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TABA NABA Australia, Oceania, People of * the sea From March 22nd to September 30th 2016 O ceanographic M useum of M onaco Updated on 27 - Nov - 2015 * «Taba Naba» is a children’s song originating in the Torres Strait Islands just north of the continent of Australia. This song is usually accompanied by a «sit-down dance» where the «dancers» perform traditional movements corresponding to the lyrics. The song is a traditional song in Meriam Mir, the language of the Torres Strait Islanders. The lyrics in Meriam are: Taba naba / naba norem Tugi penai siri / dinghy e naba we Miko keimi / sere re naba we Taba naba / norem This verse is repeated three times. Translation: Come on let’s go to the reef Get into the dinghy when the morning tide is low Let us row to the edge of the reef Come on let’s go to the reef P.2 SUMMARY Preface W hy P.4 Aboriginal and Oceanic oceanographic M useum of M onaco ? an Organisation art exhibition at the P.5 P.8 of the exhibition Australia: Defending the oceans at the heart of Aboriginal and T orres S trait island art by S téphane J acob P.10 Living Waters P.19 by Erica Izett Oceania: islanders masters at navigating and artistic expression by D idier Z anette P.25 Distribution P.33 plan artworks P.3 T he Oceanographic Museum of Monaco is committed to sharing knowledge about the oceans, raising awareness of, and finding innovative solutions to, the dangers that threaten them. Initiated by its founder Prince Albert I, this approach was then carried forward by its successive directors - chief among them Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau - and H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, during his extensive travels around the world. that is rich in symbols. In their dialogue with the modern world, Aboriginal and Oceanic artists developed their art to connect secular traditions and a universal aesthetic around a message of hope that draws on their ecologically grounded beliefs. Using a wide variety of media (paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos, masks, caps etc.) and materials (wood, metal, plastics, fishing nets etc.), these works alert us to the beauty and importance of nature, the risks of climate change and the devastation we inflict on our environment through overfishing and pollution. They are an invitation to change our habits and engage with the issues. The Temple of the Sea has been developed to gather a wide range of knowledge and expertise, and promote a multidisciplinary approach to the marine environment, in order to raise awareness among politicians, economic stakeholders and the wider public. This mission is now founded in two fundamental strands of action: firstly, making accessible the treasures of the marine world in aquariums rich in biodiversity and secondly, the transmission of unexpected emotion in the encounter between Art and Science, which for Prince Albert I were «the two driving forces of civilization». It is vital, today, that we adapt our behaviour to save the people and ecosystems of the most exposed regions, including island states and marine habitats of high ecological and biological value, such as coral reefs. For all the artists participating in this exhibition event, the challenge is the same: the oceans, and more generally water, must be protected. Contemporary art is a great vehicle for drawing attention to the dangers that threaten us. True advocates for the preservation of marine ecosystems, art works come into their own in all the rooms of the Oceanographic Museum, creating a dialogue with our collections. It is by preserving endangered oceans that we will finally usher in a new era of shared sustainable development, for all peoples. With the support of H.S.H. Prince Albert II, this exhibition adds the contribution of the Principality of Monaco to the global debate. It represents the Prince’s energy, strength of conviction and firm determination to change our practices. In 2016, the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco will host an exhibition of Australian Aboriginal and Oceanic works. Few Europeans know these ancient traditions born on the other side of the world, an art of ritual and beauty P.4 T he primary link between the Oceanographic Institute and the Aboriginal and Pacific peoples is the Oceanographic Institute’s message on the protection of oceans and biodiversity. All the works in this exhibition have a relationship with the sea, sailing and water. The theme is most strikingly illustrated by a work called Ghost Nets that will be displayed in the Salon d’Honneur in the heart of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. appropriating the nets and incorporating them in their artistic creations. Indeed, what was to be done with these huge nets once they had been hauled out of the water? Were they to be burnt? Buried? The artists chose to reuse them, first to produce bags and baskets, and then objects of art to help raise public awareness of this new environmental challenge. This artistic movement is now widely recognised, as evidenced by the recent acquisitions of objects in Ghost Nets by the British Museum