Pacific artifacts on display in '06
Advertiser Staff
The Honolulu Academy of Arts has signed a contract to host the first-ever public exhibition of objects gathered during the Pacific voyages of Capt. James Cook between 1768 and 1779.
More than 500 pieces gathered by Cook are controlled by the Institute of Cultural and Social Anthropology at George August University of Gottingen in Lower Saxony, Germany. Until now, they've been available for study by scholars but not for public viewing.
Most of the artifacts are from the South Pacific, but 35 works from Hawai'i and a number from the Pacific Northwest are also part of the exhibition.
The exhibit, "Life in the Pacific of the 1700s," will be on view at the academy from Feb. 23, 2006, through May 14, 2006. It is a joint project of the academy, George August University, the Lower Saxony State Museum of Hannover and the Foundation of Lower Saxony.
"The works in this exhibition, made before the arrival of any Westerner in the Pacific, are extraordinary for their inherent beauty, craftsmanship and unique mana," said a statement by academy director Steven Little, who went to Germany to view the collection in January. "We recognize that the legacy of Cook's voyages included disease and death for many cultures through the Pacific— a fact Cook himself recognized. The purpose of this exhibition, however, is not to glorify Cook, but on the contrary to celebrate the brilliant cultural and spiritual lives of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific as they existed prior to the first contact with Westerners."
The objects went to Germany because of the unique relationship between the region and England's Germanic monarchy. George I of England had been Elector (ruler) of Hanover, as it was then spelled before he ascended to the English throne. Close ties continued between the House of Hanover and the English royal family, and two German scientists accompanied Cook on his second voyage. Cook died in Kealakekua, Hawai'i, in 1779. The objects were shipped to England and eventually given to George August University by King George III.
