Adorning the World: Art of the Marquesas Islands

by Eric Kjellgren, Carol S. Ivory

The imagery of Marquesan art is testament to the myriad beings and creatures who inhabited the Marquesan universe - gods, ancestors, humans, lizards, turtles, fish - and to the islands' complex social and political organization. These art forms are explored in the present volume, published in conjunction with the exhibition "Adorning the World: Art of the Marquesas Islands," held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 11, 2005

Reviews

[Wendelle]

art and way of life of the Lapita people who came to the Marquesas Islands around 200 BC- 100 AD and seduced artists like Paul Gauguin and Herman Melville. Their art consists of pervasive embellishment of everyday objects, including tattoos on bodies. This means they also have a highly recommendable way of dealing with the dead. Instead of cemetery burial they pillage the bones of their enemies and refashion them into wondrous tiki carvings that can be worn around neck or hair. Highly recommended method