and the National Gallery of Australia. No event in France has yet celebrated the movement. In Australia ghost nets is the term used for fishing nets that have been abandoned at sea. Lost accidentally or deliberately thrown into the water, they drift from Southeast Asia into remote regions in the far north of Australia. They represent a terrible threat to marine flora and fauna. Large numbers of sharks and sea turtles (protected species) are trapped in them. An original artistic movement has emerged in northern Australia, in Queensland in relation to these nets. Since 2010, first in Cape York and then on the Torres Strait Islands – an archipelago between Papua New Guinea and Australia – artists settled in this isolated region have been Ghost Nets is a compelling symbol of the challenges taken up by the Oceanographic Institute, which has, since 2013, publicised the protection of large predators such as sharks, through a major educational exhibition, a large public work and a series of lectures and events. In 2016, the Oceanographic Institute will focus on the issue of sea turtles. P.6 T he project is founded in the great interest that Prince Albert I of Monaco took in the aboriginal peoples he encountered and artistic expressions inspired by the sea. Through numerous acquisitions made on his travels, the Prince gathered together at the Oceanographic Museum everyday and precious objects he considered to be related to ocean life. present a synchronized document that would undoubtedly have been one of the first «talkies» in history if these films and reels had not been lost. A final link with Prince Albert I is the gigantic 80 cm high bas-relief frieze on the Institute of Human Palaeontology building, the second Prince Albert I Foundation. The artist Constant Roux, who won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1894, created seventeen scenes in total, five of which are dedicated to the «Australians» represented in different stages of life. This again underlines the particular interest that the Prince had for ethnology. An avid user of new technologies, Prince Albert I also filmed –with one of the first Gaumont cameras – and recorded with an Edison phonograph - songs and traditional dances from Cape Verde in 1901, aboard the second Princess Alice. His ethnological approach is said to have allowed him to P.7 Organisation of the exhibition The Oceanographic Institute BOARD OF DIRECTORS H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, Honorary President Michel PETIT, President and the members of the Board of Directors SENIOR MANAGEMENT Robert CALCAGNO, CEO of the Oceanographic Institute Exhibition organisation GENERAL CURATOR Patrick PIGUET, Director of Heritage of the Oceanographic Institute GENERAL ASSOCIATE CURATOR Hélène LAFONT-COUTURIER, Director of the Musée des Confluences PARTNERSHIPS & COMMUNICATIONS José-Luis de MENDIGUREN, Director of Development of the Oceanographic Institute PRIVATE COLLECTIONS H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco Marc SORDELLO & Francis MISSANA (Antibes) ADVISORS Hervé IRIEN Carl de LENCQUESAING P.8 “Australia: Defending the oceans at the heart of Aboriginal and Torres Strait island art” SENIOR CURATOR AND PROJECT MANAGER Stéphane JACOB, Director of the ARTS D’AUSTRALIE • STEPHANE JACOB gallery (Paris) ASSOCIATE CURATOR Suzanne O’CONNELL, Director of the Suzanne O’CONNELL gallery (Brisbane - Australia) “Living Waters” SENIOR CURATOR AND PROJECT MANAGER Dr Erica IZETT, Independent curator, Research University of Western Australia (Australia) ASSOCIATE CURATOR Dr Georges PETITJEAN, Curator of Aboriginal Art Museum in Utrecht (Netherlands) Donna CARSTENS, Manager of Indigenous Programs, National Maritime Museum Australian (Sydney - Australia) ACADEMIC AND ASSOCIATED CATALOGUE EDITORS Professor Ian McLEAN and Dr Garry JONES, University of Wollongong (Australia) “Oceania islanders: past masters in navigation and artistic expression” SENIOR CURATOR AND PROJECT MANAGER Didier ZANETTE, Director of DZ Galeries (Paris, Nice, Noumea) P.9 Australia: Defending the oceans at the heart of Aboriginal and Torres Strait island art by Stéphane Jacob Stéphane Jacob Stéphane Jacob is a graduate from the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, the former Head of Communications of the National Museum of French Monuments. He has specialised in Australian Indigenous Art for the past 20 years. Recognised by major European institutions, he has helped develop public collections such as the Musée des Confluences in Lyon. Works from his gallery can be found in the collections of the Musée du Quai Branly (Paris), Musée de l’Homme (Paris), Musée des Abattoirs (Toulouse), Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (Rochefort), Musée la Grange (Switzerland) and numerous significant international private collections. He has written and published a number of books and catalogues on Australian Indigenous Art. Suzanne O’Connell Suzanne O’Connell is a champion of innovative contemporary Aboriginal artists. With a singular eye for new talent, she has nurtured the careers of leading talents such as Nora Wompi, Lisa Uhl, and the Girringun Artists. Suzanne