Put down that mai tai.<\/p>\n

The 13 artists participating in\u00a0Paradise Lost?\u00a0\u00a0Contemporary Works from the Pacific<\/i>, currently on view at the\u00a0Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver<\/a>, want you to know there\u2019s more to the idyllic Pacific Islands than hula skirts, cheap drinks and pristine beaches.<\/p>\n

Paradise Lost?<\/i>\u00a0represents the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuata. Acknowledging the past but looking forward to the future too, these 13 internationally acclaimed artists use sculpture, weaving, painting and photography to explore cultural heritage issues, migration and diaspora.<\/p>\n

New Zealander\u00a0George Nuku<\/a>\u00a0leads the assault with two specific works he created expressly for the exhibition. Trained in Maori carving, Nuku toiled away in the Museum\u2019s workshop for four months using unique, if unconventional, materials \u2013 plastics and Styrofoam – to capture the symbols and patterns associated with his Maori ancestry. Nuku is represented in over 30 European collections. He makes no apologies for embracing modern technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take the tradition and innovate,\u201d he says. \u201cMy ancestors came in a world of trees and did everything from the trees: houses, canoes. We continue to use it but we do not live in a world of trees any more. The job of the artist is to create a true reflection of life now. That is why I use polystyrene, a material of this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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George Nuku at work in Museum workshop (Image Copyrights \u00a9 Museum of Anthropology)<\/p><\/div>\n

Nuku\u2019s centerpiece,\u00a0Universal Cube,<\/i>\u00a0is a giant Styrofoam construction he created in collaboration with Canadian aboriginal sculptor\u00a0Cory Douglas<\/a>. With a Haida face on one side and Maori decoration on the other it speaks of the Great Creator and underscores the affinity Nuku shares with Canada\u2019s original peoples.<\/p>\n

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Paradise Universal Cube (Image Copyrights \u00a9 John Thomson & DZine Trip<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThey have been colonized for four hundred years, and we Maoris, for two hundred years,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are striving for equal society opportunities. Equality under the law and in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no coincidence that\u00a0Universal Cube<\/i>\u00a0hangs suspended from the ceiling enveloped by a forest of totems.<\/p>\n

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Paradise Universal Cube (Image Copyrights \u00a9 John Thomson & DZine Trip<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

With his second installation,\u00a0The World of Light<\/i>, Nuku asked for and received the Museum\u2019s discarded plastic display cases, boxes the Museum was going to throw out, and transformed them into intricate designs using drills and chemicals. Look closely and you\u2019ll see a Maori mask. Look again and it becomes an intricate abstract pattern. Sitting in a light well overlooking the countryside, these etchings change colour and character depending upon the time of day. The setting and the material plays into Nuku\u2019s philosophy of inter-connectivity. \u201cThe beauty of transparent acrylic,\u201d he says \u201cis that it doesn\u2019t overpower what is already there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Paradise World of Light Installation (Image Copyrights \u00a9 John Thomson & DZine Trip)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Paradise World of Light Detail (Image Copyrights \u00a9 John Thomson & DZine Trip)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Paradise World of Light Detail (Image Copyrights \u00a9 John Thomson & DZine Trip)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Paradise World of Light Detail (Image Copyrights \u00a9 John Thomson & DZine Trip)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Paradise World of Light Detail (Image Copyrights \u00a9 John Thomson & DZine Trip)<\/p><\/div>\n

Other Pacific artists have expanded upon the idea of melding the old with the new.\u00a0Te Rongo Kirkwood<\/a>\u00a0has reproduced a Maori ceremonial cloak in glass, turning it from an artifact into a piece of sculpture.\u00a0Ralph Regenvanu<\/a>\u00a0of Vanuatu has incorporated regional images – stylized statuary and the dramatic Vanuatan landscape – into a vibrant, surrealist painting.\u00a0\u00a0Look closely and there isn\u2019t a mai tai in sight.<\/p>\n

Paradise Lost? Contemporary Works from the Pacific at\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver<\/a>\u00a0ends on 29th September 2013<\/p>\n

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Put down that mai tai. The 13 artists participating in\u00a0Paradise Lost?\u00a0\u00a0Contemporary Works from the Pacific, currently on view at the\u00a0Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, want you to know there\u2019s more to the idyllic Pacific Islands than hula skirts, cheap drinks and pristine beaches. Paradise Lost?\u00a0represents the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":37016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[6447,6446,6445,6444,6954,6443],"yoast_head":"\n