Art of Oceania

Art of Oceania

Theme: “Our Life and the Afterlife”

Much of Oceanic art addresses this world and the next world, and often the passage in between.  How will we prepare for the next life?  Who is celebrated from previous lives?  How will we honor our deceased family members?  These are questions that art from this culture asks.

Historical Context: Oceania

Oceania is filled with extremely rigid and hierarchical communities. Gender roles are very specific.

The lifestyle is based around navigation, the sea, and sailing

Aborigines arrived in Australia around 50,000 years ago.  They arrived in Hawaii in the last 1000 years.

Artistic Innovations: Oceania

The community is very spread out, so art varies from region to region.

Arts are performed with costumes, cosmetics, and constructions. This has become art.

Gender determined who could produce different genres

Men: woodcarvers (prominent art form)

Women: sewing and pottery

 

(9) 213. Nan Madol.

Oceanic (Saudeleur Dynasty). 700-1600 CE. Oceanic.

Learning Objective: Oceanic city

Themes:

Palace
Politics
Power
Architecture
Innovation
Status
Man v. nature

Nan Madol a city created in Pohnpei, Micronesia is constructed from basalt boulders and prismatic columns.  There are 92 islets or small islands that are man-made. It is constructed in a lagoon, where the sea floor is not very deep.

Nan Madol was created by placing large rocks atop submerged coral reefs to build up raised platforms. These could support large basalt prismatic columns or naturally rod-like and straight pieces of basalt.

No mortar was used. In ashlar masonry all the stones are cut to be the same shape, size, and surface texture.  Basalt was brought in from another area as it is not found here

Some of the structures are 60 feet tall. This raised the question of how they would have erected these structures as the people did not have knowledge of pulleys, levers, or metal.

Function

This was the political seat of the Saudeleur Dynasty. Chiefs required potential rivals and aristocrats to live in the city rather than in their home districts. Here their political activities would be easier to monitor. This is similar to Cusco and Versailles.

As for social status, the size of residences indicated the wealth of the elite. It was a display of power and piety.

Content

• 92 small artificial islands linked by canals that form the capital city of Nan Madol
• No carvings
• No art
• Half of the complex was buildings for priests and rulers
• The other half was vaults, meeting houses, baths, temples, aristocratic homes

Context

This was the first organized government in the region between 1100 – 1628.  It was a deeply religious community focused on worship of the sea. It was believed that sea dragons built Nan Madol.

The population on the island did not exceed 1,000 and often it was half of that.  The total kingdom population was 30,000. This means the building effort was greater for this community than building the pyramids was for the Egyptians.

The site was abandoned in the 19^th century.  Little is known about the group.

 

(9) 214. Moai on platform (ahu).

Oceanic. 1100-1600 CE. Oceanic.

Learning Objective: Oceanic monumental sculpture

Themes:

Ancestors
Power
Status
Commemoration
Man v. nature
Religion

Moai on platform (ahu) located on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) dates to between 1100-1600 CE. The word moai means statue.  On average the figures stand 13 feet tall and are made from tuff on a basalt base.  Tuff is rock made from volcanic ash. Basalt is a hard, dark volcanic stone quarried from the large hills on the island.

There are 887 statues in all, mostly male and each weighing 50 tons. These are erected on large platforms (ahu). The eye sockets were originally inlaid with red stone and coral. The works were once painted with red and white.  Each statue has a heavy eyebrow ridge, elongated ears, oval nostrils, emphasized clavicle, thin arms, no hands, large forehead, and a long nose.

The stones were quarried from mountains up above and then slid along the side of the mountain, until they landed upright in a hole. The trick was getting them to not tip forward once they were in the hole.

How were these Transported?

The first theory is they were moved horizontally on a sled.

The second theory is that they were rolled horizontally using logs.

If you ask islanders, they say the statues “walked”. This was largely disregarded by historians as being mystical or metaphorical.

A Czech historian even tried dragging the statue along in an upright position. This damaged the statue and in effect, it ground down the bottom, like rubbing it with sandpaper. Instead, they realized you need three ropes tied to each one.

