- Publisher
- Thames & Hudson
- Published
- 1995
- Shelf
- culture: The Pacific
- ISBN
- 9780500202814
The Pacific
Oceanic Art
Nicholas Thomas
A short, dense introduction to the art of the Pacific islands, and to how most of it ended up in European museums.
Why read it
Thomas refuses the usual framing, which treats Pacific objects as anonymous and timeless. He names makers where they can be named, dates things, and is direct about collection and theft. The chapters on tapa and on tattoo are the most useful to a designer: both are pattern systems with rules, and both were read as decoration for two centuries by people who had not asked.
Why own it
It fits in a coat pocket and covers a third of the planet. Nothing else this small is this reliable on the subject.
Who it is for
Anyone reaching for a tribal pattern without knowing whose it is.
Opens a search on AbeBooks, a network of independent and antiquarian sellers, which is where a good part of this shelf has to be found, because it is out of print.
Read next
Chosen because they argue with this one, not because a machine noticed they share a category.
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