Oceania

Untitled Kngwarreye

This Aboriginal painter's canvases reveal her background as a batik artist. Her abstract paintings draw their inspiration form the seeds and pants of the arid Australian landscape. 1992.

Kuka'ilimoku from Hawaii

This wooden statue of the Hawaiian war god comes from a temple. His muscular body is flexed to attack, and his wide mouth and bared teeth set in a large head convey aggression and defiance. This figure was erected by King Kamehameha, in an effort for the war god to support the King in his future military ambitions. The existence of this God is revealing of Hawaiian culture and religion.

Auuenau Western Arham Land, Australia

Aboriginal painters frequently depicted Dreamings, ancestral beings whose spirits pervade the present, using the "X-Ray style" that shows both the figure's internal organs and external appearance.

Feather Cloak from Hawaii

Costly Hawaiian feather cloaks like this one, which belonged to King Kamehameha III, provided the protection of the gods. Each cloak required the feathers of thousands of birds.

Tatanua Mask

In New Ireland, malanggan rites facilitate the transition of the soul from this world to that of the dead. Dancers wearing tatanua masks representing the deceased play a key role in these ceremonies. 19th to 20th century.

Tattooed warrior with war club

In Polynesia, with its hierarchical social structure, nobles and warriors accumulated tattoo patterns to enhance their status and beauty. Tattoos wrapped a warrior's body in spiritual armour.

Ngatu with Manulua Designs Mele Sitani

In Tonga, the production of decorated barkcloth, or ngatu, involves dyeing, painting, stencilling , and perfuming. This artist made this one with a two-bird design for the coronation of Tupou IV.

Tawhiri-Matea Cliff Whiting

In this carved wooden mural depicting the Maori creation myth, Cliff Whiting revived native formal and iconographic traditions and techniques. The abstract curvilinear design suggests wind turbulence.

Mataatua Meetinghouse Wepiha Apanui

Maori meetinghouses feature elaborate decoration. In this late 19th-century example, this artist carved figures of ancestors along the interior walls. The patterns on their bodies may be tattoos.

Canoe Prow Ornament

Prow ornaments protected canoe paddlers and could be lowered to signal a peaceful voyage. This Micronesian example may represent facing sandpipers or perhaps a stylised human figure.

Dilukai from Belau

Sculpted wooden figures of a splayed female commonly appear over the entrance to a Belau bai. The figures served as symbols of fertility and protected the men's house. They are typically displayed with legs splayed, a large triangular pubic area with the hands resting on thighs. They protect villagers' crops and ward off evil spirits, the Belau's thought.

Staff God

The "body" of the Polynesian god Tangaroa consists of seven figures that probably represent generations of his human off-spring. Several of the figures have erect penises, a reference to procreation.

Abelam Yam Mask

The Abelam believe their ancestors aid in the growth of their principal crop, the yam. Painted cane yam masks are an important part of the elaborate ceremonies honouring these ancestors.

Asmat Bisj Poles

The Asmat carved these poles from mangrove tree trunks and erected them before undertaking a headhunting raid. The carved figures represent the relatives whose deaths the hunters must avenge. Early to mid-20th century.

Men's Ceremonial House from Belau

The Belau men's clubhouses have extensive carved and painted decorations illustrating important events and myths related to the clan who built the bai. The central motif is a Dilukai.

Elema Hevehe Masks Retreating into the Mens House

The Hevehe was a cycle of ceremonial activities spanning 10 to 20 years, culminating the dramatic appearance of hevehe masks from the Elema men's house. The masks represent female sea spirits. Early to mid 20th century.

Iatmul Ceremonial Men's House

The men's house is the centre of latmul life. Its distinctive saddle-shaped roof symbolises the protective mantle of ancestors. The carved ornament includes female ancestors in the birthing position. Mid to late 20th century.

Row of Moai on a Stone Platform

The moai of Easter Island are monoliths as much as 40 feet tall. Most scholars believe they portrait ancestral chiefs. They stand on platforms marking burials or sites for religious ceremonies.

Hair Ornaments from the Marquesas Islands

These hollow cylindrical bone ornaments representing deified ancestors adorned the hair of Marquesan warriors during the 19th century. The warriors wore them until they avenged the death of a kinsman.

Canoe Prow and Splashboard

To participate in kula exchanges, the Trobriand Islanders had to undertake dangerous sea voyages. They decorates their canoes with abstract human, bird, and serpent motifs referring to sea spirits. 19th to 20th centuries.