Spring 27(1) Articles Vulnerable Islands: Climate Change, Tectonic Change, and Changing Livelihoods in the Western Pacific Working Out What to Wear in Papua New Guinea: The Politics of Fashion in Stella Dialogue Austronesian Youth Perspectives on Language Reclamation and Maintenance Re-Presenting Melanesia: Ignoble Savages and Melanesian Alter-Natives A Sea of Warriors: Performing an Identity of Resilience and Empowerment in the Face of Climate Change in the Pacific Resources Diacritical Marks and the Samoan Language Political Reviews Political Reviews Editor’s Note Micronesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014 Polynesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014 Book and Media Reviews The Bond of Time: An Epic Love Poem, by John Puhiatau Pule Dark Sparring: Poems, by Selina Tusitala Marsh Being Māori in the City: Indigenous Everyday Life in Auckland, by Natacha Gagné Nonahere Òri Tahiti: Pipiri Mā, by Patrick Araia Amaru, Edgar Tetahiotupa, and Matani Kainuku Pacific Hall, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum Atua: Sacred Gods of Polynesia [exhibit] Tonga: The Last Place on Earth [documentary film] Living Along the Fenceline [documentary film] Cargo Cult [animated film] Featured Artist: Fatu Feuʻu
Fatu Feu‘u was born in Poutasi Falealiʻi, Sāmoa, and emigrated to Aotearoa/New Zealand in 1966. While working in the textile industry, he taught himself to paint and sculpt, and in 1983 his first solo exhibition was hosted by the Massey Homestead in Mangere, Manukau. His fresh and energetic paintings contemporize motifs derived from customary art forms—frigate birds modeled after siapo (barkcloth) patterns represent connections to the spirit world, and tatau (tattoo) motifs symbolize chiefs and genealogy told through matai peʻa (chiefly tattoo), like his own. Feuʻu’s paintings are va‘aomanu or vessels of knowledge that emphasize the importance of faʻa Sāmoa (the Samoan way) and Oceanic customs and history with a modernist edge. His stylized designs—frangipanis and Lapita motifs—were new to New Zealand’s 1980s art scene but have since become iconic of “Pacific art.” |
Fall 27(2) Articles Decolonization, Language, and Identity: The Francophone Islands of the Pacific Remembrance of the Colonial Past in the French Islands of the Pacific: Speeches, Representations, and Commemorations Brave New Words: The Complexities and Possibilities of an “Indigenous” Identity in French Polynesia and New Caledonia Imagining the Body in Pacific Francophone Literature Dialogue Linguistic Ideologies: Teaching Oceanic Languages in French Polynesia and New Caledonia Resources Resources for Research in French Polynesia and New Caledonia Political Reviews The Region in Review: International Issues and Events, 2014 Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2014 Book and Media Reviews Tiki Pop: America Imagines Its Own Polynesian Paradise [exhibit] Tiki Pop: America Imagines Its Own Polynesian Paradise, by Sven Kirsten Conjurer la guerre: Violence et pouvoir à Houaïlou (Nouvelle-Calédonie), by Michel Naepels Une mairie dans la France coloniale: Koné, Nouvelle Calédonie, by Benoît Trépied Décoloniser l’école? Hawai‘i, Nouvelle-Calédonie: Expériences contemporaines, by Marie Salaün The Pā Boys [feature film] Jonah From Tonga [television series] Tropics of Savagery: The Culture of Japanese Empire in Comparative Frame, by Robert Thomas Tierney Nanyo-Orientalism: Japanese Representations of the Pacific, by Naoto Sudo Architecture in the South Pacific: The Ocean of Islands, by Jennifer Taylor and James Conner Living Art in Papua New Guinea, by Susan Cochrane I Ulu I Ke Kumu, edited by Puakea Nogelmeier No Mākou ka Mana: Liberating the Nation, by Kamanamaikalani Beamer Islands at Risk? Environments, Economies and Contemporary Change, by John Connell Featured Artists
The art throughout this issue responds to a central theme: maintaining an indigenous identity within the French colonial system. These seven artists express, confront, and assert indigenous identities; they challenge and extend the visual discourse across the region and engage home communities and distant audiences. Rather than aesthetic similarities, I sought diversity. I invited women and men, well-established and emerging, who are exploring new media, mastering fine art practices, confronting social and cultural issues, and celebrating strength and beauty in Oceania. These artists grew up in the Islands. Many are self-taught, some went abroad to art schools, and others attended Tahiti’s Centre des Métiers d’Art (CMA), where students are encouraged to discover individual expression while learning techniques inherent in Polynesian and Oceanic artistic heritage. |