (Vanuatu)

ogether they pursu

and adventure both i

Michoutouchkine wa

his privileged access

late s and s t

collection o Oceanic

most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an

For over three decad

lsquoOceanic artrsquo in the is

Port Vila Papeete S

Michoutouchkinersquos c

modernist experimen

in introducing into P

bourgeoisie a sense o

excitement and pote

personalities and Pil

magazines and local n

attooed Women of B

a tapestry made o co

sacking rom copra b

exemplified the creat

the modern Pacific a

dawned in Vanuatu i

migrant citizens rom

backgrounds Polyne

Papua New Guinea Banking

Corporation building Port

Moresby c 1975

Architect James Birrell faccedilade

panel designs David Lasisi

Martin Morububuna

The Young Nation of Papua

New Guinea poster c 1978

Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)

Collection of Flinders University

Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E

as quasi-ambassadors or the new nation when they

organized o their own accord urther exhibitions o

Oceanic art at multiple venues in Europe the Soviet

Union and Japan40

As contemporary artistic expressions burgeoned

across the Pacific Samoan novelist Albert Wendt drew

their various maniestations together in a visionary

essay entitled lsquoowards a New Oceaniarsquo published in

the first issue o a literary journal called Mana Review

in For Wendt they represented a resh

independent voice in the Pacific that re-posed the

question o cultural tradition not just as revival and

preservation but as a resource rom the past ndash a

lsquoabulous treasure housersquo as he put it ndash or imaginative

re-creation by contemporary artists in and or the

present41 Wendt endorsed the essentially individual

character o the modern artist whose reedom as an

individual stood apart rom the social norms and

traditional hierarchies that still held sway in the

Pacific indeed which were reasserting their authority

in the hybrid democracies taking shape in Oceania

For Wendt the individual artist could unction in a

new role as a critic o decolonization Here he speaks

o writing but the same is true o other orms o

post-colonial art lsquoOur writing is expressing a revolt

against the hypocritical exploitative aspects o our

traditional commercial and religious hierarchies

colonialism and neo-colonialism and the degrading

values being imposed rom outside and by some

elements in our societiesrsquo42

In act indigenous modernists had complex and

ambivalent relationships to their ancestral cultures

and visual traditions On the one hand the artistic

reedoms o Western modernism could challenge the

conventionality and relevance o those traditions

Paratene Matchittrsquos Whiti te Ra ( page ) and

Buck Ninrsquos Te Canoe Prow () or example

appropriated visual orms rom traditional Māori

carving in paintings that used the figurative distortions

o Picasso and the disarticulated syntax o cubism

Teir aim in simple terms was to update Māori art

and bring it into dialogue with Western modernism

and Māori lie in the contemporary world Selwyn

Murursquos Parihaka series () or example used the

idiom o European Expressionism to create a set o

narrative paintings based on an episode o anti-colonial

resistance in the nineteenth century that would resonate

with the Māori struggle again st the state in the late

s Likewise Arnold Wilsonrsquos ane Mahuta (

page ) challenged the conventions o Māori

woodcarving by interpreting its avatar ndash the god o the

orest ndash in modernist abstract orm M āori modernism

was thus a sophisticated dialogue with both Western

modernism and Māori visual traditions rom which

as Damian Skinner has argued it sought to mark a

critical distance43 Wilsonrsquos critique was made explicit

in the s when he attacked the preservationist ethos

o the Institute o Maori Arts and Crafs lsquoReviving

so-called Maori arts and crafs is a dead losshellip All

theyrsquore doing is reviving something that doesnrsquot apply

to the Maorirsquos present-day attitudes and way o liehellipitrsquos

time they scrubbed itrsquo44 For the modernists there was

a sense that Māori art could no longer be bound and

defined by this ethos which had been reified in the

visual conventions o the lsquotraditionalrsquo meeting house

Māori art was entering ndash indeed had long ago entered

Aloiuml PiliokoTattooed Women

of Belona Solomon Isles

1966

Wool tapestry on jute

(copra sack) 685 x 222 cm

(27 x 87 3 frasl 8 in) Collection of

the artist

Encouraged to pursue a career

as a modern Pacific artist by his

friend French-Russian eacutemigreacute

Nicolaiuml Michoutouchkine

Wallis Islander Aloiuml Pilioko

found his expressive voice with

the invention of his lsquoneedle

paintingsrsquo made with coloured

wool sewn into sacking

Together the two artists

travelled and exhibited widely

in the Pacific Islands Europe

Eastern Europe and Asia

lsquo T H E Q U E S T S H O U L D B E F O R A N

Like a tree a culture is forever growing new bran

Our cultures contrary to the simplistic interpretat

among us were changing even in pre- papalagi t

island contact and the endeavours of exceptiona

who manipulated politics religion and other peo

utterances of our elite groups our pre- papalagi c

or beyond reproach No culture is perfect or sacr

dissent is essential to the healthy survival develo

any nation ndash without it our cultures will drown in s

was allowed in our pre- papalagi cultures what c

than using war to challenge and overt hrow existi

a frequent occurrence No culture is ever static n

(a favourite word with our colonisers and romant

stuffed gorilla in a museum

There is no state of cultural purity (or perfect stat

from which there is decline usage determines au

