Two events 10,000 miles apart link a renaissance in traditional Pacific navigation and the world of art.
I was lucky enough last week to visit the TarraWarra Biennial exhibition 2023. a prestige art venue in the countryside near Melbourne in Australia. The biennale title is a Samoan proverb which translates as – ‘the canoe obeys the wind’.
The curator’s notes say “this proverb calls attention to the contemporary revival of Great Ocean celestial navigation practices which have been accompanied by waves of renewal of language, thought, movement and relationships.’
The exhibition, which opened on 1 April, is excellent, merging modern and traditional art practices to show how ancient cultures and their environments are struggling to survive.
By coincidence, just before we left for Australia I went to a seminar on traditional Pacific navigation organised by the Royal Institute of Navigation and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London.
Continue reading “Ancient Pacific navigation inspires mainstream art”
tide by tide 