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Oceanian art

Oceanic art or Oceanian art comprises the creative works made by the native people of the Pacific Islands and Australia, including areas as far apart as Hawaii and Easter Island. Specifically it comprises the works of the two groups of people who settled the area, though during two different periods. They would in time however, come to interact and together reach even more remote islands. The area is often broken down into four separate regions: Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia. Australia, along with interior Melanesia (Papua), are populated by descendants of the first waves of human migrations into the region by Australo-Melanesians. Micronesia, Island Melanesia, and Polynesia, on the other hand, are descendants of later Austronesian voyagers who intermixed with native Australo-Melanesians; mostly via the Neolithic Lapita culture. All of the regions in later times would be greatly affected by western influence and colonization. In more recent times, the people of Oceania have found a greater appreciation of their region's artistic heritage.

The artistic creations of these people varies greatly throughout the cultures and regions. The subject matter typically carries themes of fertility or the supernatural. Art such as masks were used in religious ceremonies or social rituals. Petroglyphs, Tattooing, painting, wood carving, stone carving and textile work are other common art forms. Contemporary Pacific art is alive and well, encompassing traditional styles, symbols, and materials, but now imagined in a diversity of contemporary forms, revealing the complexity of geographic, cultural and individual interaction and history.[1]

Dinonga eidu (idol); circa 1800; wood; height: 35 cm (1334 in.); from the Caroline islands; Musée du quai Branly (Paris)

Dinonga eidu (idol); circa 1800; wood; height: 35 cm (133⁄4 in.); from the Caroline islands; Musée du quai Branly (Paris)

Gable figure (dilukái); late 19th century-early 20th century; painted wood; height: 65.2 cm (2523 in.); from Palau, by Belauan people; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

Gable figure (dilukái); late 19th century-early 20th century; painted wood; height: 65.2 cm (252⁄3 in.); from Palau, by Belauan people; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

Oceanian culture

Austronesian culture

Tribal art

Overmodelled skull

Goldwater, Robert; et al. (1969). . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from the Museum of Primitive Art: an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kjellgren, E.; et al. (2001). . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9781588390110.

Splendid isolation: art of Easter Island

Grafico Topico's articles on art from the Pacific region

Oceanic Art Society

Tribal Art Magazine

Rayond and Laura Wielgus Collection, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University