Oceanic ArtOceania -- Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia -- is made up of thousands of islands, from the vast territory of New Guinea to a myriad of tiny coral atolls. Its indigenous peoples have developed civilizations of infinite variety. In most of these societies, art holds a crucial position in both social and religious life and includes not only architecture, painting, and sculpture, but also music, dance, prayer, and body decoration.This comprehensive volume by a team of top-ranking scholars addresses the arts of these Pacific islands. The first major survey in more than 30 years, it brings together a vast number of important discoveries and the results of several in-depth studies of Oceanic arts. It also provides an introduction for the general reader through a series of remarkable texts and 900 illustrations, more than one-third of which have never before been published. A documentary section on the principal cultural groups of the region provides an essential reference. |
Contents
PROLEGOMENON TO THE STUDY OF POLYNESIAN ART 121 | 21 |
THE MYTHOLOGICAL CHARTER | 39 |
SCULPTURAL MANIFESTATIONS OF MYTHOLOGICAL CHARTER | 61 |
Copyright | |
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Abelam Admiralty Islands aesthetic Ambrym ancestors artistic Asmat Auckland Institute Austral Islands Banks Islands barkcloth Basel Photo Peter basketry Belau birds Bishop Museum bowls Britain British Museum Bühler Caledonia CANOE PROW CEREMONIAL HOUSE chiefs clan cm Collected coconut Collected by F Cook Islands crescent cultural dance decorated designs drums East Sepik Province Easter Island face feathers FEMALE FIGURE fiber Fiji gods groups Guinea Wood Gulf Province hair Hawai`i head headdresses Honolulu Iatmul images important Institute and Museum Irian Jaya Wood Kanak Kulturen Basel Photo Kwoma Lake Sentani Lapita London Museum photo malanggan male Malekula Māori Marquesas MASK mats Melanesian men's houses Micronesia motifs Musée Museum der Kulturen Museum für Völkerkunde objects ornaments Papua New Guinea Photo Peter Horner Polynesian ritual River sacred sculptures sennit SEPIK REGION shell social Solomon Islands Speiser stone style symbolic tattooing Tonga tradition Vanuatu visual Western Wood and paint wooden Zealand