Fall no sun-tanned Noble Savages existing in So

Golden Age except in Hollywood films in the ins

and art by outsiders about the Pacific in the brea

elite vampires and in the fevered imaginations of

revolutionaries We in Oceania did not a nd do n

God and the ideal life I do not advocate a return

papalagi Golden Age or Utopian womb Physicall

for such a re-entry Our quest should not be for a

cultures but for the creation of new cultures wh

of colonialism and based firmly on our own pasts

for a new Oceania

Albert Wendt lsquoTowards a New




ndash secular public space Teir work accepted the reality

o that dissemination as they created works or art

galleries libraries radio stations airports government

buildings and so orth

On the other hand the revival o customary

culture was a powerul political orce by the s

and many contemporary artists began to turn to it as

a source o anti-colonial resistance and alternative

value In Hawailsquoi or exa mple where Native Hawaiians

began to contest the exploitation o their islands and

the hegemony o American culture artist Rocky Jensen

established an artistsrsquo collective called Hale Hauā III

which sought to ground itsel in traditions o Hawaiian

knowledge (Te collective took its name rom a

precolonial institution o instruction that had been

revived in the nineteenth century by King Kalakaua

in a prior moment o cultural resurgence and which

Jensen revived a third time in the s)45 In New

Zealand the resurgence o Māori culture coincided

with the assertion o land and political rights and

prompted a call among Māori artists and writers to

return to the marae the customary home o Māori art

Te new relation is exemplified in Paratene Matchittrsquos

mural e Whanaketanga o ainui () in the dining

hall at urangawaewae Marae Ngaruawahia Located

in the marae complex the mural explores the history

and heritage o the ainui people in a way that has

much in common with the whare whakairo (meeting

house) linking people together and explaining cultural

above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)

Waikato Museum of Art

and History Te Whare

Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)

Height 121 cm (47 5 frasl 8 in)

Auckland Art Gallery

Toi o Tamaki

right

Rocky Kalsquoiouliokahihikolo

lsquoEhu Jensen He Ipu Malsquoona

(lsquoThe Never-empty Bowl or

The Plentiful Platterrsquo) 1977

False kamani wood with

abalone shell Length 102 cm

(40 in) Hawaii State Museum

of Art Honolulu

below

Cliff Whiting Te Wehenga

o Ranginui ramacrua ko

Papatuanuku 1969ndash74

Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)

National Library Wellington



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T

HE MAJORIT Y OF MA macr ORI ARTISTS who

were experimenting with modernism in the 1950s

and 1960s followed a kind of modernist primitivismin which the artistic lessons of European artists

such as Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore were used

to interpret customary Maori motifs The modernism of these

artists depended on a staging of difference from customary

Maori ar t ndash an unadorned surface a reliance on sculptural

depth or the adoption of a radically flattened pictorial space

from which modelling and the illusion of depth were banished

yet also in order to declare their difference from what went

before it depended on an a ppeal to Maori ar t and subject

matter These artist s were Maori and m odernist and it was

the frisson of the two identities that fuelled their art

One artist who stands apart from this approach is Ralph

Hotere Beginning his career as an art specialist with the

Department of Education under t he auspices of Gordon Tovey

Hotere was part of the beginnings of contemporary Mamacrori art

Missing some of the early exhibitions of modern Maori ar t

because he was studying art in England and Europe Hotere

took part in such events after his return to Aotearoa NewZealand in 1965 and he rapidly became a celebrat ed member

of the contemporary Maori ar t movement

Notably though Hotere refused to adopt the more usual

position of his Maori ar t colleagues There is no lsquoandrsquo linking

the identities of Maori and m odernist within his practice His

attitude is informed by a resolutely modernist belief in the

autonomy of art lsquoNo object and certainly no painting is seen

in the same way by everyone yet most people want

an unmistakable meaning that is accessible to all in a work

of artrsquo said Hotere in 1973 lsquoIt is the spectator which provokes

the change and meaning in these worksrsquo And this which hasproven to be a controversial stand within the contemporary

Maori ar t movement lsquoI am Maori by birth and upbringing

As far as my works are concerned this is coincidentalrsquoi

Seen in this context Hoterersquos comment about denying

a Maori identit y in his art is par t of a broader refusal to

participate in simplistic art-historical readings of his work

The artist does not have to validate certain interpretations

and biography does not offer a framework for understanding

a complex cultural production such as a painting Yet there is

another meaning in Hoterersquos comment which rubs against the

larger trajectory of Maori ar t in the 1970s and 1980s As his

colleagues began to respond to the Maori R enaissance

of the 1970s in which cultural and political developments

made it urgent for them to declare their identity a s Maori

in a direct manner and to replace critical distance with an

appeal to communication and a bridging of difference Hotere

remained resolutely modernist He continued to work within the

space of Maori modernism in which Mamacrori art did not need tooperate in terms of Maori soc ial or cultural practices but rather

