Marking 250 years since Cook’s first voyage to the Pacific, we
celebrate the dazzling and diverse art of the region of Oceania, from
the historic to the contemporary.
https://www.royalacademy.org.u
The year is 1768, and Britain is in the throes of the Age of
Enlightenment. As a group of artists agrees to found the Royal
Academy, Captain James Cook sets sail on a voyage of discovery to
track the transit of Venus and search for terra australis incognita –
the unknown southern continent, as Europeans called it. What Cook and
his crew encounter on arrival is a vast number of island civilisations
covering almost a third of the world’s surface: from Tahiti in
Polynesia, to the scattered archipelagos and islands of Melanesia and
Micronesia.
The indigenous populations they met came with their own histories of
inter-island trade, ocean navigation, and social and artistic
traditions. This spectacular exhibition will reveal these narratives –
celebrating the original, raw and powerful art that in time would
resonate across the European artistic sphere.
Oceania will bring together around 200 exceptional works from public
and private collections worldwide, and will span over 500 years. From
shell, greenstone and ceramic ornaments, to huge canoes and stunning
god images, we explore important themes of voyaging, place making and
encounter. The exhibition draws from rich historic ethnographic
collections dating from the 18th century to the present, and includes
seminal works produced by contemporary artists exploring history,
identity and climate change.
29 September — 10 December 2018
Daily 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Main Galleries, Burlington House, Royal Academy of Arts
£20 (without donation £18). Concessions available. Under-16s free with
a fee-paying adult. Free for Friends of the RA, no booking required.
Free for all New Zealand, Tonga and Papua New Guinea passport holders
(show passport at exhibition entrance).
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