Oceania Non Western Art

Oceania Each of the groups of separate people in Oceania and Highland Asia developed their own unique, highly stylized visual traditions Some of the worlds most symbolic artwork has been produced in this area Most groups have had little or no contact with other cultures Some were parts of larger cultural groups- like Oceania Oceania is comprised of Australia, New Zealand and numerous nearby islands. Inner Pacific Islands fall into 3 groups- Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia

Oceania

Oceania

Oceania and Highland asia Highland tribes of the Southeast Asian peninsula separated themselves from the mainstream of lowland cultures at various time throughout history Various tribes have produced similar, but distinctive, art forms Houses built on stilts with steeply sloping thatch roofs predominant Peoples of highlands share many similarities artistically with those from the Pacific Created objects not just for beauty, but for functional purposes Art as utility and aesthetics Many objects also have a religious element Feature animal and geometric symbolism and symbolic pattern

Oceania Paintings such as these can be found inside communal longhouses of Borneo- highly stylized- curvilinear design Gableboard Painting Kenyah tribe Borneo Vegetable dyes and earth colors on wood

Oceania Mystic designs in oceanic and highland art are often empowered with spiritual energy Woven blanket- filled with mystic and totemic symbols Totem- animal or natural object that symbolizes a clan or family Alligators were common motifs in Oceanic art Bird illustrated in form of army helicopter- as indigenous people came in contact with modern technology, artwork reflects it

Blanket Iban tribe Sarawak East Malaysia Cotton and vegetable dyes

Oceania Masks are an important part of Oceanic art and sculpture as well Masks decorated ceremonial huts and are used in worship In rituals- the person who wears the mask loses his or her identity and becomes the spirit of the ancestor or spirit represented by the mask Spears, boats, tools and eating utensils also carved Mystic or animal motifs carved onto these items invest them with life and power

Oceania Weaving Peg (Turuturu) Date: early 19th century Geography: New Zealand, Whanganui region Culture: Maori people Medium: Wood Dimensions: H. 14 5/8 x W. 1 5/8 x D. 1 7/8 in

Oceania Gable Mask Sawos people, Upper Sepik River, Papua New Guinea, Oceania 39 inches, bark, eyes, mouth and nose of woven fiber, cassowary feathers

Oceania Not as many ancient wooden objects bc wood is highly perishable and rots within around 250 years unless immersed in liquid Can be eaten by insects or worn out by humans Wood was the most popular medium for this area Shells, nephrite (remember what this was also called?), walrus and whale ivory also used, as well as human bones for jewelry Lava and other volcanic stones like Easter Island and the Society islands may have been carved by iron tools brought by westerners

Oceania Jaw Bone necklace Papua New Guinea The lower jaw-bone was always separated from the skull of an enemy and given to the women to wear as a necklace, this was regarded as the ultimate insult to the vanquished warrior.

Oceania Most wood figures found in present day are less than 100 yrs old due to deteriation Male Ancestral Figure Sepik River Papua New Guinea Wood colored with earth pigments

Oceania Sarawak customs- several different tribes lived in this Malaysian state Among them- Kenyah and Ibanwho continue to live in traditional longhouses Communal bamboo structures that can hold between 10 and 40 families. Under ONE roof. Longhouses today

Oceania Painting is used to embellish carved wooden images and masks, esp in Melanesia Papua New Guinea has one of strongest artistic traditions Objects for ancestor worship are often ornamented in bright colors Ancestral figures are carved from wood in sizes 3 in to 3 ft Embellished with white highlights and reddish brown paint Brown paint symbolizes blood and continued existence of the soul of the deceased

Oceania Male Ancestral Figure Asmat Tribe Papua New Guinea

Oceania Totemism common in Melanesia- making of totems of masks Masks- permanent dwelling of spiritual forces Masks, statues and other cult worship objects used to identify kinship

Oceania Ancestor Skull Asmat Papua New Guinea eyes and nasal cavity filled with beeswax and inlaid with grey and red seeds

