Ritual masks, sculptures connecting life and death, ceremonial weapons carved for war and prestige, model vessels designed to cross an infinite ocean... The international exhibition Voices of the Pacific. Innovation and Tradicion presents for the first time in Galicia a selection of over 200 objects from the British Museum's collection, one of the most significant of Oceanian art internationally.
From Papua New Guinea to Rapa Nui, and from Hawaii to New Zealand, Oceania encompasses a vast diversity of islands and cultures united by the Pacific. In the vast ocean that covers almost a third of the Earth's surface, we find rainforests, kelp forests, mangroves, coral reefs, snow-capped mountains and turquoise lagoons.
Voices of the Pacific is a celebration of the cultures and artistic sensibility of the peoples who inhabit this vast region, for whom the ocean has been both a means of subsistence and the inspiration for their creativity.
Exceptional travellers and artists
Great experts in long-distance travel, the inhabitants of the Pacific led cosmopolitan lives long before Europeans arrived in the region. Furthermore, they are considered exceptional artists who create beautiful objects for their everyday lives using natural elements such as stone, wood, fibres or shells. Fans, fishhooks, textiles, weapons, canoes... each object is beautifully crafted, with decorations imbued with a deep and spiritual meaning: art is part of every aspect of life.
Voices of the Pacific showcases numerous historical objects, but also works by contemporary creators who bring the richness of Oceanian art to Santiago de Compostela through a balance between innovation and tradition. A quarter of the total number of pieces was created in the last fifty years by contemporary artists who preserve and revive traditional forms of weaving, carving or tattooing.
The narrative establishes a direct connection with current global challenges such as climate change, which critically threatens the survival of many islands in Oceania due to rising sea levels.
Innovation and tradition
Throughout the exhibition route, the display is presented as an invitation to reflection and action, highlighting the creativity, innovation and resilience that have characterised these communities for millennia.
From a contemporary perspective, the narrative establishes a direct connection with current global challenges, especially with the impact of climate change, which critically threatens the survival of many islands in Oceania due to rising sea levels. In this way, Voices of the Pacific is framed as an acknowledgement of ancestral Oceanian cultures as a fundamental source of knowledge for tackling the environmental challenges of the present.