could gather its operational procedures from contemporary

art staging and maintaining its critical difference and distance

from the art production of the recent past a context where

Maori identit y was not necessary or key to the production of

artwork Hotere remained a ( Maori) moder nist and it explains

why his work has assumed a place in PakehaNew Zealand art

histories while that of his peers has not DS

Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E

origins Moreover the mural involved the labour o

hundreds o people redefining the artist as a kind o

supervisor playing a similar role to the master carver

in the production o meeting houses Conversely the

Western art gallery could be appropriated as a Māori

cultural space as occurred or example during the

opening exhibition o Murursquos Parihaka series at the

Dowse Art Gallery in when the gallery was

transormed into a space that drew its protocols and

meanings rom the marae Te transormation was a

recognition not only o a Pākehā need to come to terms

with Māori cultural values and Māori narratives but

an indication o the way in which by the s a

European genre like oil painting could be understood

to embody ancestors just like the carvings in a whare

whakairo46 In Papua New Guinea artists also were

drawn towards clan and village on the one hand or

nation and the world on the other Akis or example

produced an extraordinary series o drawings during

his first six weeks in Port Moresby under the tutelage

o Georgina Beier Tese drawings were exhibited at the

university library in what Ulli Beier describes as lsquoan

historic occasionrsquo

A New Guinean had ndash to a point ndash stepped out o

his own culture he had made drawings that were

o no particular relevance to the people in his own

village even though they expressed his eelings

about the village and about the orest that

surrounded it and the animals and birds that

inhabited it It was a very personal statement the

drawings spoke o Akis himsel and did not ulfil

any ritual or even decorative unction in his own

community Tey appealed more to the white man

whose world he had been the first to penetrate

rom his village47

While this exhibition could be said to have initiated

a Papua New Guinean contemporary art world Akis

himsel remained with the lsquoworldrsquo o his village

Although he returned to Port Moresby to work with

Akis Untitled c 1970ndash73

Ink on paper 84 x 69 cm

(33 1 frasl 8 x 27 1 frasl 8 in) Collection

of the University of Cambridge


Anthropology

Neta Wharehoka Ngahina

Okeroa and Matarena Rau-

Kupa from Taranaki sit with

a photograph of Te Whiti

and recall the events of the

Parihaka sacking at Selwyn

Murursquos exhibition featuring

the people and events of that

occasion Dowse Art Gallery

Lower Hutt 1979

Photograph Ans Westra

Collection of The Dowse Art

Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E

Georgina again in producing yet another

remarkable series o drawings and prints and returned

occasionally thereafer to make work at what became

the National Art School he never stayed in Port

Moresby He enjoyed the ame (and cash) h is work

gave him but always returned to the social and ritual

obligations o his village lie where he lived as a

gardener and subsistence armer eventually stopping

making art For Kauage on the other hand the

trajectory o his career flowed in the opposite direction

away rom his natal village towards a ascinating world

defined by the historical novelty o Papua New Guinea

and his extraordinary lie as a citizen o it His

experience o the latter is reflected in the chromatic

brilliance o his paintings prints and drawings and

their unique iconography o flags aeroplanes

helicopters buses political events and the doings o

modern Papua New Guineans himsel chie among

them Kauagersquos aesthetic sensibility and perceptions

were no doubt ormed by his lie as a rural man rom

the Highlands but the trajectory o his unprecedented

career ndash its novelty indicated by the way he would

ofen sign his work lsquoKauage ndash artist o PNGrsquo ndash took

him into an urban national and international world

that redefined what it meant to be a Chimbu man rom

the Highlands

owards the Postcolonial

By the late s the political decolonization o the

Pacific was winding down Although the goal o

independence in several places remained an unrealized

ideal the momentum o decolonization as a global

movement had gone For the ormer imperia l powers

the business was largely done And where it remained

undone it was lefover business rom a passing era

Furthermore the end o the Cold War in and the

lsquotriumphrsquo o neo-liberalism and Western democracy

dissipated political imaginaries that had animated

political struggles since the end o the Second World

War Te aura o nationhood also lost its hold in a

world that was rapidly diminishing the power o nation

states reorganizing global economies to the advantage

o multinational corporations and borderless capital

and redefining the nature o social identities through

global media networks fluid labour markets and

ideologies o cultural pluralism

Mathias Kauage

Independence Celebration

4 1975


(19 5 frasl 8 x 29 7 frasl 8 in)

Collection of the University

of Cambridge Museum of

Archaeology and Anthropology

Mathias Kauage (c 1944ndash2003)

