HISTORICAL CHANGE IN PACIFIC ARTS
Tjitske van der Veen
On the occasion of the First European Colloquium on Pacific Studies, that took place in Nijmegen (Netherlands) on 17, 18 and 19 December 1992, an exhibition was organised in the Ethnographical Museum in Nijmegen1. The double exhibition, entitled "Pacific Imagesii: Tradition and Change", was located in the Museum, and the gallery of the University Library during the months December and January. In the museum room Pacific artifacts were presented in combination with contemporary tourist and fine art products, the latter consisting of prints and gouaches of a group of Tiwi artists from Australia and works of John Bevan Ford, a leading Maori artist from New Zealand. The Pacific region was designated as including Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Australia and New Zealand.
The exhibition was aesthetic in nature, meaning that the artistic quality of the artifacts was the starting point for their display rather than their contextual function for an ethnographic account. The aim of the exhibition was to give an impression of the variety and beauty of material culture in the Pacific on the one hand and of both changes and continuity in style, meaning and function resulting from European influence on the other hand. However, textual information in an aesthetic exhibition is necessarily limited. Some general tendencies that can be observed in the development of Pacific art were not commented on in the exhibition. This article is intended to discuss these tendencies a bit further. I will restrict myself to material art. Although performing and written arts have also been affected by foreign influences, this is outside the scope of this article.
Art in a changing world
Europeans tend to think of Pacific art as relatively uninfluenced until recently, when for instance tourist exploitation of the islands began. This is reflected in museum collecting and documentation policies. Many artifact collections were formed at the turn of the century. These collections, generally considered to consist of traditional, unchanged art, "provided the baseline against which we compare the newer contemporary and tourist art forms" (Hanson & Hanson, 1990:161). However the societies from which these artifacts originated were already changing. Even before European contact Pacific art was not unchanged art in an unchanging and isolated world, but evolving in response to culture contact, changing (natural) circumstances and other events. "Every culture is constantly in a state of flux, and that includes its art" (Hanson & Hanson, 1990:1- 2). Radical changes were effected by the arrival of white people in the Pacific in the sixteenth century when Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean. Confrontation with European technology and culture meant a revolution in the sense that, unlike before, the harmonious relationship between art and society was disturbed. "Colonialism and the imposition of western values confused and suppressed the natural evolution of indigenous art (Tausie, 1981: x). On the other hand it cannot be denied that "...western technology and culture offered new dimensions and avenues in art" (ibid). Because of the disappearance of traditional boundaries, experiences have broadened. New ideas and tastes arose, resulting in new arts and destruction of old traditions (Graburn, 1976:12).
Decline
The Pacific world changed profoundly due to exogeneous factors, like colonial rule, education, mission and new technology. One of the consequences of the presence of Europeans was a decline in "traditional" Pacific art, resulting from the fact that many artifacts were destroyed, given away or exchanged. Moreover there was a decrease in the production of art. Two important factors were involved here: the introduction of new materials and a new worldview. Especially utilitarian objects were influenced by the availability of new materials, mainly metal, of European origin. All kinds of carriers, containers, tools and weapons were replaced and exchanged, due to access to more functional European specimens. Production of traditional materials for home consumption eventually declined. Metal axes, knifes and so on were offered by European sailors, travellers, whalers and settlers in order to build friendly relationships with indigenous peoples or in exchange for food or souvenirs. This category of utilitarian artifacts, especially weapons, arrived on the European market relatively early in the contact period, partly because of the European desire for sensational and novel objects. These objects were not considered works of art, but curiosities. Collecting occurred unsystematically and generally without contextual information on origin and function. The considerable value of Pacific artifacts in the homecountries caused Europeans in the Pacific to acquire the desired goods through plundering and armed conflict if necessary. Even more profound was the impact of the introduction of a new worldview. Pacific art functioned as a medium between the living and the dead. By means of the personification of ancestors and gods or their symbolic representations in art, people tried to secure their assistance in everyday activities, or seek consolodation from them. Religious masks and statues were especially embodied with power. They were in a sense temporary reincarnations of the spirits. Besides religious functions, art also carried important social functions. Group identity, aspects of gender relations and other aspects of social organization were symbolically expressed in art. Both the religious and social order were disturbed by the arrival of Europeans, having important implications for artistic expressions. The loss of traditional beliefs affected the production, style and function of art. Many symbols of traditional religion were no longer valid and therefore exchanged or traded. Both missionaries and some of the natives themselves got rid of religious objects by throwing them away and leaving them to rot or by burning these objects. Some missionaries turned out to be traders, shipping artifacts overseas, to be sold in Europe as pagan idols in order to finance missionary work. Others were given to benefactors of the mission or ended up in missionary museums, to which many contemporary museums owe their existence or large parts of their collections. Production of religious artifacts suffered an extreme decline and even stopped completely in some Pacific areas.
