Unit 9 - The Pacific Flashcards

1
Q

Nan Madol: Identifiers

A

Style: Saudeleur Dynasty
Location: Pohpei, Micronesia
Date: 700-1600 CE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Nan Madol: Form

A
  • 92 small artificial islands connected by canals, about 170 acres
  • built out into the water on a lagoon - similar to Venice
  • seawalls 15 ft. high 35 t. thick acted as breakwaters
  • canals flushed clean with tides
  • islands arranged southwest to northeast to take advantage of trade winds
  • walls were made of prismatic basalt; roofs were thatched
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Nan Madol: Function

A

Ancient city that acted as the capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty of Micronesia

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Nan Madol: Context

A
  • city built to separate upper classes from lower classes
  • king arranged for upper classes to live close to him to keep an eye on them
  • curved outer walls point upward at edges , giving the complex symbolic boat-like appearance
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Female Deity: Identifiers

A

Location: Nukuoro, Micronesia
Date: 18th-19th CE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Female Deity: Form + Function

A

Form: simple geometric form, erect pose, long arms, broad chest, chin drawing to a point; no facial features, horizontal lines used to indicate kneecaps, navel, waistline
Function: female deity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Female Deity: Context

A
  • many kept in religious buildings belonging to the community
  • represented individual deities
  • sometimes dressed in garments; may have been decorated with flowers
  • taken by missionaries who di not record anything about the sculptures
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Navigation Chart: Identifiers

A

Location: Marshall Islands, Micronesia
Date: 19th early 20th century CE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Navigation Chart: Form

A
  • chart made of wood, waterproof and buoyant
  • small shells indicate position of islands on the chart
  • horizontal and vertical sticks support the chart
  • diagonal lines indicate wind and water currents
  • chart indicate patterns of ocean swells and currents
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Navigation Chart: Function

A
  • charts meant to be memorized prior to voyage; not necessarily used during a voyage
  • charts enabled navigators to guide boats through many islands to get to destination
  • charts individualized to their markers; others cannot read the chart
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Navigation Chart: Context

A
  • Marshall Islands low lying and hard to see from a distance or from sea level
  • charts are called wapepe in the Marshal Islands
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

‘Ahu ‘ula (Feather Cape): Identifiers

A

Location: Hawaii
Date: Late 18th century CE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

‘Ahu ‘ula (Feather Cape): Materials/Content

A
  • made of 1000s of bird feathers
  • feathers numbered 500,000 some birds had only seven usable feathers
  • feathers tied to a coconut fiber base
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

‘Ahu ‘ula (Feather Cape): Function

A

Only high ranking chiefs or warriors of great ability were entitled to wear these garments; worn by men

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

‘Ahu ‘ula (Feather Cape): Context

A
  • red was considered a royal color in Polynesia; yellow was prized because of its rarity
  • cape was created by artists who chanted the wearer’s ancestors to imbue their power onto it
  • protected the wearer from harm
  • concept of “mana’: a supernatural force believed to dwell in a person or sacred object
  • many capes survived, no two capes alike
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Staff God: Identifiers

A

Style: Polynesian
Location: Cook Islands
Date: Late 18th Century CE

17
Q

Staff God: Form/Content

A
  • large column-like wooden core mounted upright in village common spaces; wooden core is wrapped with tapa cloth
  • wooden sculpture placed on: large carved head with small figures carved below it
  • shaft in the form of elongated body
  • lower end carved phallus, some missionaries removed and destroyed them considering them obscene
  • soul of god represented by polished pearl shells and red feathers, which are placed inside bark cloth next to interior shaft
18
Q

Hiapo (Tapa): Identifiers

A

Location: Niue, Polynesia
Date: 1850-1900

19
Q

Hiapo (Tapa): Content/Form/Materials/Technique

A
  • tapa cloth made from tree bark; the pieces are beaten and pasted together
  • using stencils, the artists dye exposed parts of the tapa with paint
  • after tapa is dry, designs are sometimes repainted to enhance the effect
20
Q

Hiapo (Tapa): Function

A

traditionally worn as clothing before the importation of cotton

21
Q

Hiapo (Tapa): Context

A
  • Hiapo is the word used fro Niue for tapa (bark cloth)
  • tapa takes on a special meaning: commemorating an event, honotring a chief, noting a series of ancestors
  • generally made by women
  • each set of designs meant to be interpreted symbolically; many of the images have a rich history
22
Q

