Arts of Australia and the Pacific Islands Jean M. Borgatti Pacific Arts include carving, weaving, painting Polynesia. Maori. NZ. Detail Australia. Arnhemland. Melanesia. Lake Sentani. Papua of an interior support figure. Basket. H. 10.5 in. Fibre, Prov. PNG Wood. Carver: Raharuhi pigment. c.1900 Roof Panel (detail). Wood, Rukupo. C.1842 pigment. H.41 in. Pre-1924. Dance and music Australia. Aboriginal dancers and musician. And such ephemera as body decoration, sand sculpture, the cultivation of yams and the giving of a gift Art=culturally significant ideas skillfully encoded in a sensuous medium Australia. Aboriginal Ground Painting. Ipolera Community. Northern Territory. Melanesia. Highland New Guinea . Body Decoration. There is a range of environments Australian Desert Marquesas Islands (Polynesia) And a range of physical types Melanesians (New Guinea) Polynesian Man (Fiji) Rock markings, Koonalda Cave Nullabor Plain, 25,000-20,000 BP Hand Stencil, Kakadu, 20-9,000 BP Dynamic figures characterize the rock art from about 10,000 BP. Fighting Scene, Rock Painting Kakadu National Park, Arnhem Land 3000-1000 Art has a deep history in this area Melanesia and Polynesia. Lapita Complex Face Design (c. 4000 BP) Melanesia. New Guinea: Ambum Stone Prehistoric period (c.8000 BP). Western Highlands Province, PNG Cultural Zone: Melanesia (The Black Islands) Cultural Zone: Micronesia (The Small Islands) Cultural Zone: Polynesia (The Many Islands) Cultural Zone: Australia (The Southern Island) Map from D’Alleva Melanesia: Ephemeral Arts Melanesia. PNG: Highlands, Mt. Hagen area. Sing-Sing. 1998 Photograph: Jean M. Borgatti Polynesia: Things that last & fine work, finish & polish Marquesas Islands. Club. Wood. 18th-19th c. Polynesia. Easter Island (Rapanui) Basalt Statues – 1000-1500 AD Micronesia: Elegant simplicity Micronesia. Nukuoro, Caroline Islands Female Figures Goddess Ko Kawe Wood H. 7’ H. 40.2cm H. 35 cm. Textiles: A valued art and a valued commodity Polynesia. Fiji. Tui Nadrau (chief) dressed in Melanesia. Oro Province (NE coast 180 meters of barkcloth for ceremonial New Guinea). Tapa made for sale presentation 1980. Gender Roles Melanesia. PNG:Highlands (Wahgi Valley) Women with netbags, their Primary artistic endeavor Melanesia. PNG:Abelam Long Yams cultivated by men in Special gardens and decorated For display prior to exchange ceremony Pacific Arts and the West: The Collections of Captain Cook Pacific Voyages: 1768-1771, 1772-75, 1776-80 Pacific Arts and the West: Artists’ travels Gauguin: There is the Marae (Tiki) 1892 Polynesia. Marquesas Islands: Stone Tiki Pacific Arts and the West >Trade expositions and newly formed Ethnographic collections brought works to European and American urban centers. Paris 1889 World’s Fair. Oceanic Display (detail), Trocadero Melanesia. New Caldedonian exhibition. Museum, Paris, 1895 Pacific Arts and the West:Artists collected these works and took inspiration from them, both directly as in this and the next example L. Picasso in his studio. 1908. Note New Caledonian (Melanesia) figures behind him. M. Detail: New Caldedonian roof finial figure from Picasso’s collection R. Picasso. Portrait of Henry Kahnweiler (detail) 1910. Melanesia. PNG. East Sepik: Alamblak. Karawari River. Yipwon Figure Wood. H. 7 ft. (formerly Collection Matta) Henry Moore Three Points 1939-40 Bronze L. 7.5 in. And indirectly, exploiting a comparable simplification of form And ‘sign’ quality found in many non-Western works Paul Klee. Intentions. 1938. Colored paste and Newsprint on canvasl L.44 in. Melanesia. Asmat (IrianJaya) Shield. Wood. Paint. H. 55 in. Or by ‘misinterpretation’ – reading into the forms a Western meaning Melanesia. Papuan Gulf (Wapo Creek) PNG. Jean Dubuffet. The Reveler. 1964. Oil on Black Painted wood and shell. H. 63.5 in. Acrylic base. H. 76 in. One fundamental misinterpretation was the denial of cultural exchange and the ability of the cultures (or their artists) to accommodate change… COMPARE… Belau (Micronesia). Dilukai, represented on a men’s house (bai). Wood. Pigment. H.24 in. Melanesia. PNG. Oscar Towa. A Girl Rings her Boyfriend. 