One of the world’s most significant collections of art from the Pacific is held in London at the British Museum, and a new book being released in Aotearoa this week highlights its key pieces.

Pacific Art in Detail by Jenny Newell is being published in other parts of the world by the British Museum Press and Harvard University Press.

“The book shows the reader around the collection as if they were walking in the gallery with a guide,” says author Jenny Newell, a former British Museum curator who is now based at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.
“The collection encompasses around 37,000 items and stretches from 8,000 year-old archaeological finds to contemporary paintings and sculpture. We’ve only been able to highlight a few of the items but have aimed to give everything context and included close-up, detailed images that a visitor wouldn’t usually be able to see.”

The collection began when a British Museum staff member, Daniel Solander, accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage to the Pacific Ocean. The items gathered during those voyages were first displayed in 1778 and became one of most popular areas in the Museum.

Pacific Art in Detail by Jenny Newell is available to purchase from bookstores nationwide or online at www.tepapastore.co.nz A database of the collection is also available online through the British Museum’s website.

ENDS

Pacific Art in Detail cover WEB.jpg (27 KB)

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