2015

 

Spring 27(1)


Articles

Vulnerable Islands: Climate Change, Tectonic Change, and Changing Livelihoods in the Western Pacific
John Connell

Working Out What to Wear in Papua New Guinea: The Politics of Fashion in Stella
Ceridwen Spark

Dialogue

Austronesian Youth Perspectives on Language Reclamation and Maintenance
Emerson Lopez Odango

Re-Presenting Melanesia: Ignoble Savages and Melanesian Alter-Natives
Tarcisius Kabutaulaka

A Sea of Warriors: Performing an Identity of Resilience and Empowerment in the Face of Climate Change in the Pacific
Candice Elanna Steiner

Resources

Diacritical Marks and the Samoan Language
Eseta Magaui Tualaulelei, Fepuleai Lasei John Mayer, and Galumalemana A Hunkin

Political Reviews

Political Reviews Editor’s Note
David Kupferman

Micronesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014
Taberannang Korauaba, Kelly G Marsh, Clement Yow Mulalap, Christina Sablan, Tyrone J Taitano

Polynesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014
Lorenz Gonschor, Margaret Mutu, Christina Newport, Forrest Wade Young

Book and Media Reviews

The Bond of Time: An Epic Love Poem, by John Puhiatau Pule
Reviewed by Steven Gin

Dark Sparring: Poems, by Selina Tusitala Marsh
Reviewed by Tulia Thompson

Being Māori in the City: Indigenous Everyday Life in Auckland, by Natacha Gagné
Reviewed by Marama Muru-Lanning

Nonahere Òri Tahiti: Pipiri Mā, by Patrick Araia Amaru, Edgar Tetahiotupa, and Matani Kainuku
Reviewed by Terava Ka‘anapu Casey

Pacific Hall, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
Reviewed by Maile Drake and Karen K Kosasa

Atua: Sacred Gods of Polynesia [exhibit]
Reviewed by David Hansen

Tonga: The Last Place on Earth [documentary film]
Reviewed by Lea Lani Kauvaka

Living Along the Fenceline [documentary film]
Reviewed by Jesi Lujan Bennett

Cargo Cult [animated film]
Reviewed by Lamont Lindstrom

Featured Artist: Fatu Feuʻu


Talanoa (2014), by Fatu Feu‘u

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
Léopold Mu Si Yan and Bruno Saura

Remembrance of the Colonial Past in the French Islands of the Pacific: Speeches, Representations, and Commemorations
Bruno Saura

Brave New Words: The Complexities and Possibilities of an “Indigenous” Identity in French Polynesia and New Caledonia
Natacha Gagné

Imagining the Body in Pacific Francophone Literature
Titaua Porcher-Wiart

Dialogue

Linguistic Ideologies: Teaching Oceanic Languages in French Polynesia and New Caledonia
Jacques Vernaudon

Resources

Resources for Research in French Polynesia and New Caledonia
David Aymonin and Isabelle Heutte

Political Reviews

The Region in Review: International Issues and Events, 2014
Nic Maclellan

Melanesia in Review: Issues and Events, 2014
Jon Fraenkel, Douglas Kammen, Solomon Kantha, Gordon Leua Nanau, Howard Van Trease

Book and Media Reviews

Tiki Pop: America Imagines Its Own Polynesian Paradise [exhibit]

Tiki Pop: America Imagines Its Own Polynesian Paradise, by Sven Kirsten
Reviewed by Geoffrey M White

Conjurer la guerre: Violence et pouvoir à Houaïlou (Nouvelle-Calédonie), by Michel Naepels
Reviewed by Louis Bousquet

Une mairie dans la France coloniale: Koné, Nouvelle Calédonie, by Benoît Trépied
Reviewed by Lorenzo Veracini

Décoloniser l’école? Hawai‘i, Nouvelle-Calédonie: Expériences contemporaines, by Marie Salaün
Reviewed by Nathalie Segeral

The Pā Boys [feature film]
Reviewed by Vilsoni Hereniko

Jonah From Tonga [television series]
Reviewed by David W Kupferman

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
Reviewed by Josh Levy

Architecture in the South Pacific: The Ocean of Islands, by Jennifer Taylor and James Conner
Reviewed by Hetereki Huke

Living Art in Papua New Guinea, by Susan Cochrane
Reviewed by Paul Sharrad

I Ulu I Ke Kumu, edited by Puakea Nogelmeier
Reviewed by Kirsten Kamaile Noelani Mawyer

No Mākou ka Mana: Liberating the Nation, by Kamanamaikalani Beamer
Reviewed by Lorenz Gonschor

Islands at Risk? Environments, Economies and Contemporary Change, by John Connell
Reviewed by Lindsey Harris

Featured Artists


Kego (2004), by Paula Boi Gony

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.

 

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