Oceania

Oceania is the name given to a large group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. It includes Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii.

Some places were explored and settled over 40,000 years ago. Europeans began to arrive there about 500 years ago.

Between 1850 -1930 many objects were brought back to Europe, but they were not always properly recorded. We often do not know who made or owned them.

The gallery looks at some of the questions surrounding these objects and how they were collected:

• how did the objects get here?
• why were some collected and not others?
• are they important in different ways to different people?
• what makes these objects important today?

Follow the links below to find out more about:

• Contacts and encounters
• Pacific Islanders
• Europeans in Oceania
• New Guinea
• Malagan in New Ireland
• New Zealand / Aotearoa
• The importance of Barkcloth throughout Oceania

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