The
dazzling colors and patterns of the art of the Pacific Islands have
longed entranced Western audiences, including artists such as Gauguin
and Picasso. The tendency has been to regard Oceanic art as "primitive,"
mysterious, shrouded in taboo, but Nicholas Thomas looks beyond the
familiar, stunning surfaces of spears and shields, carved canoe prows
and feather capes to discover the significance of art, past and present,
for the people of the Pacific. He shows how each region is characterized
by certain art forms and practices—among them Maori ancestral
carvings, rituals of exchanges and warfare in the Solomon Islands,
the production of barkcloth by women in Polynesia—even as it
is shaped by influences from within the Pacific and beyond.
"Nicholas Thomas has given us a very thoughtful and fresh treatment of a wide range of topics in Oceanic art. One only wishes the book were longer."
— Center for Pacific Island Studies
"Does art and communities of the Pacific a great service with this book . . . his insight and eloquence give Oceanic Art a value far beyond academia and the often arcane niches of anthropology."
—Listener
The
dazzling colors and patterns of the art of the Pacific Islands have
longed entranced Western audiences, including artists such as Gauguin
and Picasso. The tendency has been to regard Oceanic art as "primitive,"
mysterious, shrouded in taboo, but Nicholas Thomas looks beyond the
familiar, stunning surfaces of spears and shields, carved canoe prows
and feather capes to discover the significance of art, past and present,
for the people of the Pacific. He shows how each region is characterized
by certain art forms and practices—among them Maori ancestral
carvings, rituals of exchanges and warfare in the Solomon Islands,
the production of barkcloth by women in Polynesia—even as it
is shaped by influences from within the Pacific and beyond.