Art of the Pacific Islands

1. Art of the Pacific Islands Katie Milliken AKA Australia and friends

2. Wait…Where? • This is the pacific region. It includes Australia, Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaii, etc.), Micronesia, Melanesia(New Guinea) • + other smaller cultures • Peopled 50,000 yrs ago • Pigs, taro • Lapita in 1500 BCE • Chickens, Dogs, Yams • Spread in 1 BCE to rest of Pacific

3. Lapita Pottery • Used special red slip • Largely geometric designs • These are fragments of a Large Lapita Jar from 1100 BCE

4. Aborigines in Australia • Believe world shaped by spirit beings in Dreamtime • Originated in Arnhem Land • Rock Painting in West • X-ray depiction of animals

5. Aborigines in Australia • Bark Painting in East • Taught and recorded sig. Events • Religious too ex. Wititj the serpent Depicted frequently • On Eucalyptus bark • Characteristic Cross-hatching called rarrk

6. ~Kapa Bark Cloth ~Kapa Bark Cloth Melanesia • Agricultural and ritual based society • Women produced bark cloth • 700+ languages • Abelam society of New Guinea • Judge wealth on # of pigs or yams (which reach 12 ft long) • Tamberan House: ceremonial secret house • no women/children allowed

7. New Ireland • Society relies on rituals called malanggan for every significant event in life • Ex. weddings, funerals, etc. • Used to validate property+ relations

8. New Ireland • Tantua dances • Use masks to commemorate death • 1 of 3 souls of dead • Paint colors symbolic: White-magic, red-violent death, black- warfare, then blue and yellow

9. Micronesia • Many coral atolls but some volcanic basalt • Nan Madol- left over relics of a dynasty long dead • Up to 1000 people at a time • Enormous complex built with stones • Layered like lincoln logs to 25 ft

10. Polynesia • Different cultures with generally similar languages • Last area mapped by Europeans • Capt. James Cook • “Found” Hawaii • Traded for artwork but missed the sig. of items • Turned long time family heirlooms into souvenirs

11. Polynesia • Easter Island • Temples called Marae with platforms called ahu • Moai- easter island heads built on these structures • Most 36 ft tall but tallest unfinished 70 ft • Stopped erecting around 1500 • Collapse: warfare +overpopulation

12. Polynesia • Marquesa Island • Only six inhabited • Known for warfare and cannabalism • Greatest decline in pop from contact with Europeans • Down to <2000 by 1930 due to disease (smallpox) • War Club= most common weapon

13. Polynesia • New Zealand • Maori culture depicted with • Hei-tiki: carved pendant of human figure • Most precious possession • Moko: facial tattoos • Both genders • Personalized • Lintel Carving • Symbolized power and prestige • Meeting houses • Used bargeboards to connect gable

14. Polynesia • Hawaiian Islands • Several chiefdoms later united • Remained so until 1872 • Discovered by James Cook • Tapa/Kapa= bark cloth • Highly prized • Missionaries taught quilt making • Used kahili- feather standards And other décor to honor monarchy • Reintegration: using European methods with traditional themes

15. Bibliography • http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/1766/lapita-pottery • Art History Textbook • http://www.clarku.edu/~jborgatt/tamberan.htm