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Tall ancestor poles arranged in a curve in the center of a bright white gallery space.
Special Installation

Arts of Oceania

OverviewExhibition ObjectsAudio GuideRelated ContentInside the Exhibition
The backs of Maia Nuku and Max Hollein as they look up at Bisj poles in the Arts of Oceania galleries

Exhibition Tour—Arts of Oceania

Celebrate the renovation and reopening of the Arts of Oceania galleries in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.

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Articles, Audio, and Video

Visualization of Oceania from a top down hemispheric perspective
Mapping Oceania with Hawai‘i Artist Sean Connelly
Sean Connelly's Spheric Oceania offers an alternative cartography, mapping Oceania as a cosmic container of ancestral connection.
August 20, 2025
The backs of Maia Nuku and Max Hollein as they look up at Bisj poles in the Arts of Oceania galleries
Video
Exhibition Tour—Arts of Oceania | Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
Join curator Maia Nuku to celebrate the renovation and reopening of the Arts of Oceania galleries in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.
July 24, 2025
Woman painting yellow dots across a black canvas laid on the ground
Video
Artist Profile: Angelina Pwerle
Join artist Angelina Pwerle as she describes the significance of the bush plum, the subject of her painting, Bush Plum Dreaming.
May 28, 2025
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Essays

Arm or leg bands made from colored shell beads arranged in geometric designs
Body Adornment in Solomon Islands
In Solomon Islands, personal adornment conveys status, transforms the body, enhances ancestral communication, and protects the wearer.
December 18, 2025
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, 2025
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