Few Pacific islands hold as prominent a place in the Western imagination as Easter Island. The most remote inhabited place on earth, Easter Island is home to the Rapa Nui, a Polynesian people who developed a unique series of artistic
traditions. While the island is renowned for the colossal stone figures that adorned its temples, much of its art remains unfamiliar to wider audiences. This book examines the island's diverse artistic heritage and presents and discusses more than fifty works, ranging from robust stone images to refined wooden sculpture, rare barkcloth figures, and examples of rongorongo, the island's unique and undeciphered script.
This handsome book is the catalogue for an exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art that runs from December 12, 2001, through August 4, 2002.publiarq.com