Brief article outlining Pacific Wave, a celebration and investigation of contemporary trends in art and cultural life of the Pacific taking place across Sydney November 2-17 1996.
The National Museum's role in the development of contemporary art in the Solomon Islands. Artists Dick Taumata, Kuai Maueha, Frank Haikiu, Rex Mahuta, Jack Saemala and Billy Vina are discussed.
What do a traditional Maori canoe (waka) and a cattle truck have in common?...In both these cases these vehicles were conveyors of culture. These images are central to two collaborative works at the second Asia Pacific Triennial of Pacific Art at the Queensland Art Gallery.
An alternative festival celebrating the people of the Pacific was held on one of the outer islands (Manono) in Western Samoa at the same time as the official Pacific Festival of the Arts in Apia. The festival was conducted from 8-23 September 1996.
Reflections on an exhibition in Vanuatu of old pieces of ni Vanuatu art held in European collections. Touring Exhibition 'Arts of Vanuatu' 29 June - 10 August 1996 at the National Museum of Vanuatu in the national capital of Port Vila.
Collecting Pacific Art is not a straight forward endeavour. There are really no set criteria of what 'contemporary Pacific art' might be, little interpretive literature on the subject and very few precedents for forming even small collections for cultural institutions. There is a new cultural centre 'the Jean-Marie Cultural Centre' being built in Noumea, New Caledonia.
April 1996 at the Pouebo Town Hall northern New Caledonia. A sculptural tradition has always been alive in this area so a workshop was held to explore the use of soapstone sculpture.