Imagining the Pacific at City Gallery, Wellington.
Offering a journey into the soul of the Pacific, Oceania brings together iconic works of art by Māori, Pacific and Pākehā artists from recent decades alongside textiles and carvings from earlier times.
The exhibition encompasses visions of earthly paradise as well as the darker realities of colonial history and nuclear testing. In paintings, photographs, carvings, jewellery, and sculpture, visitors will encounter ancestors and gods as well as contemporary peoples.
Oceania asserts the significance of the Pacific, not only as a place of great navigators and explorers, but also of imaginative artists. It offers an unprecedented view of the many ways in which Oceanic Art–one of the great traditions in world art–has been revisited and revitalised by recent generations of artists.
In this exhibition
West Gallery
Works about humanity, community and life are juxtaposed with works inspired by nature.
East Gallery
Experience Ralph Hotere's magisterial work Black Phoenix.
Hancock Gallery
Visions of Oceania which traverse time and space, melding traditional and modern materials.
North Gallery
Island and archipelagoes are evoked in the artworks here—works which are also inflected with environmental concerns.
South Gallery
This gallery is grouped in three parts, 'Visions of Beyond', 'Our Place Within' and 'The Living Fabric'.
Hirschfeld Gallery
Woven pandanus tablemats and prints made during Robin White's time on the island Kiribati.
Deane Gallery
A series of photographic works featuring well-known Māori personalities engaged in fictitious battles.