The Pacific Art Association Newsletter, Number 26, June 2010
THE PACIFIC ARTS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
Number 26, June 2010
Table of Contents
Message President Michael Gunn
Review of the PAA Europe Annual Conference in Stuttgart
The 10th PAA International Symposium in Rarotonga
o Venue Change
o Registration Information
o Presentations and Updated Speaker Program
o Power Point/Audio Visual Presentation Requirements
Forthcoming PAA International Events and Exhibitions
New Publications
Pacific Arts Journal
PAA Members News
PAA Membership Information
From the Editor
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Message from President Michael Gunn
With the changing seasons, comes the time of year for changes, and so there is exciting news to share with you -- the National Museum of Papua New Guinea has a new director.
On the 1st of June the deputy Prime Minister for Papua New Guinea signed the instruments to appoint Andrew Moutu as Acting Director of the National Museum until a permanent appointment is made. This is the beginning of a new era.
Andrew is currently a lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Adelaide in South Australia, a position he has held since April 2009. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Marilyn Strathern and carried out his fieldwork in Kanganamun village, of the Iatmul region in Papua New Guinea, focusing on issues of ownership and ideas of personhood.
Originally from the Arapesh village of Wautogik, Andrew is married with three children, and is looking forward to returning to Papua New Guinea to begin his life's work.
Andrew, the Pacific Arts Association congratulates you on your new appointment! We look forward to working with you more closely.
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PACIFIC ARTS ASSOCIATION- EUROPE: Review of the PAA Europe Annual Conference in Stuttgart
The annual meeting of the PACIFIC ARTS ASSOCIATION – EUROPE took place from 27-29 May, in Stuttgart and Heidelberg, Germany. This allowed participants to view the Linden-Museum's first comprehensive exhibition on Micronesian cultures, Power and Aesthetics – Traditional life in Micronesia (South Seas Oasis - Life and Survival in the Western Pacific) [Südsee-Oasen - Leben und Überleben im Südpazifik], which was on display there until June 6th.
This extensive exhibition through which curator and the able organizer of the conference, Ingrid Heermann acted as a guide presented three separate but interconnected parts: Making a Living introducing the specific environment of low islands and showing the strategies used by different cultures to sustain a living; To Other Islands and Beyond demonstrating the construction principles and processes in traditional canoe building and the forms of blue sea sailing; and Power and Aesthetics drawing from the wealth of Micronesian objects in the Museum's and other German and European museums and collections.
This PAA-E conference also offered its 40 international participants a welcome address by Museum Director Ines de Castro, presentations of papers, viewings of films and documentaries, and an excursion to Heidelberg. In Heidelberg, Margaret Pavaloi, Director of the J & E von Portheim Stiftung-Ethnographic Museum in the 18th Century Palais Weimar, founded by Victor M Goldschmidt and his wife in 1919, welcomed the PAA-E for a viewing of the permanent exhibition of the Konrad's collection of Asmat works and to the museum's storage. The Goldschmidt Foundation continues to support the display this hardly known collection of Oceanic, African and Asian art.
The General Assembly on Day 2 of the conference saw the reading by Philippe Peltier of the minutes of the previous year's Bonn Conference and their confirmation; a report on the election of the Board whose 3 members remain the same with Philippe Peltier-President for the next 4 years; Roberta Colombo Dougoud, Anita Herle, Steven Hooper-Vice Presidents; a discussion of possible venues for next year's PAA-E meeting and the Treasury Report. It was also noted that to date there were some 150 registrants for the August PAA Conference in Rarotonga in August.
The Stuttgart symposium was rounded out by two lively communal dinners, the first in Stuttgart at the elegant Alte Kanzlei and the last night at a restaurant serving Schwabian fare in the old schloss of Heidelberg, near the Ethnographic Museum.
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Pacific Arts Association's 10th International Symposium
Pacific Art in the 21st century: Museums, New Global Communities and Future Trends
August 9 – 11, 2010
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
You are urged to arrive a few days early in order to experience the major cultural event drawing peoples from throughout the Cook Islands together for Maeva Nui or Cook Islands Constitution Celebrations ending August 7th. The PAA 10th International Symposium takes place in Rarotonga, August 9-11, 2010 and highlights issues surrounding the Pacific art in the 21st century. To Register, you MUST be a current Member of the PAA.
The symposium and all its events will now center in and near the five star Crown Beach Resort right on the lagoon, more sheltered from the winter season's prevailing cool winds. Those participants, who have already booked accommodations close to the original venue, will be provided with complimentary transportation to the new conference location.
All the sessions will be held at one of two on-site venues, and lunch following the opening ceremony, morning and afternoon teas for the three days of the conference, and the final banquet (a traditional ground oven) and cultural performance on the beach also will all take place on-site at the resort.