has also been instrumental in facilitating international exhibitions and publications for significant artists. Suzanne O’Connell Gallery is one of the foremost galleries in Australia, presenting a dynamic exhibition program of the highest calibre. As an art consultant and dealer, Suzanne has assisted major collectors and institutions source numerous masterpieces from some of Australia’s most important artists. The Suzanne O’Connell Gallery is a member of the Australian Commercial Gallery Association. T his project entitled “Australia: Defending the Oceans at the Heart of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Art” is curated by Stéphane Jacob, Director of the Arts d’Australie • Stéphane Jacob Gallery (Paris), and coordinated in Australia by Suzanne O’Connell, Director of the Suzanne O’Connell Gallery (Brisbane). The project is being supported by active ”Exhibition Angels” helping to raise funds: Joel Hakim, former President of French Australian Chamber of Commerce (Sydney), ABIE board members: Tea Dietterich, Ceo at 2M Language Services (Brisbane, Paris, Nice), Julia King, Veronica Comyn, Marti Georgeff, Florence Forzy (Keolys). Co-ordinating the fundraising side of the project is Michael Carr (Art Dealer and Consultant, Sydney) & Beatrice Hedde (Paris). A partnership with the Musée des Confluences in Lyon will allow the Museum to develop a public program for events taking place in both Lyon and in Monaco during the exhibition, effectively extending the Exhibition’s reach and impact throughout the south of France and Europe generally. P.10 T he first exhibition will be entirely dedicated to the creation and presentation of six monumental contemporary installations by seventy major Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to be displayed in six key positions in and around the Museum. its world famous aquarium will significantly increase the resonance and reach of this project. The partnership developed with the Musée des des Confluences in Lyon will further enhance the strength of the message. The artists address these environmental issues with humour and subtlety. The exhibition has been created as a virtual fairy tale, a story of enchantment; the monumental size of the work will create for visitors, a sensation of being transported into Alice’s Underwater Wonderland. These works are testament to one of the worst dangers of our century, specifically the threat of pollution that is endangering marine biodiversity and food. Indigenous people of Australia deal with the effects of global warming and pollution in their daily lives, in particular the «death nets» created by macro-waste such as discarded fishing nets and floating plastics. The Torres Strait channel situated at the eastern tip of Australia, and the shores of Queensland are particularly affected by this increasing pollution. Like land mines, these nets go on killing long after their initial use is over. Visitors to the famous Rock of Monaco will be welcomed by a playful group of sculptures that will dominate the Museum’s forecourt. Behind them, three monumental mud crabs will climb the facade as if taking over the Museum ‘King Kong’ style. Explanatory bi-lingual labels will clearly identify the artworks and artists who created them, as well as provide their totemic meanings. Special attention will be given to didactic information made available for children. This first exhibition focuses on coastal and Islander artists who through their work dramatically and effectively raise awareness of the oceans as a living ecosystem. This theatrical display, accessible to all, will welcome 500,000 visitors to the Oceanographic Museum during the summer period, before they continue their visit inside the building. It is by far the most complete and ambitious project ever undertaken on this subject by Australian Indigenous artists in Europe. The international reputation for excellence enjoyed by the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco and P.11 O n entering the Museum, the public will be welcomed by a magnificent sculpture of a dugong – once thought to be the origin of the fabled mermaid – placed at eye level, creating an immediate intimacy with this emblematic sea creature and important totemic figure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. instruments remind visitors of the cultural importance of the sea for the populations of Oceania and the importance of preserving it for the sake of current and future generations. This hall leads to two main exhibition spaces. To the right an exhibition dedicated to sharks is currently on display. To the left, the exhibition curated by Dr Erica Izett (on behalf of Partner 2), Living Waters, will present paintings and installations that reflect on the key importance of water within Australian indigenous culture. Beyond the entrance, visitors will be lead into one of the most dramatic spaces of the Museum, the Hall of Honour with its imposing statue of H.S.H. Albert I and the stunning sea creature crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. Here, sculptures of turtles, sharks, crocodiles, dugongs and a gigantic whale will swim with a colourful school of