Two ropes are needed on the sides and one behind. The two side ropes rock the statue from side to side, slightly pulling forward so it will see-saw along. The rope on the back helps to stabilize it, so it won’t collapse forward or back.

The ropes are tied where the eyes are through the deeply inset nose bridge and eye sockets. This way it can move 100 yards in 40 minutes this way and it is easier to go uphill.

Function

Moai were carved to commemorate important ancestors. This was a display of status for both the ancestor and the patron/relative who commissioned it. The statue embodies the spirit of the past. All moai face with their backs to the sea. In this way, they are guardians, that protect and focus on the island.

Almost all were toppled. This was done out of frustration by locals when the statues were viewed as not protecting the island. Most have been restored to their original spots.

Content

• Statues represent ancestors deified after death
• Topknots on some statues likely represent chieftains
• The larger the statue, the more powerful the individual was

Discovery

Easter Island (native name = Rapa Nui) is called that because it was discovered on Easter 1722 by the Dutch.  The island is just 10 miles long and 6 miles wide. It is one of the most isolated places on earth and extremely remote.

Art Comparisons

This monumental sculpture is unique in Pacific art and more like South America. Some theorized Rapa Nui wasn’t Oceanic at all, but rather Latin American. This has been disproved with genetic testing.

How did the Island Collapse?

The old theory is the island depleted its resources and completely deforested itself, causing a decline in birds and therefore a decline in food. The people toppled the moai, upset with the ancestors for not protecting the island (theory of Jared Diamond who wrote Guns, Germs, Steel).

But there is a new theory. On the first sighting in 1722, the Dutch described the island as bountiful and thriving. In 1774, Captain James Cook described the island as having human bones everywhere and being sparsely populated. The island was exposed to European diseases for which Easter Islanders had no natural immunities.

 

(9) 215. ‘Ahu ‘ula (feather cape).

Oceanic (Hawaiian). Late 18^th century.

‘Ahu ‘ula (feather cape) is constructed with feathers and fiber and measures 26 by 17 inches. The capes were made by men and was  considered a sacred activity.

It consisted of olona fiber netting made in straight rows, with pieces joined and cut to make the desired shape. Tiny bundles of feathers were attached to the netting in overlapping rows starting at the bottom edge. The fiber base to which the feathers are attached was considered sacred. The knotted cords were associated with the wearer’s lineage which could be traced back to the gods.

These capes often have 500,000 feathers. Some of the feathers used came from birds that only had seven usable feathers on their bodies.

Other groups in Oceania make feather capes but the Hawaiian ‘Ahu ‘ula is unique in its crescent shape and arced feather designs.

Function

The Hawaiian male nobility (ali’i) or Hawaii’s ruling elite, wore feather cloaks and capes for ceremonies and battles. This was a sign of status, gender, bravery, and honor. Cloaks were used for physical and spiritual protection (mana) in battles. Mana is a supernatural power associated with people of high rank. By appearing in the guise of gods, Hawaiian chiefs would have sought to intimidate their enemies.

As feathers needed to make the capes became scarce, and members of the ali’i began requiring feathers as tribute. The length and complexity of the capes conveyed not only the mana of the wearer, but also a sense of how many people and territories the wearer controlled.

These capes showed a clear visual relationship between themselves and the gods. Red was a divine color.  The bodies of Hawaiian gods were thought to be covered with bird feathers, so when an ali’i wore a feather cloak, his body was enveloped in feathers just like the body of a god.

This reflects the lineage of the wearer since they were made for individuals. Patterns includes symbols relating to a clan and have been described as heraldic. When capes were being produced, artists recited the  genealogy of the wearer during the construction of the cape. Weaving the story of the family and the individual into the garment increased the mana in the cape.

The Meaning

 ‘Ahu ‘ula  means red garment and is used to refer to feather capes. The length of the cape reflected the status of owner. A person of a lower status owned this one. This is a small cape and would wear more like jacket length.

Color

Red was associated with both gods and chiefs. It was the color of divinity and only worn by royalty. Yellow was the sign of wealth because yellow feathers were rare, due to their scarcity.

 About the Birds

The red feathers came from the ‘i’iwi bird and the apapane bird. The yellow feathers came from the ‘o’o bird.

‘I’iwi bird

Apapane bird

‘O’o bird (now extinct)

Most birds naturally lose and replace their feathers regularly throughout their lives. Since feathers are naturally recurring, like human hair, they usually grow back after being pulled out.

It was believed that when in flight, the proximity of birds to the sky meant they could fly between this world and the spirit world, where gods and ancestors reside.

More About the Capes

These capes were worn by men and made for specific individuals. They were not passed down through a line of succession. The wearer did not select or commission the pattern.

Chiefs would appear in feather capes and similarly feathered helmets at ceremonies and battle. Every time the feather cape was worn, it acquired more mana. If a chief conquered another chief, the victor could incorporate the design of the fallen chief’s feather cape into his own, thereby appropriating the fallen chief’s mana. Additionally, it was considered a commemoration to use previous ruler’s feathers.

Large numbers of feather cloaks and capes were given as gifts to European sea captains and their crews– who were the earliest visitors to Hawaii—but they were not created for the purpose of gift giving. Often, these were then regifted from sailors to the patrons, who financed their voyages.

It is unknown who brought this particular cape to England.

 

(9) 216. Staff god.

Oceanic (Rarotonga). Late 18^th-early 19^th. Oceanic.

Learning Objective: Oceanic male fertility sculpture

Themes:

Deities
Religion
Sexuality
Ceremony
Materials with significance
Stylized bodies
Male/female relationships

Museum: British Museum

The Staff god is a figure measuring 12 feet high and is made of wood, tapa, fiber, feathers. It was found on Rarotonga, Cook Islands, in central Polynesia. It is the only surviving wrapped staff god.

The Staff god is comprised of three parts. The stylized and carved wooden head has feathers attached to ears. The rod continues but is now wrapped in tapa cloth/barkcloth. Tapa cloth is made from bark, soaked, beaten, dried, decorated. The carved wooden phallus is now missing.

Little is known about the exact use or function of the Staff god. It was worshipped by Cook Islanders and probably one of their most sacred objects. It likely had to do with reproduction, fertility, abundance, and harvest.

The ceremonies likely had an explicit sexual component to them. It is thought that the phallus was involved in stabbing the ground to ensure a way of fertilizing the land and reaping the harvest.

Men carved the wooden object, while women made the cloth for it.

Content

The Staff god might represent Tangaroa, the creator god. The work Illustrates the stylized head of a god and then small spirits lining his stylized body.

About the South Pacific Islands

Cook Islands are in the middle of the South Pacific and were settled around 800-1000 CE. In 1773 English Captain Cook made the first sighting but spent little time here. In the 1800s the English set up missions on the islands. The islands were Christianized. The arrival of Europeans meant destruction of native practices.

SUB-IMAGE 1 (Drawing)

Image caption says “And the idols he shall utterly abolish” – Isaiah 2:18

We can see the staff gods were thrown on the ground. Natives are bowing to Europeans. Revered John Williams and his wife sit in an image in front of European-style homes.

The missionaries removed and destroyed phalluses. They considered them obscene. Natives were now Christians.

 

(9) 217. Female deity.

Oceanic (Nukuoro). 18^th-19^th Century. Oceanic.

Learning Objective: Oceanic female fertility sculpture

Themes:

Deity
Religion
Ceremony
Sexuality

Museum: Barbier-Muller Museum, Geneva, Switzerland

Female deity is a 16-inch wood object found in Nukuoro, Micronesia. The surfaces were smoothed with pumice, a light and porous volcanic rock, which was readily available on the beach.

All figurines have similar proportions/characteristics:

• Ovoid head tapering at the chin
• Columnar neck
• Eyes/nose discreet or not shown at all
• Shoulders slope downward
• Breasts indicated by simple line
• Buttocks are always flattened and set on legs
• Emphasis on pelvic area

Function

This was a fertility figurine placed in temples. These figures were often highly decorated with feathers, paint, and headdress.

Fertility figures occupied an important place in fertility ceremonies.

• Marked beginning of the harvest (banana, sugar cane, coconut)
• During the festival, harvested foods were brought to the wooden figurines as offerings
• Dances were performed
• Women were tattooed

During these rituals, the figurines were considered to house the gods or ancestral spirits.

