The seafaring people of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia created a rich art heritage that lasted into the nineteenth century.
Canoes were works of art in themselves, with dazzling shell inlay and carved prows. Decoration of everyday objects delighted the people, and they produced the strikingly painted bark cloth called tapa and the elaborate body adornment called tatu.
Although the islanders worked in stone, as the giant heads of Easter Island show, their favorite material for carving was wood. Master artists carved handsome ancestor boards, ceremonial clubs, and exquisite food bowls.
Fortunately, young island artists of today are looking at the treasures of their own past for inspiration as they begin to create the new arts of the South Pacific.
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