fish against the sublime views of the Mediterranean Sea in the background. A canoe woven from abandoned fishing nets is a symbolic reminder of what is destroying these sea creatures in huge numbers. As a climax to the exhibition, the visitor is then invited to proceed up to the Terrace that, on one side, overlooks the city of Monaco and the grand rock formation that surrounds the Principality, and on the other, offers a breathtaking view over the Mediterranean sea from the French Riviera to the coastline of Italy. Here will lie one of the largest works ever made by an indigenous artist: a 670 square meter sea turtle made of dozens of sea creatures, the same that children and their parents will have discovered in the Museum’s collections. The full body of the turtle will be visible from the air for those flying over the Museum. It will be the landmark of the Museum for 2016, a year in which the Oceanographic institute’s scientific programs will focus on the ‘Ambassador of the Sea’: the Sea Turtle. Visitors will then be guided to the first floor by a series of photographs by Didier Zanette – the third partner of this exhibition – displayed on the wall of the magisterial staircase. As visitors reach the first floor landing they will find the enormous, magnificent composition of headdresses (‘Dhari’) waiting for them. The main Dhari, over six meters high, frames the main doorway and access to the next section of the exhibition. On either side of this door are two Dhari (3m50) that mirror each other. The visitor is invited to walk through to the Oceanomania hall where an ensemble of oceanic navigational Bon Voyage! P.12 In the forecourt: Bagu sculptures O riginally the Bagu was a sacred wooden tool used to tend fires. Since commercial fishing, land clearing and farming practices affected waterways, water quality and traditional food sources, preserving Girringun environs (Cardwell north Queensland) and the cultural practices of their forbears has become an important issue for the Girringun community. In order to create artworks while preserving their environment, Girringun artists have chosen to recycle waste found on beaches in the immediate vicinity of their community to create the ten Bagu sculptures that will be displayed on the Museum’s Plaza and showcase the diversity and strength of Aboriginal rainforest culture. P.13 On the facade: Githalai sculptures T hree large mud crabs created by Brian Robinson climb the facade of the Museum and will be an invitation for the public to discover the exhibition as a whole. Brian Robinson was born in the Torres Strait Islands, located between the tip of Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea. Githalai continues Robinson’s exploration of the tradition, motifs and mythology of Torres Strait culture that forms the thematic basis of his bold and contemporary artwork. His work focuses on the once abundant fauna found along the foreshore and mudflats where he lives – an expanse of coastal area that provided sustenance to the local Indigenous communities for many centuries. Apart from being a delicious food source, the mud crabs’ claws were also traditionally utilised as tobacco pipes. Githalai’s work references the important interconnection of Torres Strait Islander culture, marine animals and ecological sustainability. P.14 Princesse-Alice Hall: Alick Tipoti’s Dugong sculpture A lick Tipoti’s bronze and aluminium sculpture placed at the entrance of the museum greets all who enter and enchants those who take the time for a closer encounter. The work is representative of a dugong swimming in the moonlight. The mammal is captured mid-pose in a position called San Tidayk, which is when it flips its tail to propel a dive down to the sea grass beds on which it grazes. The decorative patterning on the dugong’s body represents the Torres Strait Islanders’ rich cultural knowledge of the dugongs and their habitat and also refers to the destruction of the sea grass beds caused mainly by large vessels which force not only dugongs from their feeding grounds but also other sea creatures such as rays, crabs and crayfish. The people of the region have a very special relationship with the dugong. It is the totem of several clans, its oil is used as a traditional medicine and it is an important and generous food source. P.15 Honour hall (ground floor): Ghost Nets Installation E ntitled “Ghost Nets” or “Aboriginal Art to the rescue of marine fauna in Australia”, the installation of over thirty works has been created by three Indigenous Art Centres: Erub Arts (Torres Strait, Queensland), Pormpuraaw Art & Culture Centre (Cape York, Queensland), Ceduna Arts and Cultural Centre SA –(represented for this project by Ghost Net Art Project, Turmoulin, Queensland). Their installation portrays many different sea creatures often found in abandoned fishing nets: turtles, sharks, dugongs, crocodiles, whales... Today, many marine and coastal species are threatened by discarded nets. The threat to marine biodiversity also endangers the survival of the peoples of the sea. This is particularly the case in the coastal regions of northern Australia. Among them the Gulf of Carpentaria is one