"Pacific Encounters" will bring together for the first time many stunning Polynesian objects gathered during the early period of contact with European voyagers, missionaries and settlers. The book will present, in eight thematic sections, around 270 items with short captions, including sculptures in wood and stone; feather and basketry images; feather cloaks; wood bowls; decorated bark cloths; and ornaments and valuables of ivory, shell, bone and nephrite. The objects will be drawn from the major regions of Polynesia: the Society Islands (Tahiti), Austral Islands, Cook Islands, Marquesas Islands, Hawaii, Easter Island, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand. Two introductory essays will place the objects in their cultural and historical contexts. The first will focus on the role, meaning and interpretation of Polynesian art and material culture; the second on the history of the collection of this material by explorers (Cook et al.), missionaries and traders, and the routes by which it eventually came to museums. The essays will be illustrated with pictorial material taken from voyaging and missionary sources (paintings, engravings from Cook's Voyages and missionary publications). This groundbreaking book will convey the wonder and excitement not only of the objects themselves, but of the cultures and cultural interactions which gave rise to them. Many were collected during the voyages of Cook, Vancouver and other explorers, and by early Christian missionaries - in effect by European 'chiefs' and 'priests'. Such pieces have remarkable stories to tell.

Pacific Encounters Art & Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860 /anglais

Hooper, Steven

Reference

BRITISH MUSEUM

This world-renowned sculpture is a unique figure in Polynesian art. An image of a deified ancestor, A’a was created sometime before 1821 on the island of Rurutu. Thirty dynamic figures stud his body, and the excellence of his craftsmanship suggests that his hollow interior once contained something of great cultural importance. Research undertaken ahead of the forthcoming exhibition revealed a small red feather lodged inside the statue and encouraged the curators to begin a range of scientific tests that had been unavailable to previous generations. Their revelations about the meaning and function of A’a are published here for the first time. A’a has been inspiring visitors since its arrival at the Museum in 1890, as much for its dramatic backstory as for its workmanship. The missionary John Williams saved the statue from being burned, but met an untimely end himself in the course of his work. The statue was a sensation when it arrived in England and inspired artists and poets for decades – Picasso was so struck by it that he had a copy made for himself. A’a is an idol in every sense of the word, and this book aims to inspire a new audience with his story. Table of Contents Prologue Chapter 1: A celebrity sculpture: new discoveries and old questions Chapter 2: Mysteries, methods and meanings: on looking closely at A'a Chapter 3: Gods, ancestors, feathers and bones in ancient Polynesia Notes Further Reading Acknowledgements Picture Credits

A'a: a deity from Polynesia (Object in Focus)

Arts & Photography

Adams, Julie

Nuku, Maia

History & Criticism

Pacific Encounters brings together for the first time many stunning Polynesian objects collected by voyagers and missionaries during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 
Illustrated are over 270 items gathered from the major regions of Polynesia. Many are from the British Museum, which houses fine and rare material from the expeditions of Captain Cook, Captain Vancouver, and members of the London Missionary Society. Ranging from massive images of gods to small fish hooks, they are discussed in the contexts of their local use and meanings, and their journeys to museums all over the world. These pieces have remarkable stories to tell of encounters between humans and their gods, between Polynesians and Europeans, their respective chiefs and priests, beliefs, and technologies. 
Pacific Encounters is a groundbreaking book that conveys the wonder and excitement not only of the objects themselves, but of the fascinating Polynesian cultures that produced them.

Pacific Encounters: Art & Divinity in Polynesia, 1760–1860

University of Hawaii Press

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