Ben Widener

"​Explain how differences in environment, including available resources, affect the nature of the visual arts in the Pacific. Include architectural forms and body adornment in your answer." This particular project will focus on the resources and procedures put into art forms of Polynesian culture, focusing more on architecture and clothing.

  The people who settled the remote islands of Polynesia developed distinctive culture but retained linguistic common ground due to their origin. In their religion it was believed that an individual's geneology could be traced to their ancestral god who was the source of their spiritual power.
In Polynesian culture, all art was sacred and their creation in and of itself was an art. Master artists would also perform special religious rituals with abjects made of limited, yet special materials such as Jadeite from New Zealand. Some of these abjects held their own "mana" or spiritual power and had practical uses. Regardless of the art form, quality and beauty, as well as function, was held most sacred as objects were meant to endure and be passed down through generations.

​TAPA
One art form of polynesia were the woven Tapa mats.this "bark cloth is also called siapo on islands such as Samoa and were usually made by women. Since material for weaving is not in abundance, the brak for these mats is taken solely from the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree. The bark is then beaten with a wooden mallet until it fits a degree of softness acceptable for the weaving process.When completed, Tapa were decorated by men and women using berry dye to produce intricate patterns for clothing, ship sails, housing, and even rituals where dead bodies were wrapped up.

HOUSING
Prior to European contact, polynesian families lived in houses of limited palm trunk and woven reed ceilings which were tall triangular prisms. These houses were built on rectangular platforms in shallow water or land. Groups of houses known as Hamlets were often scattered around the village. These Hamlets often each had their own gardens or fruit trees within a close vicinity. The height of the house platform symbolized social status with lower classes having houses only a few inches off the ground and warrior priests having houses potentially feet off the ground on stones weighing hundreds of pounds each. Overall, the special culture of the polynesians that developed in the resource scarce pacific translated into a very distinct architectural style.
​
STATUE
In polynesian culture, the head priest or chief of a village would use his sacred idol, or Atua, as a mean to communicate or pray to the gods. The Atua was always taken with the chief during migration and was used to found new villages and set up designated shrine areas. These statues were often intricately carved and served as the focus point of a village. They were only carved of volcanic rock since it is the only resource that was available to the polynesians, further supporting the adaptation of their culture to scarcity.

---

Residential Polynesian Hut, 30'x20'x27' 6 3/4", cane poles and woven roof

Woven Tapa showing the fabrication of Tapa, 32"x20", barkcloth, Fiji

Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia Stone figure 19th century, Musée du quai Branly, Paris

1914 fale Samoa, 24'x 15' 7" credit of National Library of New Zealand

​CONNECTIONS
-Ancient Aegean Cultures
 Like ancient Pacific cultures, ancient Aegean civilizations were relatively isolated which lead to certain materials to be used repeatedly in art. An example of this can be seen in cycladic sculpture as all figures are made of marble or, rarely, terra cotta. The isolation of the Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean cultures forced them to adapt and create unique art and culture like that of the Pacific.

2600–2400 B.C. Cycladic fermale figure, Marble, H. 24 3/4 in. (62.79 cm)

-Contemporary
 In contemporary times, pacific art festivals are held annually on various islands due to advancements in transportation technology. These festivals celebrate past and present art and culture of the pacific with a variety of art forms coming from many Islands. Some artists imitate the resources and methods used by their ancestors while others use more original methods to create sculptures out of a single type of modern resource such as plastic. This imitates the limitations on resources that existed in the ancient pacific.

Polynesian dance group, Polynesian Art Festival 2015, traditional garments with modern cotton/nylon, 48" x 24"

​VIDEO
This video offers a thorough history of human settlement in the Pacific Islands. The video does not specifically cover art (one will be added later which does) but does include how the limited resources of the region shaped civilization.

BIBLIOGRPHY
"Khan Academy." Khan Academy. Accessed April 25, 2016. https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/ap-art-history/the-pacific.

Kirch, P.V. "Monumental Architecture and Power in Polynesian Chiefdoms: A Comparison of Tonga and Hawaii." Taylor & Francis. Taylor Francis Online Journals, n.d. Web. 19 May 2016.

Kjellgren, Eric. "Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in The Metropolitan Museum of Art | MetPublications | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in The Metropolitan Museum of Art | MetPublications | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007. Web. 15 May 2016.
​
Stokstad, Marilyn. "Art of Pacific Cultures: Chapter 28." Art History. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2014. 861-79. Print.