of the last remaining safe havens for endangered marine and coastal species, including six of the world’s seven marine turtle species, dugongs and sawfish. Sadly these turtles make up 80 percent of the marine life found caught in the nets. Ghost net art is a great vehicle for informing the general public of the dangerous damage that ghost nets continue to inflict on the marine environment. P.16 First floor landing: Dhari Ceremonial Headdresses T he art of Ken Thaiday adorns the red walls of the first floor landing of the Museum. Thaiday is known for his works that incorporate the symbols of his native island, Erub (Darnley Island). His three to six meter-high sculptures represent Dhari ritual headdresses created for ceremonial dance and evocative of traditional fish traps. The Dhari are also representative emblems on the Torres Strait flag. The striking art of this northern region is little known and yet extremely rich. It reveals the intimate relationship linking the Torres Strait Islanders and their aesthetic sensibility to their maritime environment. P.17 Terrace (second floor): Sowlal (Turtle Mating and Nesting Season), Monumental Stencil Floor Installation I n 2016, the main scientific theme to be explored by the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco is the preservation of sea turtles. The work of Alick Tipoti falls very naturally within this theme. Tipoti is a Torres Strait Islander artist who has earned international acclaim. His work can be found in many public collections around the world including the Musée des Confluences in Lyon. Tipoti recently performed at the British Museum in London. The two works he proposed for the exhibition address the theme of turtle courtship, mating and nesting. Tipoti’s main drawing forms the body of a monumental turtle that will be visible from the air. The designs on the shell of the turtle and its background incorporate sea animals and plant species from the Torres Strait Islands: fish, rays squids, crabs, sharks, dugong … some of which are endangered species. Playful and instructive, this very emblematic work will certainly become one of the most popular icons of the exhibition. P.18 Living Waters by Erica Izett Kittey Malarvie Ngaba (water) 2014 Marc Sordello & Francis Missana The Sordello & Missana Aboriginal art collection comprises more than one hundred paintings. It has been formed over the last decade by two French businessmen, Marc Sordello and Francis Missana, who are based in Antibes. With an emphasis on the range of acrylic painting produced across remote Australia, and especially the Western desert regions, the collection is distinguished by the large number of artists represented rather than an emphasis on a few stars. In recent years the collection has developed to include urban artists, multimedia, 3D and ochre works including bark paintings from the Top End of Australia. P.19 Erica Izett Erica Izett has a long history of engagement with Aboriginal communities and has worked extensively in the Aboriginal art industry. She has managed and run workshops on Aboriginal art centres, taught visual art in an academic context and facilitated artist residencies. She has held leadership positions in the contemporary art industry focusing on the management and exhibition of Aboriginal art collections. Erica Izett has a doctorate on the history of the emergence of cultural exchanges between European women and Indigenous Australians from the University of Western Australia. Georges Petitjean Georges Petitjean is a Belgian art historian who studied at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and completed his PhD on Aboriginal art at La Trobe University Melbourne. Since his appointment as the curator at the Aboriginal Art Museum Utrecht (AMMU) in 2005, he has guided it from being a largely ethnographic museum to a contemporary art museum that exhibits a full range of urban and remote Aboriginal art including the work of Brook Andrew and Gordon Bennett. Georges Petitjean has curated innovative exhibitions that feature transcultural engagements between Indigenous and Western art, such as Los van Traditie: Cobra en Aboriginal Kunst (Breaking with Tradition). Donna Carstens Donna Carstens, Indigenous Programs Manager for the Australian National Maritime Museum, is responsible for the exhibitions and development of the Indigenous collections of the Museum. Working collaboratively with communities, artists and art centres throughout Australia, she has curated innovative exhibitions and sourced exciting new works intertwining the traditional with the contemporary to further highlight and explore Indigenous culture and connection to water. P.20 Ray Ken Ngayuku Ngura 2013 Christian Thompson Trinity1 2014 T he Living Waters exhibition features a stunning selection of contemporary Aboriginal paintings from the Sordello & Messina Collection as well as works by some invited leading Australian artists that engage with the exhibition’s transcultural themes and Indigenous waterworlds, including paintings by Aboriginal artists from the Western desert in the private collection of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. The project