Participants are expected to organize their own lunch (at the hotel or elsewhere on the island) on Tuesday (craft exhibition) and Wednesday (banquet day). All the evening events remain as planned except that the Tivaivai exhibition and cocktail on the first night will take place closer to the new conference location. A 20 seater bus for transport in and out of town and to the evening events will be provided.
The Cook Islands organizers will send out an email toward the end of this month with full arrival guidelines for participants. In addition, an arrival pack will be available at the PAA booth at Rarotonga Airport.
To help with arrangements the for being met, please email Rod Dixon dixon_r@usp.ac.fj with your incoming Flight Number, Airline, arrival time and arrival date. For visitors arriving from Australia, New Zealand and Asia, you will be crossing the International Date Line and gaining a day.
For more information, please visit PAA's 10th International Symposium page.
For more general information, please visit the PAA Cook Islands 2010 Blog.
Symposium Registration Information
If you have not already registered please do so now. For all information on how to register and fees, and to register and pay on line, please click here.
Presentations and Updated Speaker Program
Final selection for papers highlighting issues surrounding the creation, dispersal, possession, repatriation, stewardship and interpretation of Pacific art in the 21st century to be presented at the Symposium has been made. If you submitted an abstract and have not received an email from the Symposium organizers, please contact Christina Hellmich at chellmich@famsf.org.
A conference Schedule Overview and a detailed Presentation Schedule are available on the PAA website.
Please see below for presentation and AV equipment information. We seek to make speaker transitions as smooth and rapid as possible enabling easy download and upload of materials and to minimize photocopying. For assistance and to inform Rod Dixon directly of your requirements please contact him directly at dixon_r@usp.ac.fj as requested below.
If you applied for a scholarship and HAVE NOT received an email from the Symposium organizers, please contact Christina Hellmich at chellmich@famsf.org (some emails may have been intercepted by SPAM blockers).
Power Point/Audio-Visual Presentation Requirements
We will be using Mac OS X operating system as standard for the conference. To ensure smooth transitions between speakers please observe the following guidelines:
PC users – please use Microsoft Office 2003 – 2007 PowerPoint software for your presentations.
Mac users - please use PowerPoint: Mac 2004 or a similar readable format.
For video segments in your presentations, please use Quick Time Movie or AVI formats.
Please provide power-points to the conference coordinators 24 hours before presentation, on a memory stick or a CD readable on Mac OSX. This will allow for the power points being preloaded onto the computer and allowing rapid transition between speakers.
If presenters have special audio visual requirements please ensure the conference coordinators are provided with timely advice of your needs by emailing Rod Dixon.
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Forthcoming International Events and Exhibitions
The next PAA Europe meeting will take place in Leiden, Netherlands timed to take advantage of the Mana Maori exhibition opening at the Volkenkunde Museum there, 15 October 2010 and closing 30 April 2011. Please check the PAA website for the Symposium dates and further information as they become available.
The New York CAA Conference February 9-12, 2011: PAA at CAA
As a benefit of its affiliation with the College Art Association, the PAA hosts a session of papers at the annual CAA conference. For more about the CAA, including membership information and the full conference schedule, please visit CAA's website. Please visit Current PAA at CAA for more information about the 2011 CAA conference.
The deadline for submitting a Session Proposal for 2011 has passed. To submit a Session Proposal for the 2012 CAA Conference in Los Angeles, please visit PAA at CAA 2012.
To view abstracts from previous sessions, please visit Past PAA at CAA.
International Exhibitions and Events of Interest
For a complete list of international exhibitions and events, please visit PAA's Exhibtions page.
A complete archive of past exhibitions can be found on PAA's Past Exhibitions page.
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New Publications
For a complete list of new publications, please visit PAA's Publications of Interest page.
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We hope you enjoyed Pacific Arts, NS 8 2009, with feature articles focusing on paintings, new galleries, collectors, and artists from the Pacific. Contributors included: Christian Kaufmann, Barry Craig, Lucie Carreau and Tressa Berman.
The next volume of Pacific Arts is in print as we write and should be reaching members soon.
A call for articles on the art of the Pacific region for future Journals remains in place along with a request for suggestions for special issues devoted to particular topics or regions, as well as for books, exhibitions, videos, etc., for review.
Volunteer Peer Reviewers needed
The Pacific Arts Journal needs volunteers to peer review articles submitted to the journal. We hope to compile a list of qualified individuals.
If you are interested please send your name, email address, and a brief summary of your expertise to Anne Allen.
For more information on submission of articles and for further updates, please visit PAA's Pacific Arts Journal page.
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PAA Member News
News from the Ethnographic Collections of Ghent University
During the Annual Meeting of the PAA in 2008, the situation at Ghent University was complicated by the cessation of Ethnic Art studies there. However, we are delighted to report that recent developments concerning the Ethnographic Collections show a change for the better.