To the extent that production of religious artifacts did continue, its purpose generally changed to a Christian one, applying Christian iconography. Some types of Christian art, however, still revealed features of the local art style. Religious carvings also returned in the souvenir industry, but now as lifeless imitations of traditional functional spirit figures. Therefore Westernization not only affected the manufacture of artifacts but also the intention, replacing the initial religious and practical function for home consumption into another religious and commercial orientation, the latter increasingly directed to foreign consumption.
Commercialization
Another major consequence of the presence of Europeans in this part of the world was the process of commercialization of art. It started out with the occasional sale of artifacts, originally made for personal use. The next step was to produce both for home and foreign consumption. Finally some artists started to specialize in commercial production. Evidence suggests that commercial art production commenced as early as the turn of the century, maybe even before. In 1909 the Hamburger Südsee Expedition found a souvenir industry on the Admiralty Islands that had already been in operation for thirty years (Wilpert, 1985:28). In the beginning of the twentieth century natives of the Marshall Islands sold mats for table-cloths, formerly used as clothes but now replaced by western clothing by order of missionaries.
In the beginning, commercial products were copies of traditional artifacts (Hanson & Hanson, 1990:247). Gradually, however, commercialization of art resulted in modification of art styles and production. This was facilitated by the technological and religious revolution. Traditionally "the stylistic and iconographous variations permitted the artist were small, since such variations, by confusing the viewers, could hinder the ritual functioning of the object" (Graburn, 1976:252). Function seemed to override the importance of style. In commercial art, however, the function changed to a decorative one, making aesthetic considerations dominant. With traditional constraints on artistic creativity gone, mythological and ritual connotations could now be left out or changed. Consumers, mostly Europeans ignorant of traditional iconography, would not notice omitted or changed details. Introduction to new western lifestyles and the cash-economy necessitated foreign currency, for which eventually the tourist and souvenir industry became the main sources. At first consumers consisted of sailors, scientists and settlers, nowadays souvenirs are produced for organised tourism, travelling business people and development workers. Islands lacking natural resources are especially likely to try to escape their financial distress by turning to tourism.
Aesthetic change
Many new developments in art, sometimes even opposing ones, have been taking place for which the market is the main instigator. Commercialization and transformation to suit new requirements go hand in hand. "With the commercialisation of art comes the ascendancy of western concepts, attitudes, and values of art. Since the market determines the kind and form of art produced, and the market is mainly Euro-American, it is obvious it is white values which really dictate the standards (Tausie, 1981:60). One of the western influences on art concerns design emphasis. The artisan now takes into account the aesthetic taste of the tourist, which is determined by the tourist's conception of what is typical and appropriate for primitive peoples and their arts. "Tourists arrive with preconceived ideas. There are various ways of satisfying them. One is to try, in the name of reviving traditional cultures, to fool the tourist with a diluted version of the real thing (Tausie, 1981:55). Therefore modifications, invention and faking are not uncommon in the souvenir industry. These tourist or airport arts don't seem to have retained links with traditional culture. Their symbolic content is drastically reduced and they confirm the consumer's notion of the characteristics of these cultures. Graburn also refers to these tourist arts as "ethno-kitsch" (1976:6). He mentions, for instance, the fact that western people expect the colour of art to coincide with the skin colour of the people. Sepik artists conform to that expectation by making statues of light coloured material and finishing them with black shoe polish. However, traditionally dark wood was not used in art due to its absence in certain areas. An important set of criteria that controls art production is the tourist's demand for souvenirs that are cheap and understandable, resulting in profound modifications. "The major tendency is toward naturalism, the simple portrayal of some being, person or object in such a way as to be understood and recognized by someone who is not too familiar with the culture. Tourist art operates as a minimal system which must make meanings as accessible as possible across visual boundary lines. This need for understanding and realism, combined with the romantic impulse, is behind the popularity of certain completely non-native [...] arts " (Graburn, 1976:17). For these tourists a whole range of out-and-out souvenirs is for sale in the Pacific. In order to satisfy the need for understanding and naturalism for instance animal figures, like elephants and dragons, are made. These are familiar to the tourists, but were never indigenous to the Pacific fauna. This way souvenirs are produced, that are alien to the indigenous tradition. Alien elements are also incorporated in new art forms that are created out of old ones for commercial purposes. Various Pacific art styles are blended in uninspired souvenirs, "largely lacking originality, which is manifest in a uniformity of style" (Hanson & Hanson, 1990, 246). One of many examples is the grimacing mouth, which probably originated in Hawaii, and which can now be seen in artistic products from other Pacific islands as well. Artists are even inspired by non- Pacific art, like African masks. Part of the souvenir production takes place outside the Pacific in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Taiwan. Despite increasing mass-production in Asia, most Pacific souvenirs are still hand-made.
