New Frontiers of Pacific Research

The Polynesian Society (Incorporated, 1926) was founded on 8 January 1892 at a meeting in Wellington. In April 1892 the first issue of the quarterly Journal of the Polynesian Society was published, and today it is regarded as the richest repository of the lore of the peoples of Oceania.

The Friends of Te Papa in association with the Journal of the Polynesian Society and Va’aomanū Pasifika, Programmes in Pacific Studies and Samoan Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, will offer three illustrated presentations highlighting current research relating to the Pacific.

- Redrawing the Polynesian Triangle: genetic evidence of Polynesian contact with South America presented by Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith, Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, University of Otago.

- Reconnecting Maori with Taonga in overseas museums presented by Arapata Hakiwai, Scholar Matauranga Maori, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

- Art in Oceania: a history presented by Dr Peter Brunt, Art History, Victoria University of Wellington.

As well as high-lighting current research and scholarship, the evening will promote the journal and the Polynesian Society and bring them back (briefly) to the institution where the Society began over 100 years ago.

The talks will cover feature topics in Pacific archaeology, art history and Mäori cultural history. There will also be an opportunity to visit the new exhibition Oceania: Early Encounters.

This is a Friends of Te Papa event, public are welcome. To attend, please RSVP to the Friends of Te Papa office by calling (04) 381 7051 or email friends@tepapa.govt.nz

Image caption: Waseisei (Necklace), 1800s, Maker unknown, Fiji. Oldman Collection. Gift of the New Zealand Government, 1992. Te Papa

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