In the near future these collections might be doubled! A gift by a private collector will add some thirty pieces of Asmat art from the 1950s, including a bisj-pole and an uramun or spirit canoe.
Further, the Radbout University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands will donate its collections of the Capuchins and of the Mission of the Sacred Heart as a loan in perpetuity. These collections include more than three thousand objects from Indonesia, New Guinea, Africa, and last but not least China. There are preparations made for a gift of quite a great number of objects from Native Americans from the South West.
More good news is that Ghent University has ambitious plans to create a new museum for academic heritage. The goal is to open the museum in 2017 for the 200 years celebration of Ghent University. This future museum will cover 2500-3000 m² and will contain a permanent display of different collections; a space for temporary exhibitions; and an information centre for the public.
Researchers need to be taken into account, which means that the opportunity to plan ‘centres of expertise’ arises. Therefore, together with the former Ethnographic Museum of Antwerp (which recently lost its autonomy when it became part of MAS, the umbrella museum of that city), an application for a subsidy will be made to the Flemish Community.
The plan is to work towards funding for an 'expertise centre' in the arts of Oceania, Africa and the Americas and an appeal to those interested to please join in bringing this about is made.
Your inspiring and inspired ideas of all kinds are also most welcome!
Please contact Paulina.vanderZee@UGent.be and/or Mireille.Holsbeke@stad.Antwerpen.be for more information.
Toi Māori signs Ceremonial Waka Deed with Volkenkunde Museum in Leiden, Netherlands
Toi Maori representatives travelled to the Netherlands for an official signing of a Deed on the 10th June 2010 concerning a ceremonial waka.
With the financial support of Bank Giro Lottery in the Netherlands, Toi Maori commissioned Master Waka Builder and Navigator Hekenukumai Puhipi to build this ceremonial waka. The whakairo for the waka are being carved by Takirirangi Smith and his team. The waka is due to be completed by June 26, 2010 where it will have its official launch at Aurere, Bay of Islands.
The ceremonial waka will be on permanent loan to Volkenkunde Museum, and will remain as a working exhibition. It will have a waka shelter on the Museum grounds. A team of carvers managed by Takirirangi will be sent in August to complete whakairo for the waka shelter.
The ownership of the ceremonial waka will remain with Toi Maori and can be utilised anywhere in Europe, as and when Toi Maori deems necessary. The official handover of this waka will occur on October 14, 2010 coinciding with an opening of a major Maori exhibition featuring Dutch interaction with Maori since 1642 when Abel Tasman arrived. He of course left Aotearoa with a name...New Zealand.
Toi Māori Aotearoa is the national organisation for Māori art and artists and receives major funding from Te Waka Toi, the Māori Arts Board of Creative New Zealand.
For more information, please click here.
Dr. Nicolas Garnier Appointed as Lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby
The University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby, recently appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Visual Anthropology Anthropology, Sociology & Archaeology, Dr. Nicolas Garnier.
Garnier, author of a PhD thesis on the ritual system and the art of Chambri, a hot spot of Sepik art, is teaching in English and finds that publications in English on the Arts of the Pacific are hard to come by in Port Moresby.
He would like to establish contact with members of PAA. Those interested in contacting him or sending him material in English on the subject are asked to contact him at:
University of Papua New Guinea
POB 320, University PO
NCD, Papua New Guinea
http://nicolasgarnier.over-blog.com/
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PAA Membership Information
Please note that ONLY PAA members may register and attend the Conference in Rarotonga this August.
For more information about how to become a PAA member, please visit PAA's Membership page.
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From the Editor
This, the first issue of the PAA Newsletter for 2010, reaches you following the highly successful PAA-Europe Symposium in Stuttgart. After having curated the very comprehensive and erudite Micronesian art exhibition there, Ingrid Heermann found the energy to host us and fill our three days there with much interest. Many thanks to Ingrid for her efforts on our behalf!
Worldwide activity in the field of Oceanic art supplies much material for this Newsletter but also testifies to the untiring efforts of scholars, researchers and curators in this field. This is reflected not only in the numerous focused exhibitions but also in the inter-cultural exhibitions taking place now, such as Meaning and symbolism of male ornaments in Africa and Oceania in Paris at the Musee Dapper; Man-Made Jewels, Jewels of the Earth at the Musees Barbier-Mueller, Geneva; and Being Objects. Being Art. Masterpieces from the Collections of the Museum of World Cultures at the Museum der Weltkulturen, Frankfurt.
The 10th Pacific Arts Association International Symposium in Rarotonga is our next chance to meet and exchange knowledge with each other, and to experience the Pacific cultures first hand.
I look forward to seeing you there; meanwhile, best wishes for a good summer and safe travels.
In closing, again my thanks go to Frances Barrow, in Tel Aviv, for her editing assistance, and to the Israel Museum’s computer department for their technical advice.
Dorit Shafir