Oceania Native art in northern Papua reflects blend of island, coastal and mountain cultures Wood carvings show variety in subject matter and expression Detailed and well-carved wooden images embellished with shells, dog’s teeth, feathers, animal, paint or natural earth Images either ancestral masks, ceremonial masks or fertility images

Oceania Female Ancestor Figure Asmat Papua New Guinea Child on back, ceremonial drum (tifa) on front Weirdly- usually only men carried/ used the drum…

Oceania In contrast to the carvings and woodwork of the Melanesians, Polynesian objects of worship stress the grain of the wood, not adding and relying on bright color Seed canister Dayak Tribe Borneo

Oceania Although Easter Island is Chilean, the tribes that built Easter Island were Polynesian More than likely used tools brought in by westerners Rapa Nui- Easter Island Rongorongo- glyphs found on Easter Island, never translated

Oceania Maori peoples were the original inhabitants of New Zealand- migrated from other Pacific Islands Best stone carvers in Polynesia Carved deep-green nephrite into ornaments, working for months to drill sculptural images of ancestral symbols Touching nephrite was said to cure kidney diseases, thus the name nephrite from the Greek word nephros, meaning kidney

Oceania A finely carved four-inch long Maori nephrite neck pendent (hei tiki) stems from the Rotorua area, North Island, New Zealand. The desirable pendant was expected to bring as much as $8,000 when offered by Bonhams & Butterfields in San Francisco, saw highly competitive bids, selling for $45,750. Collected in the 1850s and purportedly traded for gold, the hei tiki had been within an Australian museum collection

Oceania Maori arts incl poetry, storytelling, dance, music and carving Maori chief’s house and clans’ meetinghouse decorated with carved figures and hangings- status symbol for the whole tribe Chief- direct descendant of a tribal ancestor, house showed link bt past and present Carvings represented ancestors, symbolic images carved thought to neutralize spirits Carvers considered mediators bt real and otherworld spirits Also have common jobs like carving canoes, weaponry, tools, musical instruments, etc Maori cultural traditions continue today in rural New Zealand

Oceania Examples of Maori meetinghouses

Oceania Carved Wall Panel Interior of a Maori meetinghouse Late 19th century

Oceania Some think that tattoo work on the human body originated in the Marquesas (west of Australia) Started as an under the skin dyeing process that took years Traditionally covered men’s bodies with geometric designs

Oceania An example of a modern day tatau

Oceania Australian aboriginal culture shared stylistic and media similarities with Oceanic and highland peoples Aborigines produced a tradition of bark painting on flattened bark Bark was then usually placed on the inside of their temporary shelters

Oceania After further stripping back to the point where only the inner layer of smooth fibre is left, the bark is placed over an open fire, outer side down, and it slowly uncurls in the heat. This also chars the outer bark and stripping can then be completed. The bark is then laid in the sun and compressed with heavy stones. Once flat and dry, the bark surface is ready and painting can begin. The materials used for painting on bark are red, brown, rust, yellow, black and white earth pigments, fixatives as well as a range of brushes and applicators. 

Oceania Kangaroos, birds, fish, snakes, tortoises and alligators are all common subjects X-ray effect used Designs of humans, mammals, birds, fish and reptiles were also abraded, pecked or hammered into surfaces of rocks Common to find geometric designs carved into earth or trees as part of initiation ceremonies The vast history of this entire region has only been discovered in the 20th century So far, the art heritage has been more closely studied by anthropologists that art historians We have a lot to learn yet!

Oceania Aboriginal Rock Paintings Western Arnhem Island Australia

Oceania Describe the totemic symbols found in the Iban Tribe/ Sarawak blanket. What does totemic mean? How has the artist combined contemporary culture symbols with traditional design in this blanket? What does the red brown paint on New Guinea wooden ancestral figures symbolize? How are Melanesian wood carvings different from Polynesian wood carvings? What type of unusual art is found on Easter Island? Where is one of the places tattoo design was thought to originate? List some of the animals painted on the bark by the aborigines. How did these artists show two views of the same animal at the same time? What is the word for it?