Arts of the South Seas

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Over five hundred objects - statues, jewelry, fabrics and weapons - represent the variety of art produced in the geographical area known as Oceania. From Easter Island to New Guinea, From Polynesia to Australia these arts share characteristics of bold forms and rich, detailed decoration which speak of their traditions and mythologies. Drawing on the famous collections of the Musee Barbier-Meuller this book brings together these cultures to demonstrate aesthetic similarities between civilizations located far apart in both space and time. While the arts of the Easter Islands and Maori civilizations have been well known for some time the creativity of inhabitants of Borneo, Sulawei and Sumatra is less familar and is scarcely represented in the major public collections. Essays on each island or civilization are part of this study.