New Ireland: Art of the South Pacific: 5 Continents Edition

ISBN: 8874393695

Author: Michael Gunn

Condition: New

In the southwest Pacific, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the people of New Ireland, an island group located east of New Guinea, created more than 20,000 works of art which they used in traditional context, then exported to the outside world. In their ceaseless quest for artistic expression, the people living on this remote archipelago created strikingly original pieces which are astonishing works of art.In order to gain a greater understanding of the creative processes that occurred more than 120 years ago and resulted in this tremendous outpouring of art objects, the curators and authors traveled to New Ireland to work with local people in their villages. They brought with them photographs of the old art works now in museum collections, and they records aesthetic experience and ritual context as they occur today. Their original research in many of the art-producing regions of New Ireland has resulted in new data that has provided in a much clearer understanding of creativity in Island Melanesia than has previously been achieved.The exhibition and catalogue feature art works from all regions of New Ireland that originated during this period, and explore the sources of this tremendously creative output.