Several weeks now since I went to see
'Oceania' at the Royal Academy. As I'm no longer a member , I paid full wack and thus spent as long as possible to get value for money! I normally don't bother with the audio guide but I'm glad I persisted as there was disappointingly little interpretation. or description of items apart from that. As the exhibition was principally about how the items were used or the cultural and spiritual significance, the stories told on the guide added another dimension.
What I also found of great value when looking round were the teachers resources I'd printed out and read beforehand (
KS1&2 ;
KS3,4,5 ; art detectives ). Apart from featuring what were some of my favourite pieces, they provided a different way of looking at things. For instance , for the Marshall Islands navigation charts ( below) students were asked to think about the materials used; the senses other than sight; how do you get somewhere you don't know ; examples of different kinds of maps. Linked art activities included creating symbols for visual features and for younger pupils, asking them to think about their journey to school - could they draw it on paper with their eyes closed or explain to their friends and using matchsticks and Blue-Tack to create their own navigational chart.
The rooms were dark ( I presume to preserve the materials used ) so the lighting produced very interesting shadows while proving a bit frustrating for taking photos, certainly too dark to draw. When the piano was being played in room 2 it was also very loud. Nice idea but you didn't feel you could linger and look at the items on display.
Some of the artifacts on display ( above ) were similar to some I'd seen and in some cases drawn at the British Museum , for instance the headdress , masks and barkcloth below were part of the fantastic
barkcloth exhibition
The piece that most moved and inspired me, based on format of barkcloth was
' To all New Arrivals ' by John Pule ( interview
here ) . Taking on the themes of war, global warming and nuclear testing, he says " I don't want to show our gods safe in nice , clean dark storage rooms , I wanted to show these prized objects out in the open world." The monumental size of it , with variation in media and scale from large paint daubs of enamel to tiny intricate drawings and the multiple layers of meaning and story telling was breathtaking. I spent a long time looking and discovering. The art activities in the teachers guides for this work included discussing environmental issues and proposing designs for a floating island to carry environmental scientists, activists, journalists and artists to different parts of the world that need their help. What a wonderful idea.
