AP Art History

 ART of the Pacific Rim

700-1980 c.e.

Key Ideas

*Pacific arts are objects and events created from fibers, pigments, bone, sea ivory and shell.

*Wood, coral and stone are used as well

* Art helps preserve human history and social continuity as well as remind people of their tradition and heritage-often destroyed after the ritual or event

• *Strong gender roles for creating art
• *Wood is the primary material: they have perfected woodcarving-intricate lines and details
• *Heavily influenced by the sea (point of isolation and connecting through travel and trade). 
• *Art is in the form of performances, chants, dances, or rituals. Objects of dress/costumes or masks are used as props or disguises in religious rituals. They are not produced for aesthetic reasons.
• *The use of natural materials such as fibers (plant materials), pigments, bones, sea ivory and shell, tortoise shell, wood, coral, and stone are very important to the meaning and symbolism of the artworks
• *Artworks" are displayed in the men's communal house

*Performance is significant in the meaning of Pacific arts-chants, dances, scents, costumes and people of high social status engage all the senses to create a vivid experience & memory