Unit 9 - The Pacific Flashcards
Nan Madol: Identifiers
Style: Saudeleur Dynasty
Location: Pohpei, Micronesia
Date: 700-1600 CE
Nan Madol: Form
- 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
Nan Madol: Function
Ancient city that acted as the capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty of Micronesia
Nan Madol: Context
- 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
Female Deity: Identifiers
Location: Nukuoro, Micronesia
Date: 18th-19th CE
Female Deity: Form + Function
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
Female Deity: Context
- 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
Navigation Chart: Identifiers
Location: Marshall Islands, Micronesia
Date: 19th early 20th century CE
Navigation Chart: Form
- 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
Navigation Chart: Function
- 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
Navigation Chart: Context
- Marshall Islands low lying and hard to see from a distance or from sea level
- charts are called wapepe in the Marshal Islands
‘Ahu ‘ula (Feather Cape): Identifiers
Location: Hawaii
Date: Late 18th century CE
‘Ahu ‘ula (Feather Cape): Materials/Content
- made of 1000s of bird feathers
- feathers numbered 500,000 some birds had only seven usable feathers
- feathers tied to a coconut fiber base
‘Ahu ‘ula (Feather Cape): Function
Only high ranking chiefs or warriors of great ability were entitled to wear these garments; worn by men
‘Ahu ‘ula (Feather Cape): Context
- 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
Staff God: Identifiers
Style: Polynesian
Location: Cook Islands
Date: Late 18th Century CE
Staff God: Form/Content
- 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
Hiapo (Tapa): Identifiers
Location: Niue, Polynesia
Date: 1850-1900
Hiapo (Tapa): Content/Form/Materials/Technique
- 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
Hiapo (Tapa): Function
traditionally worn as clothing before the importation of cotton
Hiapo (Tapa): Context
- 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
Tamati Waka Nene: Identifiers
Style: Naturalism
Artist: Gottfried Lindauer
Location: New Zealand
Date: 1890
Tamati Waka Nene: Content
- 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
Tamati Waka Nene: Context/Function
- 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
Malagan Mask and Display: Identifiers
Location: Papua New Guinea
Date: 20th century CE
Malagan Mask: Form
- extremely intricate in their carving
- painted black, yellow, and red: importance of color denoting violence, war, magic
- artists are specialists in using negative space
Malagan Mask: Function
- 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
Malagan Mask: Context/Function
- 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
Buk (Mask): Identifiers
Location: Torres Strait (between australia and New Guinea)
Date: Late 19th century
Buk (Mask): Form
- some masks combine human and animal forms: this mask shows a brid placed on top
- turtle shell masks are unique to this region
Buk (Mask): Function
- 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
Buk (Mask): Context
- Torres Strait is the waterway passage between Australia and New Guinea
- human face may represent a cultural hero or ancestor
Presentation of Fijan Mats and Tapa Cloth to Queen Elizabeth II: Identifiers
Location: Fiji, Polynesia
Date: 1953-1954
Presentation of Fijan Mats and Tapa Cloth to Queen Elizabeth II: Form/Materials
- 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
Presentation of Fijan Mats and Tapa Cloth to Queen Elizabeth II: Function + Context
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
Moai on Platform: Identifiers
Location: Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
Date: 1100-1600 CE
Moai on Platform: Form
- 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
Moai on Platform: Function
images represent personalities deified after death or commemorated as the first settler-kings
Moai on Platform: Context
- 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
