The Arts of Oceania Map | Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

The astounding mobility of Oceanic peoples over millennia was a catalyst for the flourishing of a kaleidoscopic range of cultures and languages across some ten thousand islands. In this vast cosmopolitan network, spanning one third of the globe, islands are departure points as well as destinations. This dynamic animated map visually traces the early migration of the ancestors of Papuan-speaking peoples across the Sahul continental shelf and the later migrations of Austronesian-speaking voyagers across vast ocean distances. Just as vessels connect people to places, artworks also act as vessels, connecting an expansive network of communities and channeling the past into the present-future. Solwara, Moananuiākea, Te Moananui a Kiwa, Moana are Indigenous names given to this region. This animation features a visualization of the Pacific worldview by artist Sean Connelly.