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Oceanic Art in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing Research

Gallery view with a glass and wood display case in the foreground.
Library and Archive
The Robert Goldwater Library and The Visual Resource Archive

The Robert Goldwater Library is a noncirculating research library dedicated to the documentation of the visual arts of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Native and Precolumbian America.

Curved bamboo ceiling with intricate, layered patterns, supported by a central wooden beam. The design is symmetrical and organic, evoking nature.
Lecture
What Makes a Cultural Landmark? Perspectives from Oceania

Join leading experts for presentations and discussion exploring Indigenous cultural heritage sites in Oceania, with project case studies on Samoa and Buka Island that highlight the unique ways mobility, ocean navigation, and cosmology influence the region's expansive sense of spatial and built environments.

Essays

Detail of a carved human figure finial with hands clasped at its chest, with designs traced in white against the black surface.
Mutuaga Oitau – The Carved Man
Mutuaga’s spatula at The Met is a product of innovation and adaptation in the face of sweeping colonial and missionary incursions into the Territory of Papua.
January 28
Elaborately carved powder horn for carrying gunpowder.
Containing the Divine: North Sumatra, Indonesia
June 28, 2022