On the other hand, there is a tendency towards grotesqueness, that is an exaggeration of unfamiliar or distorted features, and exotism (Graburn, 1976:17). Again the tourists' perception of what is primitive and exotic defines the nature of the souvenirs. Grotesque artifacts are especially desired by the category of adventurous tourists that seek a confrontation with the uncivilized in the Pacific. This expectation is expressed in the development of "forms [of art] that derive from tradition, but some of whose aspects have been exaggerated [...], like the human figures with outsize penises, and the sculptures of copulating pigs" (Smidt, 1990:196). Grotesque artifacts are intended to appeal to the consumer's desire for excitement, awe, or the inexplicable.
It can be concluded that the souvenir industry is controlled by many, sometimes opposite, demands, resulting in a gamut of souvenirs ranging form relatively traditional in style to almost completely foreign. Both enlargement and miniaturization occur. In some souvenirs style and form are simplified because of the need for naturalism, whereas in others exaggerated features reveal a desire for grotesqueness. And undecorated souvenirs are alternated with heavily decorated ones. Actually this overdecoration shows that they were never intended to be used, but were made to attract buyers. These diverse demands may be related to the different categories of consumers. Some tourists visit the Pacific in search of paradise on earth, while others expect to find uncivilized savages.
Practical change
Besides aesthetical wishes of tourists, art developments are also dictated by practical requirements. For the sake of usefulness and comprehensibility non-native products have been introduced in the Pacific, like walking canes and salad covers. These may be made in the typical carving tradition of the various islands and may actually be of good quality. In order to guarantee usefulness of certain artifacts, sometimes new materials are used. Some traditional tapas can now be obtained in plastic or linen, so they can be used as table-cloths and serviettes and be cleaned afterwards (Wilpert, 1985:45).
Practical considerations with regard to transport and hanging affect both size and shape of artifacts. With some objects, like the Asmat-shield exhibited, the artists took into account transportation by means of a suitcase, making the shield smaller and more rectangular than the traditional shields. Asmat sago dishes pose a problem to tourists who want to hang them from the wall because of their protruding form and the decorations on both sides. The artists solve this problem by flattening the dishes and applying all the designs to the bottom. This way the ancestor representations no longer face in the traditional direction, towards the eater, but now face the viewer in the room. Economic considerations of the artist could result in either miniaturization or enlargement. The advantage of the first being the increased production and the low price of the product, leading to more sale. The second is more time- consuming, but can then be sold for higher prices.
Uniformity
Conformation to foreign demands often leads to loss of quality. This is closely related to the tendencies of increasing uniformity and alienation, which go together. This is partly owed to the adoption of Christian beliefs. With the functions of traditional religious art disappearing, there is no use anymore for the varying traditional iconography that was basically religious in essence. With the partial replacement of traditional iconography by Christian iconography, wide artistic diversity disappeared. Expressions of Christian religion can never fully substitute the diversity and intensity of traditional art forms. The exhibition clearly exemplified this in the display of three Asmat statues (New Guinea): a traditional one, a Christian one and a modern non-religious one. The traditional ancestor figure clearly revealed the association between people and the praying mantis, a basic concept in Asmat religion. This idea was apparent in the traditional ancestor figure through the integration of human and praying mantis features. The realistic human-like shape of both modern specimens did not attest to this symbolic association. Moreover the stylistic characteristics of the modern statues no longer clearly referred to their origin, whereas the traditional statue revealed a recognizably local style.
