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Community Corner

"Spirit and Identity: Melanesian Works from the Hofstra University Museum Collections" Exhibition

Curated by collections manager Kristy L. Caratzola of the

Hofstra University Museum, this exhibition showcases an extraordinary aspect of

the HUM collections for the first time. 

The original exhibit offers a range of ethnographic artworks and objects

created by members of the distinct regional communities of Irian Jaya, Papua

New Guinea, New Britain, Vanuatu, and the Kiriwina Islands located in the South

Pacific.  The selected works center upon

ancestral figures, ceremonial masks, warrior shields, and ritualized practical

objects crafted from natural materials sourced from sacred sites within the territory

of each individual culture.  The exhibit

also includes sophisticated wooden sculptures carved and painted by revered

artists, which serve to express complex ideological beliefs through stylized

human and animal forms complemented with colorful, abstracted geometric

designs.  The vital connection between

humans and ancestral spirits and their active role in providing guidance and

protection is an essential concept shared among many Oceanic cultures and is a

defining characteristic of Melanesian art.

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