Art of Oceania- Pacific Islands: April 2014

Facts:

The most useful and widely known of the tree species in Oceania, the Pacific Islands is the coconut which is famous for drinking and food staple with which the leaves are very functional for woven baskets and thatch.
The Pacific Island land tenure systems are closely tied to traditional systems of governance and social structures which in return are reflected in the ways in which people organize and interact within themselves in the region, for example their trade systems or their social class pyramid.
The Pacific Ocean extends over 1/3 of the earth’s surface laying on top of an area larger than all the land on Earth combined!
Rainfall in oceanic islands differ across the Pacific which give greater increase or decrease to different vegetation and food systems, which highlt affect the ability of survival for people on small and isolated regions of land. There is very few seasonality in rainfall and temperature near the Equator, but as one moves North or South, climate becomes quite distinguished with distinctive wet and dry seasons, again depending on which direction one encompasses
Oceania, is also known as the “marine continent”, which was the last great region of the world to be claimed by humans, only found and made possible by extraordinary, advanced, seafaring, and navigational techniques of the ancestors of the Oceania/Pacific Island inhabitants.
Approximately about 500 years ago, almost every island in the Pacific Ocean had been visited by people ever since the settlement of the first colonists about 30,000 years ago.
More than 1,800 of the common people of Oceania Art create musical instruments- these instruments which control the entertainment that is practiced in sacred, religious rituals, dances, feasts, courtships, celebrations, or just casual entertainment events- although just a musical instrument, it marked functional roles in Oceanian society, for example, the voice for war, announcements, voices of supernatural forces, natural forces, or other lofty enticing lover voices; artworks which also tell a narrative.

More Important Facts:

Many of the Oceania regions were reduced into even more hundreds of little cultures
One of the cultures known as the Asmat perceived that there was a really intimate relationship between humans and trees
Shields were created as representational items for warfare, and were designed to protect one from the spears and arrows of his opponent. The imagery that was carved and painted on the surface of the shield empowers the piece with the endowmment of their ancestors, which is also meant to protect the user. The designs on the shield, at the same time, can be either figural or abstract, depending on the area from which the shield came from
In a culture known as the Batak, the most powerful member of their community were the ritual specialists which were known as Datu, who were experts in religion, usually male who had powers like curing the sick, contact deceased spirits, or predict the future
In New Guinea, are located the first examples of Cave paintings which where created roughly about 200-400 years ago
Although there are numerous depictions of carvings, reflecting the individual perspectives of the sculptors who created them, the carvings consisted of three different models. The first were made of thin, silhouette-like, one-legged male representations that were purposely created to be viewed in profile. The second are planklike female figurines shown in frontal view, and the third, small wooden heads mounted on spikes.
Many cultures practices agriculture; depending on the areas they lived in, the common people had to fight for survival
Easter Island is known to contain the most religious representations our of all the Oceanic regions- their most recognizable works are those of colossal stone figures also known as moai, and images of "Chiefs" that would provide protection for their community

Formed	Ancient
Adherents	Unknown
Deity	Various deities, usually associated wiht elements of nature
Sacred Text	Oral
Origin	Oceanic cultures, Ancestors
Headquarters	None

Important Artworks

T: Male Figure

D: 18th-Early 19th century

L: Mangareva, Gambier Island, French Polynesia

M: Wood

Important Fact: The context is Unknown at the time, but this figure is similar to representations in other pacific islands of an agricultural deity who brought the rains that sustained the growth of crops

Rel: Polytheistic

-Mangareva is one of the largest Gambier Islands in Tahiti. It is perceived that this is the island with the most supernatural activity. The people believe that there are many signs of spirits of descendants or ancestors, known as etua, and spirits of children of chiefs who possibly died before birth.

-These type of figures were kept in shrines or other sacred locations as devotions to deities or other individuals.

T: Drum

D:mid-20th century
A:Carved by Omas
L: New Guinea, Papua Province

Pa: Asmat people
M:Wood, lizard skin, paint, fiber

Imp. Fact:The hourglass drum was the principal musical instrument of the Asmat people of southwest New Guinea . At virtually every significant celebrations or feasts, one or more men gather to play the drums and sing music.

Rel: Polytheistic

-Performances or celebrations could go on for days, even weeks

-The drum was perceived to be associated with human beginings. In some cultures, like the Asmat, the people believed there was a god named Fumeripits who created wood figures and created then unto real life. He lived a lonely life in a house that he built himself and decded he need company so he carved these figures and made them come to life. In order to get them to be lively, he added a drum. These drums were commissioned from master carvers.

T: Giant Moai Satues

L: Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

Imp Fact: The moai represent ancestral chiefs who were believed to be descended directly from the gods and whose supernatural powers could be used for the benefit of humanity.

M: Limestone

-the average height of these heads are minimally about 13 feet and can way up to 10-12 tons

-each head was commisioned by an individual

-these heads were meant to represent protectio for the common people and are the most known art form of the Easter Islands

T: Body Mask (Det)
A: Asmat People
L: Ambisu Village, New Guinea (Irian Jayan)
M: Wood, fiber, leaves, paint
- Most of the arts in these region referenced back to the spirits of the dead
-There are 2 types of masks made for these purposes :
1) Masks depicting orphans
2) Masks (like the one shown above) portraying the dead
-These masks were specifiacally named for someone who had recently passed away
-In the high point of the ceremony, this masked performaer arrives to tour the village in whic he will be hospitalicized with food or other necessities, then go to the ceremonial house "where the dead and life join" in a dance
-The next morning, after the great celebration, the dead depart for the realm of ancestors (aka the Safan)

T: Kaitaia Lintel
A: The Maori People
M: Wood
D: Te Tipunga period (ca. 1200-1500)
-Different from previous ornamental ancestors, the Maori's classic wood carving is stylized through boldly three dimensional forms with very intricately designed surfaces.
-wood carving art was brought upon a God called Ruatepupuke who introduced wood carving to human kind
-wood carving was a way in which silence spoke to the viewer
-the survival of many of these carving is beacause the Maori hid these ornament well
-the waterlogged surfaces also kept them preserved

References

Location:

The Pacific Island area is designated as the Island nations and territories/ colonies of the Southwest and Eastern Pacific, bounded from Papua New Guinea in the West to Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island) in the East, from Hawaii and many tiny, far distanced islands of Micronesia in the North to the sub-Antarctic islands of New Zealand in the south, which are the most southerly distanced of the Polynesian/ Pacific colonisation.

Cultural Practices/ Religious Beliefs:

The art in Oceania of Pacific Islands consisted of many cultural and religious practices. The people and their art were shaped by the Pacific Ocean. Many artworks were created from wood and plant fibers like reeds, and decorated with paint, feathers, and shells; valuable objects were also carved from stone. These people's beliefs were based upon the idea that the universe was controlled by invisible natural forces diminished by rituals and art- their ancestors were highly honored. Despite the fact that they were in seperate time periods in history and in reference to certain social and cultural characteristics, the region of the Pacific Island Nations are as equally located politically and geographically organized as they are culturally. The whole region was historically divided into three different regions known as Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia. The region of the Pacific Island Nations is knowingly divided into these three sub-regions due to early European explorers who created these different boundaries. They were not lead to make distinctions based off of geographical reasons, but because of the differences in cultures, anatomical studies, and linguistic interpretations.
One of the reasons for sub-dividing the regions of the Pacific Ocean into three is because of the different language practices. The principal linguistic practice was that of the Polynesian language verses the other immense diversities of other spoken languages in the other regions. In Melanesia, there are over 1,000 distinct spoken languages- more than half known to originate from Papuan ( Non-Austronesian) languages, although about 400 Austronesian languages were practiced. The similarities in Polynesian, Papuan, Austronesian, or other languages identify some of the chose distinctions.The diversity in these regions are also due to the difference in geologies. It is widely known that the more eastward one travels from Southeast Asia, the islands get smaller and more distant and the plant and animal species begin to diminish. Oceania is covered with vegetation everywhere, becoming home to many Eco systems. The differences in cultural landscapes is extremely diverse from ruggedness, spines of mountains running the lengths of the islands which form very fertile valleys and really high mountain peaks. The quarters of water cover lots of lowland which contribute to the dense Rain forests . One of the greatest known geological diversions is the paralleling subduction zone and deep trenches which separate the volcanic rocks from the submerged continental areas.
There is indication of presence of large or monumental structure in the landscapes of a numerous Pacific Islands. These features bring out appearances of social change over the past 1,000 years. Despite the monumental structures of coral limestone, basalt or other stone and earthworks is unclear but they are argued to have a specific defensive function or a ceremonial or religious representation and in some cases seems burial-type. Sometimes, these monuments represent none of the above, but refer to the drastic changes in landscape.
Despite the diversities in the cultural aspect, these Islands had similarities. Many of these cultures were Polytheistic- belief in many gods. There was little or no distinction between the supernatural and natural. These people discovered a dimension between the spiritual and natural worlds. Ritual ceremonies were not to be seen as just "religious", but were meant to realistically partake events in the natural world. War, agriculture, and pregnancy, for example, were perceived to be influenced and caused by supernatural beings. Most of these traditions also believed that spirits were capable of inhabitting objects like rocks, sticks, tools, or buildings. Many also believed that one could control supernatural forces as a gift that could be given or taken away which explains their involvement in rituals with social interaction. Many Pacific Islanders input great honor and pride into their ancestors, which they believed could positively or negatively influence their life. Numerous Oceanic religious Islanders held functional buildings and spaces as sacred, which included burial grounds and battlefields, they were meant to be sacred spaces that could connect to many objects, relics, or symbols.