was a founding figure of modern

art in Papua New Guinea His

earliest works of 1969ndash70

featured strange creatures of

his imagination but he quickly

moved on to become an artist

of the Port Moresby urban

scene and ndash beginning with

this work ndash of public political

events and historic encounters

A number of painters working

in Port Moresby today aim to

make a living painting Kauage-

style works for sale to tourists

and art dealers

lsquoTe Maorirsquo exhibition poster

1984

Courtesy Te Maori Manaaki

Taonga Trust




wo events in the s could be said to mark this

ambiguous turn in the history o decolonization One

was the exhibition lsquoe Maorirsquo ( page ) which opened

at the Metropolitan Museum o Art in New York in

ndash a bookend to lsquoArts o the South Seasrsquo with which

this chapter began lsquoe Maorirsquo is a culminating point

in the history we have sketched in this chapter because

o its success in realizing the potential o art and

ancestral culture to achieve the goals o decolonization

Conceived in the s and staged with the cooperation

o tribal leaders rom across New Zealand lsquoe Maorirsquo

was a striking demonstration o the re-empowerment

o colonized cultures over their art and representation

in the world Te exhibitionrsquos American success

enhanced the global prestige o Māori culture and its

triumphant return to New Zealand in coincided

with watershed political successes o that decade or

Māori official recognition o the reaty o Waitangi

(originally signed by tribal leaders and lsquothe Crownrsquo

in ) the establishment o a Māori land-claims

tribunal and the introduction o official biculturalism

At the same time the conditions o the exhibition ndash

sponsored by a grant rom Mobil Corporation

part-unded by the New Zealand government

toured to major American museums and galleries ndash

demonstrated the nature o the postcolonial lsquoculture

gamersquo in a post-imperial world (or a different kind o

lsquoempirersquo) in which Oceanic art was now entangled

Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in

lsquoendrsquo the militant str

that had begun in ea

that struggle had spi

in an episode o host

in Given this tra

was a means to preve

violence Tey deerr

to a later reerendum

and initiated a set o

colonial inequities in

the Kanak populatio

recognize and develo

assassinated by a ello

compromise In the w

government underto

cultural centre which

vision o a revived Ka

and the cultural cent

thereore lie at the pr

decolonization as a p

nationhood and inde

the set o liberal dem

ushered in at the end

Mwagrave Veacuteeacute magazine cover

issue no 1 May 1993

copy ADCK-Centre Culturel

Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I

N THE PHOTO ARCHIVES of the British Museum there

is a set of portrait photographs of a man identified simply as

lsquoBobrsquo or lsquoBob a Micronesian manrsquo There are nine altogether

not counting copies Some are clearly related to each other

as part of the same photo-session but others are quite

different The photographs are datable to somewhere between

1863 and 1871 on the basis of an inscription on a subset of

cartes-de-visite identifying a photographer lsquoA Pedroletti of the

Anthropological Institute of Londonrsquo Other inscriptions further

describe lsquoBobrsquo as lsquoaged 18 yearsrsquo and lsquoa native of Tarawarsquo (an

island in what is now the nation of Kiribati) although one

inscription says he is from Rotuma1 Otherwise nothing is

known about him

There is both pathos and irony in this statement of

course For while it is true that his name and story are lost and

with them the choices and circumstances that brought him to

these photographic junctures as well as the links that might

connect him to possible kin in the present the point of these

photographs in another sense was precisely to know him In

most of them he is the object of scientific scrutiny Several are

anthropometric studies a form of photography designed toserve the evidentiary purposes of medical or anthropological

inquiry into comparative physical anatomy and racial typology

To this end the bodies of racialized lsquoothersrsquo ndash lsquousually from the

polyglot crew of some sailing vessel then in Londonrsquo 2 ndash were

photographed according to a standardized formula naked at

a fixed distance from the camera shot from the front side and

rear against a neutral background beside a metric measuring

rod A subset of lsquo Bobrsquosrsquo portraits is of this order including the

profile illustrated here

What is intriguing about the set however is the variety of

portrait types lsquoBobrsquo inhabits In another he is an ethnographic

subject dressed in a costume ndash a form of body armour

made from coconut fibres ndash that identifies him with his place

of origin and the specificities of its language social roles

technologies religion and so on In yet another a carte-de-

visite he appears as a young Victorian gentleman dressed in

a shirt and tie a coat and a buttoned-up waistcoat This is the

most intriguing photograph in the series The carte-de-visite

was an invention of the mid-nineteenth century that spurred a

lucrative commerce in ersatz portraiture Cheap and easy to

produce members of the bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie

in metropolitan capitals paid en masse to have their likenesses

captured in a manner that vaguely imitated the conventions of

old aristocratic portrait paintings Did lsquoBobrsquo choose to have his

portrait taken in this manner

It would be nice to imagine lsquoB obrsquo as a kind of nineteenth-

century postmodernist avant la lettre assuming different

social guises in order to co nfound the dominance of any one

of them But this would be wrong for obvious reasons These

photographs were made to circulate within professionalsocieties clubs and institutes of an academic and exclusively