draws from, and is strengthened by, its partnership with the Australian National Maritime Museum, the Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht, Buku Larrnggay Mulka, the highly acclaimed Indigenous art center at Yirrkala, The University of Wollongong, and several well-known European and Australian private collections. The central feature of the exhibition is a compelling site-specific installation by a collective of artists engaging with the permanent displays of the Museum, while the iconic ceremonial objects (Ilma) of wood and colored thread, originally employed in ceremonies of ancestral song cycles of the sea are installed overseeing the great Prince Albert I Hall. Videos and photographic works by young and celebrated Indigenous artists engage with issues of the sacred and profane, the caretakers and trespassers of oceanic environments, and open a window towards new contemporary art practices. Barayuwa Munungurr Munyuku Minytji 2015 Ruark Lewis Starshelter 2012 P.21 Albert Ier hall (first floor) I n 2014 the Sordello & Missana Collection invited Erica Izett to curate an exhibition of Aboriginal art being planned at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco that culminated in Living Waters. Erica Izett invited Georges Petitjean, Curator of the Aboriginal Art Museum Utrecht - Netherland (AAAMU), and Donna Carstens, Curator Indigenous programs Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) to assist her as curators of the project. This ambitious project of Indigenous waterworlds investigates the ways in which Aboriginal artists have dealt with the central roles of water in their mythology and recent history. preserving and documentation of the extensive species and mysteries of our oceanic worlds. In the vast southern continent of Australia, Indigenous knowledge systems likewise preserve and document the law (knowledge) of life-sustaining waters through their art, ceremonial and oral traditions. Issues of transculturation - the conflict and engagement of these two cultures and their epistemologies lie at the heart of Australian identity. Aboriginal Art is a continuing contemporary site of Indigenous knowledge making and transcultural engagements. The curators have chosen works that address these issues. Donna Carstens, utilising objects from the Australian Maritime Museum’s collection, presents both European and Indigenous representations of sea and water Laws, whaling and sea vessels within the hall’s glass cabinets. Dr Izett and Dr Petitjean have collaborated as curators of the main hall weaving together the three themes of salt water, fresh water and water as a vehicles of colonisation. The Sordello & Missana Collection is a young developing collection consisting primarily of works made in the twenty-first century. Its main mission is to shift the general perception of Aboriginal art in Europe from an ethnographic to a contemporary art paradigm. The focus of the collection is Western Desert painting, with a growing interest in urban Aboriginal art, especially its uses of new media. The works in the Living Waters exhibition have been chosen for their engagement with Indigenous mythic epistemologies of water, marine and shore life within contemporary contexts, as well as for their commentary on the role of the ocean in the European colonisation and scientific exploration of the Australian island continent. The Oceanographic Museum’s Prince Albert I hall pays homage to the great voyages of scientific discovery sponsored by the Prince and the European knowledgemaking traditions expressed in the collecting, cataloguing, Michael Cook Civilised 6 2012 P.22 Albert Ier hall (first floor) W orking in consultation with Buku Larrnjay Mulka, the Yolngu Art Centre in the far north of Australia, the curators supported the creation of new site-specific works by a collective of artists that features Indigenous aesthetics of camouflage and clan designs related to salt water Dreaming stories. peoples) Dreaming stories thus connecting with the second theme of fresh water addressed in Western Desert paintings from the Sordello & Missana Collection, which include works by artists as diverse as Emily Kngwarreye and Christian Thompson. In this way Dr Izett and Dr Petitjean incorporate artworks that demonstrate and explore conceptual relationships between saltwater/ freshwater, fire/water and the roles of mythic ancestral figures such as the Rainbow Serpent and Whale within contemporary contexts. Living Waters presents two collective projects involving non-Indigenous artists and Yolgnu (from eastern Arnhem Land), both of which concern salt water stories of Blue Mud Bay. The first engages with the Prince Albert 1 Hall’s feature ceiling whale, where the Yolgnu artist Barayuwa Mununggurr’s central installation at the far end of the hall is based on his mother’s clan designs associated with the ancestral events of the whale called Mirinyunju. The story of the whale’s demise and its kinship with the hunters is the basis for this sacred site and clan design. This poetics of invisibility or buwayka is a central Yolngu aesthetic idea. Its parallels in other contemporary Australian art are explored