Three hundred thousand objects tell of the everyday and ritual worlds in Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Australia: feather objects from Hawaii that James Cook collected on his journeys, Maori artefacts from New Zealand, an ornamental shield decorated with nautilus shells from the Solomon islands, extensive collections from New Guinea, and Australian boomerangs, dot paintings, and didgeridoos – to name only a few examples.

The objects document the outstanding technical abilities and artistic achievements of the Pacific inhabitants, as well as their exceptional creativity in fashioning living spaces, social organizations, and world views.  Boatbuilding, architecture, clothing, and objects of use, value, and ritual strikingly illustrate regional traditions, yet also material innovations and cultural reforms emerging through external influences, exchange and trade relations, colonization and missions, wars and conquests, national resistance movements and political independence.

Director: HR Prof. Dr. Gabriele Weiss