male nature Even the possible exceptions ndash the cartes-de-

visite ndash are nonetheless explicitly inscribed with the name of

the lsquoAnthropological Institute Londonrsquo And while it may be

that the authority of these photographs is most unstable due

to the differences between them ndash it is there that arguments

and anxieties that animated the discourse of human origins

social development and class hierarchies are most apparent

ndash it was a discourse from which lsquoBobrsquo and his like were totally

excluded He is the object of these representations Although

he presumably consented to the photographic exercise for

whatever small advantage it may have given him he has no

control over or voice in these represent ations even as they

are ostensibly about him ndash a powerlessness and absence

reflected in the evacuated look with which in another portrait

he confronts the camera PB

lsquoK i r ibat i Bobrsquo



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T

HE DISTINCTIVE CHARACTER of customary

art is typically thought to reside in its relationship

to particular communities Yet customary arts

are open to all kinds of entanglements with

the wider world today with museums art

galleries government agencies churches tourist schemes

universities and so on Customary artists are savvy operators

in seizing opportunities to sell share promote or otherwise

disseminate their art in spaces beyond their communities

Does this signify the inevitable disintegration of strong

communities or some vital dynamic at work in the way they are

rearticulating their place in the contemporary world

One arena where this dissemination is taking place is

in Contemporary Art galleries Consider for example a 2009

project by Leba Toki Bale Jione a nd Robin White entitled

Teitei Vou (A New Garden ) commissioned for the sixth Asia

Pacific Triennial and now in the collection of the Queensland

Art Gallery Australia Toki and Jione come from the island of

Moce in the Lau group of the Fijian islands and are makers of

traditional masi (decorated barkcloth) White is a contemporary

artist from New Zealand with a career dating back to the 1970s

From 1981 she lived for eighteen years on the island of Tarawa

in Kiribati often passing through Fiji on trips to New Zealand

In this time she developed a pract ice of collaborating with

Island women in the creation of works that draw on communal

traditions and techniques such as embroidery barkcloth and

flax weaving

These collaborations were enabled by the fact that White

shared with many of these women a common faith They

were Bahalsquoi ndash a religion with adherents in many Pacific islands

that advocates an ideal of diversity affirming many cultural

practices as authentic expressions of the faith In that respect

these collaborations can be understood as forms of religious

practice exploring the intersection between faith and culture

But they are also collaborations with the institutions of the

Contemporary Art world for which Teitei Vou was made

The work comprises nine pieces of cloth of varying types

including the decorated masi illustrated opposite The cloth is

a form of customary gift given by Fijian families at a wedding

ndash the ceremony that ritually enacts the joining together of

complex differences between individuals obviously but also

between families villages ethnic groups religions classes

nationalities as the case may be And these days they are

often heterogeneous in the extreme The particular focus of

Teitei Vou is revealed in the hybrid character of the cloth which

includes two lsquorag matsrsquo made from Indian sari cloth and the

iconography of the main masi a blend of traditional patterns

and unique imagery designed by the three collaborators The

imagery refers in part to Fijirsquos sugar industry to its history of

indentured Indian labour in the nineteenth century and the

social and political legacy of that history in the present as the

two races lsquoweddedrsquo to each other by the past struggle to

coexist On the other hand the iconography offers a hopeful

symbolism for the future Sugar doubles as a metaphor for thelsquosweetnessrsquo of lsquopeaceful human relationsrsquo while the ar tists have

placed at the centre of the masi the image of the Bahalsquoi World

Centre at Haifa Israel amid echoes of its terraced gardens on

the slopes of Mount Carmel

Thus a religious vision drawing on the wells of cultural

custom is addressed to t he situation of present-day Fiji via the

public space of a Contemporary Art gallery There Teitei Vou

is a precise articulation of big questions facing Contemporary

Art and the lsquopublic spherersquo in general today how is the

experience of multiple modernities to be expressed How can

communities speak across their own boundaries What do

venerable traditions ndash cultural and religious ndash have to say to

global audiences And how will customary form s and values

be translated in that context PB

Collaborat ing with the Contemporary

Robin White Leba Toki

Bale Jione Teitei vou

(A new garden) (detail) 2009

Natural dyes on barkcloth390 x 240cm

The cloth illustrated called

a taumanu is one of nine

components in the complete

work which includes mats

made of woven pandanus

with commercial wool woven

barkcloth and sari fabric

Collection Queensland Art

Gallery



983088983096 Map o Oceania

983089983088 I N T R O D U C T I O N Nicholas Tomas Nguzunguzu in History 983089983091 bull Art and Aesthetics 983089983095 bull History and Histories 983090983089

P A R T O N E A R T I N E A R LY O C E A N I A A E S T H E T I C T R A C E S T H E S E T T L E M E N T O F W E S T

Lissant Bolton

Early Human Settlement in Near Oceania bull Lapita bull Feature Feathers bullPacific bull Voice lsquoEvery design is differentrsquo bull Developments in Western Oce

Feature Shrines and Stories

983093983088 A F T E R L A P I T A V O Y A G I N G A N D M O N U M E N T A L

c 983097983088983088 983138983139991251c 983137983140 983089983095983088983088 Deidre Brown and Peter Brunt

Lapita Foundations 983093983089 bull Exploratory Voyaging and the Settlement o Oceania 983093

bow o Hok ul elsquoarsquo 983093983093 bull Feature Remembering the Ocean 983093983094 bull Centres o Power

in Micronesia 983093983096 bull Centres o Power in Western Polynesia 983094983090 bull Voice lsquoFrom th

ransormations in Polynesian Marae 983094983095 bull Feature Rock Art 983094983096 bull Feature Te

