ZMACS JUN: Oceania Paper Doll

It's time for a paper doll, isn't it? Our inspiration this time will be the amazing and diverse art of Austronesia/ Oceania. Why Austronesia? Well, the Austronesian diaspora has probably THE most amazing history of body art and tattoos in the world. The textiles, carvings, body paint, and graphic arts among other arts and crafts of these connected yet distinct cultures are great places to look for texture and design.

Austronesia, for the purposes of defining it for this swap, is a collection of interconnected cultural elements that appear to have originated in the Malay Archipelago and Taiwan, and spread via oceangoing peoples throughout parts of Southeast Asia, including Eastern Indonesia and the Philippines, to Madagascar, throughout Micronesia, including New Guinea and Fiji, and Polynesia, including New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands.

Here are some diverse examples of this artistic and cultural diaspora:

Kura Art Gallery, with many examples of modern Maori art

Zealand Tattoo's site on Ta Moko -- Maori body art/ tattoos -- not sure about information accuracy, please help me find other sites if you like

Khan Academy presentation on Oceanian Art

Lesson plan for teaching art history of Polynesia with many great links to art galleries

Links to many sites with art from Pacific cultures

Digital museum of indigenous peoples of Taiwan -- see different groups along left

Philippine Indigenous Art slide show .. great designs toward the end

Modern tattoo artist from Indonesia incorporates multiple traditions into his work

I am working on finding some interesting links for Madagascar, but they are very disjointed so far. If you search Google Images for Malagasy Textile Art or Madagascar Indigenous Art, you will find amazing ideas. Same goes for Fiji and Samoa.

There are some very old "National Geographic" cultural encounter/ gawking type photos on some of these sites and there may be some partial nudity in Google images and on some of these links. If this is likely to affect you negatively, make sure to set filters, emphasize textiles in your searches, look at museum and art history outreach directed at a younger audience, or also look at boats/ canoes/ outriggers, where there are some great carvings to look at. Feel free to express strong opinions below, and be sensitive and/ or open to swap partner's comfort levels as always (with the understanding that communication is not always a perfect thing, and openness to others' belief systems is important to swapping in general). This group of cultures has at times been really sensationalized and I would hate anyone to miss a great experience as a result.

One paper doll in any form that you desire with any elements or technique that you desire to one other swapper. If any arrangements for strong preferences need to be made, contact me and I will make sure that we figure out a good solution, maybe by setting up different swaps?

Open to all ZMACS members in good standing, and I will be happy to try to make swap accommodations as needed as well as angel swaps. If I need to set up 1:1 swaps based on any of these, I am open to that as well. As always, learning and having fun are the goal :) Image is of a lovely young person of Sakalava origin (Madagascar, Nosy Be) with a painted beauty mask.