 Content

• Fertility figurine à explains the emphasis on the body parts
• Each figurine would have represented a specific deity which was then associated with a particular temple, priest, or family group.

Context

• Nukuoro is a small, isolated atoll in the archipelago of the Caroline Islands inhabited since the  8^th century
• 1806: Spanish navigator Monteverde was first European to site the island
• 1830s: 400 inhabitants traded with Europeans (we know this from presence of metal tools)
• 1850s: American missionaries arrived

By 1913, many pre-Christian traditions (dance, songs, artwork, stories) were lost not even 100 years since missionaries arrived

 

(9) 218. Buk (mask). 

Oceanic (Torres Strait Islander). Mid to late 19^th century. Oceanic.

Learning Objective: Oceanic mask

Themes:

Mask
Animals in art
Ceremony
Ancestors
Materials with significance
Commemoration

Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Buk (mask), from the Torres Strait is made from turtle shell, wood, fibers, feathers, and shell. It stands 21 inches tall. The features are from a frigate bird and raffia is used. The pieces were stitched together.

Why was Buk (mask) made?

This was part of a costume for a masquerade ceremony, which included grass skirts and tops. The ceremony involved fire, drumbeats, and chanting. Only senior men could wear these masks and they were worn like a helmet

The ceremonies were used to invoke heroic ancestors and to contact them. The Buk (mask) is a Totem, an object that connects to spirits or ancestors. The dances were re-enactments of the events of the lives of ancestral heroes.

Ancestors were contacted to ask for their support with:

• Fertility
• Male initiations
• Funerary rituals
• A good harvest

A Closer Look

The mask is divided into two registers. There is a human face and above it the face and body of a bird.

Who is represented?

Is this the face of a hero? Could it be an ancestor ? A heroic ancestor? The frigate bird was probably this ancestor’s spirit animal.

 Geography and History

Torres Strait is a body of water between New Guinea and Australia. Most of the islands in this region are uninhabited.

In 1606, Spanish explorer Tovar records the use of turtle-shells in artwork on Torres Strait.

In the 1800s, turtle shells were actively traded by Europeans. Therefore, there was a decline in availability of turtles for native artwork.

In the early 19^th century Europeans colonized and Christianized, leading Torres Strait Islanders to burn and destroy masks.

(9) 219. Hiapo (tapa cloth).

Oceanic (Niue). 1850-1900 CE. Niue. Oceanic.

Learning Objective: Oceanic tapa cloth

Themes:

Offering
Utilitarian
Status
Textile
Decorative arts

Museum: Auckland War Memorial Museum

Hiapo (tapa cloth) is a tapa/bark cloth decorated with freehand painting.  

How bark cloth was made:

• 1. Women would harvest the inner bark of a paper mulberry tree.
  2. The inner bark was pounded flat with a wooden beater, until damp and pulpy.
  3. After hammering it into a thin layer, it was set out flat.
  4. Then it was coated with the paste of the arrowroot and let it dry.

Art and Gender Roles in Traditional Polynesian Societies

Gender roles were clearly defined in traditional Polynesian societies. The art men made had a masculine quality. It was made with hard material such as wood, stone, and bone. The art produced by women were often made of soft materials especially fibers.

Tapa cloth is often geometric. It has some components that are abstract and some that are representational.

Function

• Utilitarian: Used for clothing, bedding and wall hangings
• Sign of status: often specially prepared for people of rank
• Ceremonially displayed on special occasions
• Used to wrap images of deities

Content

• Hiapo (native name in Niue for tapa cloth)
• Design illustrations include geometric motifs in an overall pattern: spirals, circles, squares, triangles as well as plants and leaves

Context

• 1774: Captain James Cook reached the island
• 1830: London Missionary Society arrived to convert natives
• Late 1800s: Niuan hiapo stopped being produced as Christianization caused the abandonment of traditional practices.

(9) 220. Tamati Waka Nene.

Gottfried Lindauer. Oceanic (Czech/New Zealand).  1890 CE.  19^th century. Portraiture.

