L’art océanien

Now that the Quai Branly museum sheds a new light on the " first forms of art " the time has come to explore each facet more in detail. This is the case here, together with the exhibition currently showing on New-Ireland. The principle of the collection is to initiate the public, not by theoretic speeches, but rather through a presentation of chosen objects, each used to illustrate a facet of the social life on the islands. From the kanak currency to the flute ornament, from the funerary representation to the helmet with a feather, these «signs» are put in perspective and completed, as much as possible, by images of today (celebrations, initiation rites). In conclusion, we benefit from a detailed explanation on the traditional motifs used by aboriginous painter John Mawurndjul, the author of an afresco on the ceiling of the library of the Quai Branly museum .

• L’art océanien par Gabrielle Baglione et Magali Melandri, Scala, 2007, ISBN : 978-2-86656-390-5, 128 p., 15 €