Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

Exhibition: Oceania

Location

Royal Academy of Arts,

Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London,
W1J 0BD

Dates

This exhibition CLOSED on Mon, 10th Dec 2018

This exhibition has finished.

Cost: £20

Description

Marking 250 years since Cook’s first voyage to the Pacific, celebrate the dazzling and diverse art of the region of Oceania, from the historic to the contemporary.

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 reveals these narratives – celebrating the original, raw and powerful art that in time would resonate across the European artistic sphere.

Oceania brings together around 200 exceptional works from public collections worldwide, and spans 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.


Contact and Booking Details

More information at this website.

No need to book tickets - just turn up on the day.

Disclaimer

The information and prices in this listing are presumed to be correct at the time of publishing, but please always check with the venue before making a special trip.

All images are supplied by the exhibition organiser.

This exhibition has finished.

This event runs over several days/weeks. Dates include:

Location

Royal Academy of Arts,

Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London,
W1J 0BD

Map
Map