Date：2019-05-16 - 2019-08-18
Location：No.1 Exhibition Hall

The Shanghai Museum not only celebrates its collections and displays of ancient Chinese art, but also aims to present magnificent arts and civilizations from different continents of the world to our museum audience. The Arts of the Great Ocean: Pacific Art Collections from the musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac is believed to be the first exhibition that delivers a more complete view of art of Oceania in mainland China. It has become the second collaboration between the musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac and the Shanghai Museum, after the exhibition Congo River: Art of Central African in 2013.
The Oceanian art and culture have brought infinite creative inspiration to masters such as Paul Gauguin and Pablo Picasso. The 150 artworks in this exhibition tell stories of the distinct and unique cultures of Oceania. They highlight the wild imagination of the indigenous people of the Pacific Ocean, while exuding the unspeakable rustic charm. As the study of the Austronesian languages family is deepening with the new discoveries of archaeology and anthropology, we can now confirm that some of the early residents of the Melanesian region of Oceania were originally from Taiwan, China. Their ancestors can be traced back to South China Craton. Thus the story of Oceania is also our own story, a story of all mankind. The adventurous voyage does not begin from today or The Age of Discovery – we have already experienced the initial desire for the exploration and connection since our ancestors in being guided by the stars, winds, waves, and crossed the ocean in their canoes.
Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Stéphane Martin, the President of the musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac for his support throughout the exhibition, as well as the overall efforts by the entire exhibition team. With all their hard work, the exhibition can therefore be revealed in Shanghai.

Ceremonial headdress, abwisak

Canoe prow sculpture, dogai

Canoe prow

Rooftop carved spire

Figure from a canoe prow, nguzunguzu

Pendant, hei tiki

Ceremonial cloth, gatu vakaviti

Pestle, keâtuki

Necklace, lei niho palaoa

Ceremonial malagan carving

Female ancestor figure

Head ornament, peue koio

Anthropomorphic sculpture

Double figure

Mask, tsubwan

Canoe sternpost, taurapa

Pendant, tema

Armour, te tana

Tiki anthropomorphic figure, tiki keâ

’Umeke la’au pakaka bowl

Ceremonial cloth

Ceremonial axe

ùu club

【Virtual】 Arts of the Great Ocean: Pacific Art Collections from the musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac