Works covered
Pisupo
Ambum Stone
Navigation Chart
Moai on Platform
Malagan Mask
Tamati waka Nene, Gottfried Lindauer
‘Ahu ‘ula Feather Cape
Hiapo (tapa)
Ambum Stone
Navigation Chart
Moai on Platform
Malagan Mask
Tamati waka Nene, Gottfried Lindauer
‘Ahu ‘ula Feather Cape
Hiapo (tapa)
Enduring understandings
- The arts of the Pacific vary by virtue of ecological situations, social structure, and impact of external influences, such as commerce, colonialism, and missionary activity. Created in a variety of media, Pacific arts are distinguished by the virtuosity with which materials are used and presented
- The sea is ubiquitous as a theme of Pacific art and is a presence in the daily lives of a large portion of Oceania, as the sea both connects and separates the lands and peoples of the Pacific. • The arts of the Pacific are expressions of beliefs, social relations, essential truths, and compendia of information held by designated members of society. Pacific arts are objects, acts, and events that are forces in social life
- Pacific arts are performed (danced, sung, recited, and displayed) in an array of colors, scents, textures, and movements that enact narratives and proclaim primordial truths
- Belief in the use of costumes, cosmetics, and constructions assembled to enact epics of human history and experience is central to creation of and participation in Pacific arts.
Key Ideas
Quick History
- Strong gender roles for creating art: Men = wood carving, women = tapa cloths
- Wood is the primary material: they have perfected woodcarving
- The use of natural materials such as fibers (plant materials), pigments, bones, sea ivory and shell, tortoise shell, wood, coral, and stone are very important to the meaning and symbolism of the artworks
- Intricate lines and details
- Art of Easter Island is unusual in Oceanic art
- Heavily influenced by the sea (point of isolation and connecting through travel and trade).
- Art is in the form of performances, chants, dances, or rituals. Objects of dress/costumes or masks are used as props or disguises in religious rituals. They are not produced for aesthetic reasons.
- Sculptures representing life forces in the supernatural world are often wrapped (usually in tapa). The life force is referred to as mana. Mana is protected and defended by the act of wrapping called tapu.
- "Artworks" are displayed in the men's communal house.
Quick History
- Some of the oldest inhabited areas on Earth (The Aboriginals reached Australia around 50,000 years ago)
- Some places only inhabited up to 1000 years ago (remote islands of the Pacific, Easter Island, New Zealand)
- We know about the culture of these areas because of explorations in the 18th century