University of Hawaii Press, 2013. Hardcover. New oversized hardcover with navy blue cloth to boards and silver lettering to spine in a new dust jacket. 4to. (8.5 x 1.25 x 10.87 inches) Clean text free of marks or underlining. Color photos throughout the text on heavy paper. Told in six parts by geography; Papua New Guinea highlands, the north, the south and the south-east; West Papua; Solomon Islands; Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Includes notes bibliography and an index. 362 pp.

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ISBN: 9780824838539

Melanesia is one of the most culturally diverse and artistically fertile regions of the world. This book is an exporation of one of the richest collections of Melanesian art, that of the British Museum. It is the product of sustained dialogue with people from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, West Papua, and New Caledonia, who are authors or co-authors of many of its chapters.

Melanesia: Art and Encounter is a companion to this outstanding collection. The book ranges over an extraordinary variety of historic and modern art forms, from striking masks and shell valuables to intricately woven fabrics, string bags, and paintings on canvas. It investigates histories of exploration and exchange, conversion to Christianity and cultural revival, drawing upon a wealth of new information gleaned from archives, photographs, oral histories, and dialogue with Melanesians. The book is a revelation, not only of the arts of Melanesia, but also of the challenges and possibilities of collaborative research today.

Price: $110.95