A spectacular survey of the artistic traditions of Oceania, spanning the islands’ initial settlement in the prehistoric era through the 21st century Masks and figural sculptures are the most familiar examples of the visual culture of Oceania, yet they provide only a glimpse of the fascinating art of this diverse region. Artisans of the Pacific Islands and Australia have produced objects ranging from stained and beaten fabric, rock engravings, and woven containers to tattooed and painted bodies, drawings on sand and paper, and contemporary installation art. This survey looks at the full range of objects created over several millennia, spanning the settlement of Oceania in the prehistoric period to the present day.
Lavishly illustrated and encyclopedic in scope, this landmark book places the art of Oceania in its comprehensive and often complex historical context. Essays by leading scholars offer a fresh approach to archaeological findings; the impacts of migration, trade, warfare, and colonization; the influence of materials, ritual, dance, and religion; and the roles of photography, tourism, nationalism, and popular culture. Featuring a rich selection of previously unpublished materials and accompanied by commentary from contemporary practitioners, Art in Oceania: A New History is essential reading, offering an important reinterpretation of existing scholarship, and a dynamic introduction to Oceanic artistic traditions in the 21st century.

Art in Oceania: A New History

Arts & Photography

Thomas, Nicholas

Brunt, Peter

History & Criticism

Yale University Press

The arts of Oceania are astonishing: great statues, daunting tattoos, dynamic carving, dazzling woven and painted fabrics, intricately carved weapons, and a bewildering variety of ornaments, ritual objects, and utilitarian but beautiful things. This landmark book breaks new ground by setting the art of Oceania in its full historical context and capturing an up-to-date understanding of the field. From archaeological findings of prehistoric art to the impact of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial historical processes, it explores influences such as migration, trade, missionaries, pacification, tourism, nationalism and contemporary market factors, offering abundant new interpretations and addressing significant gaps in other publications. Factors that have been largely neglected until now, including the role of museums, the significance of colonial photography, indigenous modernisms and contemporary Pacific art, are covered alongside the familiar canon. This beautifully illustrated volume will appeal to general readers interested in world art, collectors, university students, scholars and museum professionals in the field. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Art in Early Oceania 3. New Guinea 1700-1940 4. Island Melanesia, 1700-1940 5. Eastern and Northern Oceania, 1700-1940 6. Art, War and the End of Empire, 1940-1988 7. Art in Oceania Now, 1988-2010 8. Epilogue

Art in Oceania /anglais

Reference

Thames&Hudson

When Tatau was first published in 2010, Mark Adams’ renowned images documenting a great Polynesian art tradition were a revelation. Mostly taken between 1978 and 2005, these photographs recorded the contemporary expressions of tatau (tattoo) and told the story of the late Sulu’ape Paulo II, the preeminent figure of modern Samoan tattooing. A brilliantly innovative and often controversial man, he saw tatau as an art of international importance. Tatau documented his practice, and that of other tufuga ta tatau (tattoo artists), and interpreted it within the contexts of Polynesian tattooing, Samoan migrant communities, and New Zealand art.\nAs in the original edition, the book is also concerned with what photographer Mark Adams has done with tatau. His images provide powerful and indeed moving records of certain times and people, some of whom have now passed on. Yet, despite their documentary nature, his images do much more than record a technique of body decoration or a scene around it. They ask tough questions of the scene and its history―questions that may inevitably remain unanswered. And, despite their virtuosity, the images exude a certain discomfort with the business of cross-cultural image making, with its histories, and with New Zealand’s culture and politics.\nLong out-of-print, this revised and extended edition, with its handsome larger format and texts by distinguished scholars, makes a cultural treasure available once more.

Tatau: Samoan Tattoo, New Zealand Art, Global Culture

Adams, Mark

Mallon, Sean

University of Hawaii Press

Oceania SB Hardcover

Royal Academy of Arts

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Brunt, Peter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Brunt, Peter