Te Contingency o History 983095983093

P A R T T W O N E W G U I N E A 1 7 0 0 ndash 1 9 4 0

983095983096 A R T T R A D E A N D E X CH A N G E N E W G U I N E A 983089983095983088983088

Nicholas Tomas Susanne Kuumlchler and Lissant Bolton

Diversity and History 983095983097 bull Environment Production and Precolonial lsquoColoniali

Ramifications 983097983088 bull raders o the South Coast 983097983093 bull Feature Balancing Men and

worth takingrsquo 983089983088983091 bull Feature Crocodile into Man 983089983088983092

983089983088983094 A R T WA R A N D P A CI F I CA T I O N N E W G U I N E A 983089983096983092983088

Nicholas Tomas and Susanne Kuumlchler

Voice o the Commodore o the Australian Naval Station 983089983088983096 bull Te Art o the

Headhunting 983089983089983095 bull Te Art o Peacemaking 983089983090983089 bull Feature Rabu Banaky 983089983090983092 bull

and I sorry All finish nowrsquo 983089983090983095 bull Te Consequences o Peace 983089983090983096

983089983091983088 C O S M O L O G I E S A N D C O L L E C T I O N S N E W G U I N E

Nicholas Tomas

Christianity Iconoclasm and Culture 983089983091983090 bull Voice All the People Divided 983089983092983089 bullMoney 983089983092983090 bull Papuan Modernity and the Will to Change 983089983092983093 bull Voice One Day

Collections 983089983092983096 bull Voice lsquoEvery manrsquos house here is a museumrsquo 983089983093983088 bull Feature A

C O N T E N T S

First published in the United Kingdom in by Thames amp Hudson Ltd

High Holborn London

Copyright copy Thames amp Hudson Ltd London

Designed by Maggi Smith

All Rights Reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any

form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopy recording or any

other information storage and retrieval system without prior permission in writing from

the publisher

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN ----

Printed and bound in China by Hing Yip Printing Co Ltd

To find out about all our publications please visitwwwthamesandhudsoncom

There you can subscribe to our e-newsletter browse or download our current catalogue

and buy any titles that are in print

frontispiece

Timothy Akis Sikin i

Pulap Long Nil ( Skin Full

of Thorns ) 1977

Screenprint Image height

approx 57 cm (22frac12 in)


Anthropology Cambridge

The publisher and authors are grateful to the following institutions and organizations for their generous support of this project

