Learning Objective: European portrait of Oceanic man

Themes:

Portrait
Ideal man
Cross-cultural
Commemoration
Ancestors
West vs Nonwest
Status

Museum: Auckland Art Gallery

Tamati Waka Nene was dead for two years before Gottfried Lindauer was commissioned to paint this oil on canvas portrait measuring 40 by 32 inches. The artist worked from black and white photographs, taken by John Crombie, who had been commissioned to produce 12 photo portraits of Māori chiefs for the London Illustrated News.

Lindauer worked straight onto stretched canvas. Typically, artists will make sketches first. He outlined subjects in pencil, then applied translucent paints, and glazes

Lindauer had to use color theory to help create the right tones and shades. The painting is realistic, illusionistically 3-D, and utilizes light and shadow to cause the figure to glow against the dark background.

Function

This work records the likeness of Nene for Henry Partridge. He asked Lindauer to paint a set of portraits of well-known Māori chiefs to help preserve Māori traditions and to bring ancestral presence into the world of the living. These works were passed down in families and treated with great care and reverence.

About Tamati Waka Nene

Tamati Waka Nene (1780-1871) was Chief of the Ngati Hao people, a tribe of the Māori or native peoples of New Zealand. Baptized in 1839, he picked the name Tamati Waka after the English patron of the Church Missionary Society, Thomas Walker.  The chief was regarded as a man of great mana by his people.

Here he wears a fine cloak of kiwi feathers and earring of greenstone. He holds a hand weapon with feathers and a hand grip with an eye. Notice his Moko (facial tattoos) made using scarification.

A kiwi bird.

About the Māori

Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand.

About the Artist

Lindauer was a Czech artist who arrived in New Zealand in 1873. He studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna. He worked as a portrait painter and traveled to New Zealand. There he met a businessman and entrepreneur named Henry Partridge. Partridge wanted Lindauer to paint portraits of well-known Maori.

 

(9) 221. Navigation chart.

Oceanic (Marshall Islands) 19^th – early 20^th. Oceanic.

Learning Objective: Oceanic map

Themes:

Man v. nature
Utilitarian
Status
Landscape

Museum: British Museum

Navigation chart a wood and fiber work from Marshall Islands, Micronesia measures 26 by 38 inches. It is made from sticklike midribs of coconut palm fronds. Horizontal and vertical sticks act as framework.

Function

This work organized information about piloting and navigating islands, currents, and swells. The charts were used as memory aides for experienced navigators. The significance of each was known only to its maker. It was made for trainings before voyages. The information was memorized. To carry one at sea would put a navigator’s skill in question.

Content

This chart is a rebbelib (stick chart with shells denoting islands in large sections of water), which covers a large section of the Marshall Islands. Most charts cover smaller areas.

This example represents the two chains of islands which form the Marshall Islands.

• Diagonal and curved sticks represent wave swells
• Shells represent position of islands
• Not constructed to scale

The charts indicate the positions of islands, but they primarily record features of the sea

• Marshallese navigation was based largely on the detection and interpretation of the patterns of ocean swells.
• Much as a stone thrown into a pond produces ripples, islands alter the orientation of the waves that strike them, creating characteristic swell patterns that can be detected and used to guide a vessel to land.

 Context

Navigation was an essential skill or sailors would be lost. In the past, knowledge of the art of navigation was a closely guarded secret handed down within certain chiefly families. Ultimately, more and more charts were made to help increase knowledge.

This chart consists of 34 coral atolls spread out across several hundred miles. They are low-lying and hard to see from a distance, as are many of the islands in this region

To maintain connection between the islands, Marshall Islanders built seafaring canoes. This was necessary for trade and community building.

(9) 222. Malagan mask.

Oceanic (Papuan). 20^th century. Oceanic.

Learning Objective: Oceanic funerary mask

Themes:

Mask
Status
Funerary
Ceremony
Ancestors

Malagan mask from New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea is a creation made from wood, pigment, fiber, and shell.

The face is highly stylized. These funerary masks often have pierced ear lobes and a prominent mouth, commonly opened. Masks also have an asymmetrical hair design. The left side is bare to show how a New Ireland man would shave his head in mourning.