Of course many other factors related to commercialization of art, contribute to uniformity and alienation. Artifacts do not always come from the hands of experienced artists. Sometimes people who were never artists in a traditional context take up tourist art production. Traditional artists may be instructed to produce artifacts or styles that were not part of tradition and that he or she may have no experience in. Such suggestions are made to the artists by traders and hotel managers and are sometimes derived from art forms they observed elsewhere in the Pacific. The consequence of this is a dispersal and transformation of local style elements. This is enhanced by migrating and travelling artists, who may become inspired to incorporate alien elements in their arts. Moreover, handicraft in the Pacific is in danger of being superseded by the mass-produced Pacific souvenirs in Asia. These products are not hand-made by the Pacific artists themselves and are no longer being used in the Pacific communities. They have lost their function, and are out of place in contemporary society, because they bear no relevance to present-day life. It seems to me that loss of quality, uniformity and alienation are indissolubly connected.
Preservation of quality
Despite disintegration and depreciation of aesthetic standards, Pacific art is not dead and buried. Some art forms have managed to survive the threats of foreign influence and control. In the Pacific good quality handicraft, that has not lost its cultural background can still be found. These products may be intended for personal use, for sale or for both. A good example are the intricately decorated lime-spatulas of the Trobriand islands that are made both for home consumption and for the market. In some parts of the Pacific craftsmen are still working in domestic circles, using traditional production techniques. They still practise the arts of their ancestors and their results are used in their own community, with only occasional visits to town to sell their products.
Commercialization does not necessarily lead to loss of quality. According to Dark quality and aesthetic features can and are maintained (Hanson & Hanson, 1990:252). Some commercial pieces reveal great craftsmanship. As well as tourist art of poor quality, good replicas of traditional artifacts are produced, for which museum collections and illustrations in books provide the sources. Old forms are carefully copied for commercial and educational purposes. This revival of traditional forms and techniques is partly due to the need of museums and cultural centers to sustain themselves (Graburn, 1976:5). Other consumers are hotels and organisations, who like to display these objects as a kind of identity or status symbol. Despite their quality and resemblance to traditional artifacts, they seem to miss something vital and have in a sense become stagnant.
Lewis observed that in New Guinea, where tourism blossoms, apart from low-quality souvenirs, fine replicas of traditional artifacts, like slit gongs and roof-spire finals, are also made. Whereas in New Ireland, where tourism has hardly developed and the social-ceremonial context is still very much alive, art has lost a great deal of its quality. Accordingly, Lewis concludes that the souvenir industry and commercialization of art is not necessarily at the cost of artistic quality but can even cause the reemergence of certain forms of art and their preservation. Dark points out that "while the tourist industry promotes the production of new forms, it also fosters the traditional use of traditional materials" (Hanson & Hanson, 1990:248). Although Dark obviously considers this to be a positive development, it must be kept in mind that hotel managers and traders are only motivated by the money that is brought in and do not have the interest of the people or the culture at heart when they stimulate traditional production. On the other hand, stimulus for the revival of traditional arts may come from cultural centers, governments or musea, which are not commercially motivated. Dark points out that this loss of quality in the mass production of souvenirs worries Pacific Island governments. "The continuing production of various handicrafts seems to be of concern to all Pacific Island governments who, in varying ways have set up organizations to encourage production and market the products; they are after all, local industries." (Hanson & Hanson, 1990:251) "Arts and crafts, [...], are visible manifestations of the past and there is general concern to maintain their quality." (ibid) In connexion with reflection on the cultural heritage cultural centers have been founded in some parts of the Pacific, where attempts are being made to reproduce some of the old art forms and techniques (Wilpert, 1985:6t).
However there are two sides to this revival of tradition. On the one hand part of the cultural heritage is restored, which may be important for the Pacific Islanders in regaining their self-esteem and building a new identity. On the other hand one could wonder whether it's a good thing to stimulate people to produce art forms and use production methods that have lost meaning for them, and that they have been alienated from. After all, we do not expect our own artists to produce art that is of the past and has little or no value for our present life.