Deidre Brown

















Peter Brunt









Tours


















Maps

Notes

Select Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Picture Credits

About the Authors

Index






















Mounted the yea



ollowing decades th



rom ethnographic c

museums which it a







century European m

Peter Brunt



opposite





New York 1946


Modern Art New York

Scala Florence

below left




Art New York 1946


Modern Art New York

Scala Florence

below right



South Pacific


































to obsolescence




















































































commercial enterpri



European collecting

Te anthropologist C


published in in w






ake or examp




Rockeeller son o N

Rockeeller was a we

and photographer wh


established Museum



Dutch administrator

priests were among


headhunting While

abandoned by m









cameras ( page )In


terms o the importa


rom prestigious art
















decolonization era



V

O

I C

E




























above left

Dr Adrian Gerbrands








in New York 1961

above right





































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T































































Art of the Ab ela m



New Guinea


1962



















































object o production

and stereotyped Pac


consumers Te Pacifi

magazines and Islan

Wayne and Mickey M




the Pacific

Yet the expansio


a growing anxiety w


movements or politi

the s and s t

over the production

legacy Consider or



above left

Savea Malietoa




Maina Afamasaga











below left













that was passing




































lull was over










































































inexorable outcome



























re-empowerment





neighbour Indonesia







s Recognizing th


tasks o sel-governm








the rise o communis

to make an enemy o





control o West Papu




on sel-government i




now illegal under

Indonesian law



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

F


























crew in 1982














































Pam Debenham

























































wrists and ankles
























or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an





aimed to counteract

previous decades to





are some people who


this had become the



gathered Kanaks rom


perormances tradit


history o New Caled


the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order











purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu





But attitudes to c



Kanak documentation




1984


bronze 1963








364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery

















Deidre Brown

















Peter Brunt









Tours


















Maps

Notes

Select Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Picture Credits

About the Authors

Index






















Mounted the yea



ollowing decades th



rom ethnographic c

museums which it a







century European m

Peter Brunt



opposite





New York 1946


Modern Art New York

Scala Florence

below left




Art New York 1946


Modern Art New York

Scala Florence

below right



South Pacific


































to obsolescence




















































































commercial enterpri



European collecting

Te anthropologist C


published in in w






ake or examp




Rockeeller son o N

Rockeeller was a we

and photographer wh


established Museum



Dutch administrator

priests were among


headhunting While

abandoned by m









cameras ( page )In


terms o the importa


rom prestigious art
















decolonization era



V

O

I C

E




























above left

Dr Adrian Gerbrands








in New York 1961

above right





































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T































































Art of the Ab ela m



New Guinea


1962



















































object o production

and stereotyped Pac


consumers Te Pacifi

magazines and Islan

Wayne and Mickey M




the Pacific

Yet the expansio


a growing anxiety w


movements or politi

the s and s t

over the production

legacy Consider or



above left

Savea Malietoa




Maina Afamasaga











below left













that was passing




































lull was over










































































inexorable outcome



























re-empowerment





neighbour Indonesia







s Recognizing th


tasks o sel-governm








the rise o communis

to make an enemy o





control o West Papu




on sel-government i




now illegal under

Indonesian law



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

F


























crew in 1982














































Pam Debenham

























































wrists and ankles
























or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an





aimed to counteract

previous decades to





are some people who


this had become the



gathered Kanaks rom


perormances tradit


history o New Caled


the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order











purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu





But attitudes to c



Kanak documentation




1984


bronze 1963








364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery






















Mounted the yea



ollowing decades th



rom ethnographic c

museums which it a







century European m

Peter Brunt



opposite





New York 1946


Modern Art New York

Scala Florence

below left




Art New York 1946


Modern Art New York

Scala Florence

below right



South Pacific


































to obsolescence




















































































commercial enterpri



European collecting

Te anthropologist C


published in in w






ake or examp




Rockeeller son o N

Rockeeller was a we

and photographer wh


established Museum



Dutch administrator

priests were among


headhunting While

abandoned by m









cameras ( page )In


terms o the importa


rom prestigious art
















decolonization era



V

O

I C

E




























above left

Dr Adrian Gerbrands








in New York 1961

above right





































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T































































Art of the Ab ela m



New Guinea


1962



















































object o production

and stereotyped Pac


consumers Te Pacifi

magazines and Islan

Wayne and Mickey M




the Pacific

Yet the expansio


a growing anxiety w


movements or politi

the s and s t

over the production

legacy Consider or



above left

Savea Malietoa




Maina Afamasaga











below left













that was passing




































lull was over










































































inexorable outcome



























re-empowerment





neighbour Indonesia







s Recognizing th


tasks o sel-governm








the rise o communis

to make an enemy o





control o West Papu




on sel-government i




now illegal under

Indonesian law



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

F


























crew in 1982














































Pam Debenham

























































wrists and ankles
























or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an





aimed to counteract

previous decades to





are some people who


this had become the



gathered Kanaks rom


perormances tradit


history o New Caled


the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order











purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu





But attitudes to c



Kanak documentation




1984


bronze 1963








364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery


































to obsolescence




















































































commercial enterpri



European collecting

Te anthropologist C


published in in w






ake or examp




Rockeeller son o N

Rockeeller was a we

and photographer wh


established Museum



Dutch administrator

priests were among


headhunting While

abandoned by m









cameras ( page )In


terms o the importa


rom prestigious art
















decolonization era



V

O

I C

E




























above left

Dr Adrian Gerbrands








in New York 1961

above right





































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T































































Art of the Ab ela m



New Guinea


1962



















































object o production

and stereotyped Pac


consumers Te Pacifi

magazines and Islan

Wayne and Mickey M




the Pacific

Yet the expansio


a growing anxiety w


movements or politi

the s and s t

over the production

legacy Consider or



above left

Savea Malietoa




Maina Afamasaga











below left













that was passing




































lull was over










































































inexorable outcome



























re-empowerment





neighbour Indonesia







s Recognizing th


tasks o sel-governm








the rise o communis

to make an enemy o





control o West Papu




on sel-government i




now illegal under

Indonesian law



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

F


























crew in 1982














































Pam Debenham

























































wrists and ankles
























or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an





aimed to counteract

previous decades to





are some people who


this had become the



gathered Kanaks rom


perormances tradit


history o New Caled


the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order











purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu





But attitudes to c



Kanak documentation




1984


bronze 1963








364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



V

O

I C

E




























above left

Dr Adrian Gerbrands








in New York 1961

above right





































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T































































Art of the Ab ela m



New Guinea


1962



















































object o production

and stereotyped Pac


consumers Te Pacifi

magazines and Islan

Wayne and Mickey M




the Pacific

Yet the expansio


a growing anxiety w


movements or politi

the s and s t

over the production

legacy Consider or



above left

Savea Malietoa




Maina Afamasaga











below left













that was passing




































lull was over










































































inexorable outcome



























re-empowerment





neighbour Indonesia







s Recognizing th


tasks o sel-governm








the rise o communis

to make an enemy o





control o West Papu




on sel-government i




now illegal under

Indonesian law



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

F


























crew in 1982














































Pam Debenham

























































wrists and ankles
























or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an





aimed to counteract

previous decades to





are some people who


this had become the



gathered Kanaks rom


perormances tradit


history o New Caled


the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order











purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu





But attitudes to c



Kanak documentation




1984


bronze 1963








364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T































































Art of the Ab ela m



New Guinea


1962



















































object o production

and stereotyped Pac


consumers Te Pacifi

magazines and Islan

Wayne and Mickey M




the Pacific

Yet the expansio


a growing anxiety w


movements or politi

the s and s t

over the production

legacy Consider or



above left

Savea Malietoa




Maina Afamasaga











below left













that was passing




































lull was over










































































inexorable outcome



























re-empowerment





neighbour Indonesia







s Recognizing th


tasks o sel-governm








the rise o communis

to make an enemy o





control o West Papu




on sel-government i




now illegal under

Indonesian law



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

F


























crew in 1982














































Pam Debenham

























































wrists and ankles
























or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an





aimed to counteract

previous decades to





are some people who


this had become the



gathered Kanaks rom


perormances tradit


history o New Caled


the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order











purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu





But attitudes to c



Kanak documentation




1984


bronze 1963








364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



















































object o production

and stereotyped Pac


consumers Te Pacifi

magazines and Islan

Wayne and Mickey M




the Pacific

Yet the expansio


a growing anxiety w


movements or politi

the s and s t

over the production

legacy Consider or



above left

Savea Malietoa




Maina Afamasaga











below left













that was passing




































lull was over










































































inexorable outcome



























re-empowerment





neighbour Indonesia







s Recognizing th


tasks o sel-governm








the rise o communis

to make an enemy o





control o West Papu




on sel-government i




now illegal under

Indonesian law



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

F


























crew in 1982














































Pam Debenham

























































wrists and ankles
























or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an





aimed to counteract

previous decades to





are some people who


this had become the



gathered Kanaks rom


perormances tradit


history o New Caled


the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order











purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu





But attitudes to c



Kanak documentation




1984


bronze 1963








364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery

































lull was over










































































inexorable outcome



























re-empowerment





neighbour Indonesia







s Recognizing th


tasks o sel-governm








the rise o communis

to make an enemy o





control o West Papu




on sel-government i




now illegal under

Indonesian law



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

F


























crew in 1982














































Pam Debenham

























































wrists and ankles
























or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an





aimed to counteract

previous decades to





are some people who


this had become the



gathered Kanaks rom


perormances tradit


history o New Caled


the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order











purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu





But attitudes to c



Kanak documentation




1984


bronze 1963








364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

F


























crew in 1982














































Pam Debenham

























































wrists and ankles
























or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an





aimed to counteract

previous decades to





are some people who


this had become the



gathered Kanaks rom


perormances tradit


history o New Caled


the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order











purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu





But attitudes to c



Kanak documentation




1984


bronze 1963








364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery





















































wrists and ankles
























or a contemporary r

Similarly Kanak

jibaou conceived an





aimed to counteract

previous decades to





are some people who


this had become the



gathered Kanaks rom


perormances tradit


history o New Caled


the Kanak populatio

o Noumea in order











purpose In Decembe

independence Vanu





But attitudes to c



Kanak documentation




1984


bronze 1963








364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



364 P A R T F I V E



























top




New Caledonia 1975






above
































with our roots

Jean-Marie

From an in














and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery












and legitimation29


























Consider or exa

Narokobi a Papua N

during a symposium

Guinea in the ye

independent rom Au




rom among thousan


destined or ma





that Papua New Guin



o local communities


oday no true s

a glimpse into th

got by an awaren

a single work o

becomes a being

clan A mask bec

great deeds o th

colours rom the

centre place or m

Trough their fin

communicate wi

their art they rea


depredations o mod


At this historical

orms o art conv

bare artistic style

desperate search

unity we might c

paperbacks and d

representations o

orms Nothing c

more than to em

and-Indian or th


poster 1972


Canberra


1980 Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea




































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



































































and so on









imothy Akis or ex

sembaga in the Sim



Georgeda Buchbinde

remarkable drawings

Mathias Kauage was




contrast Ruki Fame

alienated rom their




by nuns worked as a


Arts August 1966


Wellington























































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery






































































































ogether they pursu


Michoutouchkine wa


late s and s t


most collectors who

Michoutouchkine an



Port Vila Papeete S


modernist experimen



excitement and pote



attooed Women of B


sacking rom copra b



dawned in Vanuatu i


backgrounds Polyne



Moresby c 1975



Martin Morububuna



Screenprint poster

56 x 75 cm (22 x 29 frac12 in)


Art Museum Adelaide



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



372 P A R T F I V E




Union and Japan40

































































1966




the artist









































for a new Oceania


































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery

































above left

Paratene Matchitt

Whiti te Ra 1962

Tempera on board

71 x 104 cm (28 x 41 in)



Taonga o Waikato

below left

Arnold Wilson

Tane Mahuta 1957

Wood (kauri)



Toi o Tamaki

right








of Art Honolulu

below




Mixed-media mural

26 x 76 m (8 frac12 x 25 ft)




F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T























































Ralph Hotere



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



378 P A R T F I V E



































rom his village47










Anthropology










Lower Hutt 1979



Museum Lower Hutt



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



380 P A R T F I V E


























the Highlands




















Mathias Kauage


4 1975





















and art dealers


1984


Taonga Trust
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery
































Te second even

Kanak independence

which ollowed the s

in New Caledonia in





in Given this tra


violence Tey deerr




the Kanak populatio



compromise In the w

government underto






nationhood and inde




issue no 1 May 1993


Tjibaou



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

I













known about him
























































F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery



F

E

A

T

U

R

E

T



























flax weaving






















































Gallery

art in oceania

Documents