in the recent work of Ruark Lewis and Imants Tillers that use abstract rarrk-like patterning in relation to the theme of water. The third theme, concerning water and colonisation, is demonstrated in the representations of voyaging and sea vessels and in the work of several urban artists, including Michael Cook and Judy Watson. This theme is also evident in the various artworks that engage with scientific aspects of colonisation, the basis of the halls’ permanent display. These include the second collective project, that of botanical artworks by Mulkun Wirrpanda and John Wolseley of the Blue Mud Bay environs, which complement Carsten’s incorporation of European and Indigenous objects in adjacent glass cabinets. Living Waters will also include Lewis’s engagements with Western scientific and Indigenous interpretations of fresh water Arrernte (from central Australian Indigenous Tracey Moffat Invocation 7 2000 P.23 Albert Ier hall (first floor): private collection of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco Nyarapayi Giles Warmurrungu 2014 Paddy Japaljarri Sims Warlu Jukurrpa 2008 P.24 Oceania: past masters in sea navigation and artistic expression by Didier Zanette Didier Zanette Didier Zanette is an expert in Oceanic and Aboriginal art at the Court of Appeal of Noumea. Living in Caledonia since 1990, he has travelled extensively throughout the Pacific region to enrich his collections of art and paintings. His wanderings have given him the opportunity to engage in photography. In 2003, he left his job as a banker to concentrate on his passion for Melanesian and Aboriginal cultures and today he runs three galleries in Paris, Nice and Noumea. Known for his knowledge of the field and his practical experience, Didier Zanette has had the opportunity of working with partners committed to the promotion of Pacific arts, such as the Tjibaou Cultural Centre (Nouméa), the Museum of New Caledonia (Noumea), the Musée des Confluences (Lyon), the Museum of Art and History (Rochefort), the library of the Quai Branly Museum, etc. Didier Zanette has published numerous works that demonstrate his commitment to Pacific cultures: 100 Kundu papous, 100 objets de navigation de Mélanésie, Le Bestiaire: 100 représentations, Voyage au pays des Baining de Nouvelle-Bretagne, Tridacna Gigas: objets de prestige en Mélanésie, 100 Ustensiles de cuisine de Mélanésie, Et au milieu, entre Terres et Rêves, Papunya..., Poétique de l’igname, Rêves de l’Eau et Rêves du Feu, Amperlatwaty, Les grands Maîtres de la peinture aborigène, Des plats entre Hommes et Esprits. Didier Zanette is a signatory to the Indigenous Art Code. B ringing the Pacific Islander vision together with those of Australian Aborigines, displaying similarities as well as differences and entering a world where the shape of a cloud, the flight of a bird, the ripple of a wave, water, dust or the taste of salt are reference points that are as important as the stars and the slow marriage of the moon with the horizon. Such is the purpose of this voyage across these works of past and present. At the heart of «Australia, Oceania, Peoples of the Sea» exhibition organised by the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, Didier Zanette will focus on the cultural relationships that Pacific peoples have with the sea, through a presentation of traditional navigational objects, objects of prestige from the Solomon Islands fashioned from fossilised clam shells, a series of Papuan portraits and a set of large-scale Baining marine animal representations, all echoing the collections gathered by Prince Albert I during his scientific expeditions. P.25 Honour stairs: Portraits Photographs of Papuans O n the ground floor of the Museum, to guide you when climbing the Salon d’Honneur staircase, Didier Zanette will propose a series of striking portraits of men and women wearing Papuan face paint and feather ornaments and seashell symbols of identity belonging to their clan, replicating the gestures and spirit of their ancestors for millennia. Each journey is an opportunity for him to gather testimony and add to his impressive collection of pictures and unpublished videos. All this documentation collected in the field is used in works and exhibitions, contributing to the spread of Pacific cultures and a better knowledge of these geographically marginalised populations that nevertheless have conserved great cultural richness. P.26 First floor landing: Melanesian pirogues On the way to the Salon on the first floor canoes will be positioned either side of the landing. F or millennia, humankind was content to explore the vast expanses of land that made up the continents for which they were genetically adapted. Their conquest of new territories ran into the endless vastness of the oceans, natural barriers that seemed unfathomable, unpredictable and insurmountable. But one day, deciding to push back the land, they took on the ocean elements with determination, courage and bravery, a keen sense of observation and in ever more solid craft. Domination of the oceans has occupied a very important place in the evolution of humankind and led to the inhabitation of Oceania. Around 2500 