Tamati Waka Nene: Identifiers

A

Style: Naturalism
Artist: Gottfried Lindauer
Location: New Zealand
Date: 1890

23
Q

Tamati Waka Nene: Content

A
  • Tamati Waka Nene: Maori chief and convert to Wesleyan faith
  • emphasis placed on symbols of rank: elaborate tattooing with Maori designs, staff with an eye in the center, feathers dangling from the staff
  • ceremonial weapon w/ finely wrought blade , dangling feathers, abalone shell as focal point
  • status revealed in oversize greenstone earring, which contains his power or “mana” and kiwi feather cloak
24
Q

Tamati Waka Nene: Context/Function

A
  • painter born in Bohemia famous for portraits of Maori chiefs
  • journeyman painter and tradesman
  • european style painting
  • Conflicting interpretations of works: Maori may see portraits as embodiments the spirit of a person, and as a link between past and present, westerners may see paintings as a commercial adventure with a monetary value
  • others may interpret work as anthropology highlighting aspects of Maori costuming and physiognomy, and what they could mean
  • others may see portas as expressions of colonial dominance
25
Q

Malagan Mask and Display: Identifiers

A

Location: Papua New Guinea
Date: 20th century CE

26
Q

Malagan Mask: Form

A
  • extremely intricate in their carving
  • painted black, yellow, and red: importance of color denoting violence, war, magic
  • artists are specialists in using negative space
27
Q

Malagan Mask: Function

A
  • sculptures of the deceased are commissioned; represent individual’s soul, or life force, not a physical presence
  • mask indicates relationship of a particular deceased person to a clan and to living members of family
  • large hair comb reflects a hairstyle of the time; masks are not physical portraits, only portraits of the soul
28
Q

Malagan Mask: Context/Function

A
  • malagan ceremonies send souls of deceased on their way to the otherworld
  • ceremonies begin months after death and last an extended period of time
  • during the time after death sponsors must organize ceremonies and feasts. must hire sculptors who will carve structures for event
  • expensive undertaking: families combine wealth and honor several ppl
  • commissioned malagan sculptures exhibited in temporary display houses; each sculpture honors an individual and illustrates their relationships with dead and alive people
  • souls of deceased enter sculpture during ceremony
  • ceremonies free living from obligation of serving the dead
  • structures useless after ceremony
29
Q

Buk (Mask): Identifiers

A

Location: Torres Strait (between australia and New Guinea)
Date: Late 19th century

30
Q

Buk (Mask): Form

A
  • some masks combine human and animal forms: this mask shows a brid placed on top
  • turtle shell masks are unique to this region
31
Q

Buk (Mask): Function

A
  • this mask, like a helmet, is worn over the head
  • part of a larger grass costume used in ceremonies about death, fertility, or male initiation, or to ensure a good harvest
  • ceremonies involved fire, drum beats, and chanting; recreating mythical ancestral beings and their impact on these people in everyday activities
32
Q

Buk (Mask): Context

A
  • Torres Strait is the waterway passage between Australia and New Guinea
  • human face may represent a cultural hero or ancestor
33
Q

Presentation of Fijan Mats and Tapa Cloth to Queen Elizabeth II: Identifiers

A

Location: Fiji, Polynesia
Date: 1953-1954

34
Q

Presentation of Fijan Mats and Tapa Cloth to Queen Elizabeth II: Form/Materials

A
  • costume, cosmetics including scent
  • chant; movement; pandanus fiber/hibiscus fiber mats
  • men oversee growth of mulberry trees that produce tapa; women turn bark into cloth: bark removed from tree, soaked in water, clubs used to beat strips into block to form pieces of cloth, edges glued together to make larger sheets, tapa decorated
35
Q

Presentation of Fijan Mats and Tapa Cloth to Queen Elizabeth II: Function + Context

A

Function: huge tapa cloths made and presented to Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 in commemoration of her visit to Fiji on the occasion of her coronation as queen of England
Context: example of performance art, Cf. Lapita geometric motifs

36
Q

Moai on Platform: Identifiers

A

Location: Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
Date: 1100-1600 CE

37
Q

Moai on Platform: Form

A
  • prominent foreheads; large broad noses; thin pouting lips; ears that reach top of their heads
  • short, thin arms fall straight down; hands on hips; hands across lower abdomen below navel
  • breasts and navels delineated
  • backs are tattooed
  • topknots added to some statues
  • white coral placed in the eyes to open them
38
Q

Moai on Platform: Function

A

images represent personalities deified after death or commemorated as the first settler-kings

39
Q

Moai on Platform: Context

A
  • 900 statues, 50 tons a piece, mostly male, facing inland
  • erected on large platforms, called ahu, of stone mixed with ashes from cremations; platforms are sacred as statues on them
  • after being carved figures were to have been “walked” into place from where they were quarried
  • beneath ahu is a cemetery where village elders were buried
  • depletion of resources may have caused an ecological crisis, which led to decline in society and destruction of monuments
  • monuments were topped face down because it was believed that eyes had spiritual power