Ownership

Ownership of a Malagan object is like the modern notion of copyright. When a piece is bought, the seller surrenders the right to use that style, form and even the rights.

The Creators

Mask making does not involve women. Only male artists are hired for their carving skills.

Function

Malagan ceremonies and feasts are primarily concerned with honoring and releasing the dead. It also acts as an affirmation of identity of clan groups.

Malagan masks were worn by men during a performance to help release the dead and assist their souls to reach the spirit world. Each mask honors a specific individual and illustrates their relationship with ancestors, clans, or living family members.

These are not a direct portrait but a representation of the life force.   The mask draws the soul of the dead towards the ceremony.

Masks could be reused by families because they were so expensive.

Malagan sculptures were made for the single occasion of Malagan ceremonies and then destroyed. At the height of the ceremony, the Malagan sculptures were exhibited in temporary display houses. This was said to help the souls of the dead find their spiritual likeness and embed themselves in the sculptures.

The sculptures were treated with the utmost care, since it was believed that the souls of the deceased entered the sculptures. To forcefully dismiss the dead, the sculptures were burned.

Content 

• Masks can represent ancestors, ges (spirit double of an individual), or various spirits associated with the area, and often include clan symbols.
• Include representations of fish and birds of identifiable species, alluding both to specific myths and the animal’s natural characteristics.
• Sculptures represent the ges – specific to the individual.

 Context

Malagan ceremonies became extremely expensive affairs, considering the costs of the accompanying feasting. Funeral rites could take place months after a person had died. They might even be held for several people simultaneously. The families paid in pigs and shell money.

 

(9) 223. Presentation of Fijian mats and tapa cloths to Queen Elizabeth II.

Multimedia performance. Photographic documentation.

Learning Objective: Oceanic ceremony

Themes:

Commemoration
Utilitarian
Status
Power
Rulers
Appropriation
Politics
Propaganda
Ceremony

Presentation of Fijian mats and tapa cloths to Queen Elizabeth II is a photographic documentation of the Queen’s visit to Fiji in 1953. The presentation to her Royal Highness involved a multimedia performance (costume; cosmetics, including scent; chant; movement; and pandanus fiber/hibiscus fiber mats).

Barkcloth, or masi, is made by stripping the inner bark of mulberry trees. The bark is then soaked. Then it is beat it into strips of cloth. These are glued together, often by a paste made of arrowroot. Bold and intricate geometric patterns in red, white, and black are often painted.

Fijian mats were made by women. This involved stripping, boiling, drying, blackening, and then softening leaves from the Pandanus plant. Dried leaves were then woven into tight, diagonal patterns that have frayed or fringed edges.

Function

Traditionally, cloth and mats are presented as gifts, in important ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. In this case, it was to commemorate a visit by the Queen of England.

This is a display of the power the British have over their colonies/ex-colonies/and parts of the commonwealth. It encourages subjects to still be culturally, ideologically, and politically connected to the British Empire

In the Photograph

The photo shows a procession of Fijian women making their way through a group of seated Fijian men and women. The women in the performance are wearing skirts made from barkcloth that are painted with geometric patterns. They are carrying rolls of woven mats.

This displays the power of the community and the respect towards traditional ceremonies.  The mats/tapas are simple. Simplicity is an indication of their importance. The simpler the design, the more meaningful its function.

More About Fiji

Fiji is a group of islands located in the South Pacific Ocean. Fiji is north of New Zealand’s North Island and east of Australia.

Fiji was part of the British Commonwealth (collection of states that used to be part of the British Empire today referred to as the Commonwealth).  Post WWII, many colonies were actively looking for independence, some more violently than others.

The Commonwealth Tour

The Commonwealth tour by Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh was to encourage states to stay a part of the Commonwealth.  On December 17, 1953, they arrived on the island of Fiji, then an English colony, and stayed for three days before continuing their first tour of the commonwealth nations of England in the Pacific Islands.

They visited hospitals and schools and held meetings with various Fijian politicians.

They witnessed elaborate performances of traditional Fijian dances and songs and even participated in a kava ceremony. Kava is a drink made from the ground roots of kava plant and is sipped by members of the community, in order of importance.