BC, the Austronesians, humanity’s first great sailors, began a hazardous journey, from Indonesia to Melanesia, and from the shores of New Guinea and beyond to the Pacific Islands. The inhabitation of these regions would be spread over 1500 years. Thus, well before European sailors, who had long been content to confine themselves to coastal navigation, the Pacific peoples travelled thousands of kilometers across the ocean. The inventiveness and ingenuity of the Pacific peoples were not limited to their ability to make the most of their environment. They were also skilled manufacturers of transportation, able to manufacture boats that were at once spacious, solid, stable and swift. The quality of craft and the innovative multiple hulls, used primarily in the Pacific, surprised the first Westerners on their arrival; this obvious mastery of sailing technology, in contrast to the myth of the «noble savage» had never before been used in Europe, single hulls being the rule up till then. Today, although all the Pacific lands have been discovered, navigation remains central to the lives of its people. It allows movement, trade and cultural exchange and is a major contributor to their livelihoods. It facilitates the exchange of raw materials and trade goods, necessary for social life or artistic expression. P.27 Oceanomania hall (first floor): Paddles and canoe prows of Melanesia E xhibited in the middle of the Oceanomania room, the great variety of canoe prows and paddles reflects the ingenuity and creativity of the Pacific Island peoples. It is important not to forget that the peoples of the South Seas arrived on canoes and then sailed up river. Like the Vikings or ancient peoples in the Mediterranean, they faced monsters and sea creatures that they made their food, their companions, their myths and legends. Then, emboldened, they imitated them, and conquered them. The result is surprising to our jaded yet dazzled eyes: - colourful paddles to better mix with the tropical coral kaleidoscope, - paddles carved like waves or tapered daggers in the dark-coloured wood of mysterious and inhabited rivers, - prows of canoes and zoomorphic boats gliding noiselessly over the waves like the lizards of an Atlantis more often fantasised about than discovered. The aquatic extensions of the Pacific maritime peoples have an elegance, beauty and efficiency rarely seen elsewhere and naturally combine with the constant movement of water and life. The motifs that decorate the canoes and paddles are a strong expression of the identity of a geographical area or a clan. They are also seen in ceremonial and everyday objects, on refined products or on simple fishing equipment. The diversity of motifs throughout Melanesia does not take away from the harmony of boats, the paddles generally bearing patterns close or similar to those of the prows of the canoes. P.28 P.29 P.30 Oceanomania hall (first floor): Prestigious objects in fossil clamshell and objects to the ocean O n both sides of the installation of Melanesian canoe paddles and prows are showcases in which Didier Zanette exhibits an exceptional collection of fossil clam objects from the Solomon Islands. The Tridacna Gigas clam or shellfish is the largest in the world after the giant squid, providing opportunities for Pacific artists and especially those of the Solomon Islands, to express their talent. The clam shells have very different structural characteristics according to whether they were found in the marine environment or as fossils, buried for millennia in the ground. An exceptional material, the fossil clam has given rise to unique and highly precious objects, prized by powerful men in Melanesia. To maintain the prerogatives of their social position, these men had to display these unusual badges. Unlike wood carvings, the fossil clam is resistant to erosion of time and for many generations, these priceless possessions were handed down father to son, accentuating the divine character of certain objects. The difficulty of acquiring such pieces at the time is reflected and amplified today. This shortage explains why for a long time these objects were ignored by Westerners and why today so few prototypes exist in collections. P.31 Oceanomania hall (first floor): Animals from the sea made from Baining people F loating in the air around the prows of canoes and paddles installed in the middle, are displays of out of the ordinary works made and danced by the Baining people, who were so admired by the surrealists of the early 20th century (André Breton). The Baining reside in the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain Island located north of Papua New Guinea. They developed a fascinating art by making masks of delicate materials with extravagant forms used to participate in ancestral rituals. Young men organise mysterious dances performed at night in the forest, confronting huge fires, from which they are miraculously spared. These festivals are some of the most spectacular ceremonies of the Pacific world. The Baining masks of animal figures are made from natural materials: tree bark (tapa), bamboo, feathers, white clay and rushes. P.32 Distribution plan artworks P.33