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Wood sculpture of a canoe figurehead with shell inlay designs that replicate facial paint or tattoo markings. Text on the image reads "Arts of Oceania."
Special Installation

Arts of Oceania

OverviewExhibition ObjectsRelated Content

Articles, Audio, and Video

A crowd of people to the left hold up a sign while a shirtless man holds his left hand up as in an oratory gesture
Lo Tatou Seiana: Our Flowering, Our Time
Dan Taulapapa McMullin muses on colonialism, queer mythologies, and activism in the Pacific Islands.
June 21, 2023
Female figure made of whale ivory
Audio
Inside Us the Dead (The New Zealand-born Version)
Pacific poet Karlo Mila explores the personal and political realities of Pasifika identity.
June 16, 2023
Red and gold banana fibre sash
Audio
To Swim with Eels
Pacific poet Emelihter Kihleng reflects on her genealogy and connections to the lands of Pohnpei.
June 12, 2023
Showing 3 of 7

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
Wood puppet head with a face carved in.
Spiritual Power in the Arts of the Toba Batak
The rich sculptural, architectural, and textile traditions of the Toba Batak in northern Sumatra have served, for generations, as potent tools for harnessing spiritual power.
July 1, 2023