1995. Gouache on paper. 25x20 in. Cannibal Tours – a film by Dennis O’Rourke A film that raises issues of racism, cultural exchange, interpretation/misinterpretation, Colonial and post-colonial discourse(s), and globalism Charlie Numbulmoore. (Australia. Kimberly Region). Wandjina Painting. 1970. Polynesia. Hawaii. Feather Cloaks and Mask. Pre 1778. Micronesia. Marshall Islands. Navigation Chart. Palm leaf midrib and cowrie shells. Early 20th C. Island Melanesia. New Britain (PNG): Baining. Night Mask. Bark cloth, cane, pigments. H. 28 in. L.19th or early 20th c. Melanesia. Lake Sentani. IrianJaya. Loin Cloth. Tapa. Pigment. Early 20th c. Polynesia. Cook Islands. Grace Ngaputa. Quilt with Christmas Liliy Pattern. 20th c. Polynesia: Maori – carving and tatoo. Australia – Western Desert Region. Ronnie Tjampitjinpa. Untitled. Polymer paint on canvas. 183x244cm. 2001. Australia. Western Desert. Darby Jampijinpa Ross. Emu Dreaming. 1987. Island Melanesia. New Ireland. Mask. Wood. Paint. Fiber. H. 24 cm. Pre 1875. Marquesan dancers filmed at the Polynesia. Marquesas Island dancers. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, 2005. Research Paper/Project. Research paper will be on a traditional object – see Guidelines linked to syllabus 3 possible objects from MFA, Peabody-Harvard or other museum – by Jan.21 Final object choice with preliminary biblio – 3-5 sources – by Jan.27 Annotated Bibliography – by Feb.21 Minimum 10 sources, no more than half from the Web First Draft – by March 27 Powerpoint illustrations – by March 27 Revised Draft – by April 30 Comparison – selection by Feb. 21/ Slide on or before April 17 Using your object and the understanding you have gained from researching it, and taking advantage of the many books in our libraries and the world wide web – you will find a contemporary work, possibly from the same culture but not necessarily, that you would like to ‘hang’ in association with your object to provoke thought. You will hang the two together in a powerpoint slide. (You will have to justify your choice). Museum Intervention – Powerpoint slide due by April 17 Using that same object, you will create a virtual museum intervention, again to provoke thought about your object but also the objects around it. Melanesia. Abelam people. Papua New Guinea . Yam mask with a bird-like face. Wicker and paint. H. 48 cm. Yam display with mask. Long yams displayed prior to being given to mens’ exchange partners. Topics: Gender roles, ‘Big Men’ or leaders, Systems of Exchange, Ceremonial cycles of the Abelam—long yam cult vs. spirit cult Long yam growing in ‘magic’ gardens. Topics: masking, bird symbolism, carving, body decoration The main axis of Abelam culture is along a line that equates man-long yams-spiritual force and that this equation occurs only through art. Visual transformations communicate these ideas. Yams are anthropomorphized -- made human -- by being decorated with masks and paint. Spirits are given human form through carving. Men themselves become spirits through wearing masks or evocative paint. 44 Map and Environment: Abelam village showing men’s House – where ceremonial takes place including the display of yams in the courtyard. Topics: Economic & Social Life. 45 Comparison celebrates earth tones, concentricity and movement Australia. Western Desert. Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri. Bandicoot Dreaming. Acrylic on canvas. 1991. An Abelam Yam mask has been added to a Greek vase, as it is added to a long yam – to celebrate the value of the vase and to suggest its transformation into ‘divine’ object at least from the museum perspective… In a somewhat more ironic vein, I am also juxtaposing classical and modern – western and primitive to make my audience think about the presence of art in all cultures and the rather stormy history of the relationship between Western and non- Western art, between Western and non- Western cultures. Cannibal Tours – a film by Dennis O’Rourke.