Modern fine arts
Contemporary Pacific art also shows new art forms that are closely related to people's experiences of present-day life, as for instance the pan-New Guinean and pan-Pacific developments in art, contributing to the rise of a fine art tradition in the Pacific. The style of these arts may not bear any relation to the traditional style. Instead western techniques and media are often applied, "such as felt pen drawings, oil paintings, silk screen prints, aluminium and copper panels, and metal structures" (Smidt, 1990:196). The messages contained in these works of art, however, are usually not totally disconnected from tradition. Often both traditional and contemporary realities are incorporated. Some artwork expresses history, emotions and struggle, with which other ethnic groups besides the artists' own can identify. This is in tune with the process of breakdown of traditional boundaries and regrouping in larger social units, which inevitably and necessarily results in new art forms that express changing values and new identities (Hanson & Hanson, 1990:163). The exhibition of Pacific art in the Ethnological Museum in Nijmegen contained several drawings of John Bevan Ford, a Maori artist. The theme of these works is the encounter of the Maori and the Dutch, when the dutchman Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand. The view of the Europeans on the islands and the symbolic view that the Maori hold of the land are depicted. Apart from this general theme, many references are made to Maori traditions. Also exhibited were gouaches from a group of female Tiwi artists from Australia who used western media to express traditional Tiwi cultural themes. An example of the embodiment of contemporary issues in art is the work of the woodcarver Valaosi from the Trobriand islands, for whom turbulent political developments were the motive for the production of a series of boards "which report, as it were, recent burning social issues, such as a confrontation between a pressure group and the police" (ibid). Such engaged art forms may prove to play an important role in the quest for a new identity, and are sometimes used a means to improve the position in society. Art and identity are closely related. Art expresses and promotes cultural values. In the greater part of tourist art this link with the values of the creator culture has been lost through foreign influence. Modern fine arts may be regarded as endeavours to retain self-worth and identity, or in other words considered to be a "creative attempt of acculturation" (de Vries, 1992:15).
Museums may also play an active part in artistic developments by being a source of inspiration to Pacific artists. Acquisitions and exhibitions of Pacific fine arts may help these arts to gain recognition in the art world and stimulate production. Art is vulnerable and may not survive lack of market or appreciation. The existence of an "airport market" will not be sufficient to help Pacific art to preserve or develop its own identity. I would have liked to elaborate on these promising developments a little further, but unfortunately contemporary Pacific art, and especially fine art, as a field of research still seems to be more or less ignored by anthropologists. Lack of systematic research and limited information in existing literature inhibits the gaining of insight in developments in Pacific fine art. len de Vries expresses her disappointment in the attention anthropologists pay to fine art. According to her they fail to recognise these art forms as genuine art. But she points out that even if these fine arts are not studied as art, they might be studied as attempts of acculturation. She fears that a lack of appreciation in the European art and scientific world, may contribute to the discontinuation of the attempts to establish a fine art tradition. (1992:13- 16)
Note
1. The initiative to this exhibition was taken by the curator of the Ethnological Museum in Nijmegen, Fer Hoekstra. Textual elaboration and the greater part of the selection of artifacts was done by Tjitske van der Veen. In mounting the exhibition they were assisted by Dirk Vanhoof, assistant curator.
References
Graburn, Nelson H. (ed), 1976, Ethnic and Tourist Arts. Cultural expressions from the Fourth World. University of California Press, Londen.
Hanson, Allan and Hanson, Louise (eds), 1990, Art and Identity in Oceania. Crawford House Press, Bathurst.
Mead, Sidney M. and Kernot, Bernie (eds], 1983, Art an Artists of Oceania. Ethnographic Arts Publications. The Dunmore Press, California.
Smidt, Dirk, 1990, 'Het Kunstenaarschap in Melanesië.' in: Sculptuur van Africa en Oceanië, van Kooten, Toos en van de Heuvel, Gerard (eds). Rijksmuseum KrÜller Muller, Otterlo.
Tausie, Vilsoni, 1981, Art in the New Pacific. Institute of South Pacific Studies, Suva.
Vries, Ien de, 1992, Contemporary Fine Arts of Papua New Guinea. Some observations. Paper presented at the Pacific Conference in Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Wilpert, Clara B., 1985, Südsee Souvenirs. Hamburgisches Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg.