Resource Spotlight | Werner Forman Archive | Oceania
There is always a rush of excitement coupled with anticipation, and an inner sense of well-being, when approaching a low lying atoll, volcanic island, or looming land mass rising from the sea. Words such as 'refuge, enclave, shelter and sanctuary immediately come to mind. Yet, islands often tend to have limited natural resources and be ecologically fragile. Finding safe harbor on islands has always made me partial to them. For this feature, Art of the Ancestors presents images of artworks from three contiguous island groups that were categorized by Europeans based on the Greek word for islands (nisiá): the dark-skinned islands, small islands, and the place of many islands' — that we generically still refer to as Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Collectively known as Oceania, this area covers over one-third of the earth's surface and overlaps with with Indonesia, the land of "Indian islands".
Historically, some of humankind's most evocative and beautiful creations were once crafted in Oceania ranging from simple utilitarian items to masks and images of ancestors and deities fashioned from wood, bark cloth, tree pith, and intractable stone. Werner Forman photographed many of the most iconic artworks from this area, some of which are reproduced here. It's of especial note that his finest images gaze out between time and space. They are distant, but intimate, just like the islands that inspired their creation. His images from Indonesia and the Pacific evoke Werner's endless curiosity, and his ability to capture the emotive content and the fine details of an object. It is this focus, on many levels, that makes the subjects of his lens so accessible. We are fortunate to be able to share these images from Oceania from the Werner Forman Archive.
— Steven G. Alpert, founder of Art of the Ancestors
Werner Forman Archive
Werner Forman's life work was devoted to documenting in photographs the history, art, religion and customs of the great civilizations and tribal societies of the past. The archive has extensive collections of photographs of archaeological sites, architecture, evocative landscapes and art from the great museum and private collections of the world.
© Werner Forman Archive