The mystery of Atua: Polynesian sculptural images

Atua – Sacred Gods from Polynesia, at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra is, quite figuratively, an eyeful of icons. The exhibit, until August 3, 2014, is a display of pre-Christian images, island by island, of the Polynesian notion of gods and belief.

Western missionaries regarded these images as idols, and hence most were smashed and burned in an iconoclasm across the region in the early 19^th century. This exhibit shows the surviving figures, taken from the islands by explorers, missionaries, the military, sailors, or traders, and sourced by the National Gallery of Australia in 30 museums or collections from around the world as well as its own collection. The Vatican Museum also contributed to the collection of 75 pieces.

Polynesia is a triangular cluster of over 1,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean that includes Samoa,Tonga, Rarotonga (Cook Islands), Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue, Wallis and Futuna, Austral Islands, Vanuatu,Tahiti, Marquesas Islands, and outliers Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Hawaiian Islands, and Aoterroa New Zealand. Although not part of Polynesia, the exhibition begins with a few wooden statues from Fiji.

There are thousand of Polynesian gods, known as atua. Some were the spirits of gifted individuals, some were widely known whereas others were more localized, and some continue in stories and legends.

Most of the figures are made of wood, with some from whale teeth, straw, bark, shell, or stone. Not all are male; there are many female figures revered. Most are standing, but some are reclining, with one on all fours. They range from simple wood blocks to intricately carved, patterned, and lifelike figures.

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