Oceania conference

Artists, museum professionals and academics discuss the subjects that are at the core of the contemporary Oceanic concerns as part of the ‘Oceania’ exhibition and the special weekend dedicated to it.

These conferences will provide an opportunity to address the following subjects:

  • Sustainable development and indigenous knowledge
  • Climate change
  • The role of museums
  • Artistic practice as a tool for advocacy

About the event

At a time some describe as Anthropocene, due to the unprecedented impact of human activities on the equilibrium of the planet, questions of sustainable development have never been more pressing issues. The world’s indigenous communities appear both vulnerable and as major actors in the fight against the overexploitation of resources, the pollution of lands and the effects of climate change.

On the front line of these battles are the inhabitants of the Pacific, and particularly artists, who are stepping up their inventiveness to make the threats facing their islands and the incredible cultural diversity they contain known to the world. Closely linked to this, the perception of territories, the dynamism of Pacific societies and their ability to adapt are on display in museums around the world; but indigenous voices are still too often not heard.

SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2019

Sustainable development and indigenous knowledge

  • 11am: Élodie Fache, anthropologist, Indigenous knowledge and the challenge of sustainable fishing for coastal fisheries in Fiji
  • 11.30am: Léandro Varison, legal expert, Indigenous knowledge and protection
  • 12pm: Alexandre Juster, ethnolinguist, Polynesian rāhui: when cultural reappropriation of a former political taboo comes to the rescue of biodiversity.
  • 12.30pm - 1pm: discussion

Climate change

  • 2.30pm: George Nuku, visual artist, Plastic Voyager
  • 3pm: Uili Lousi, artist, The symposium of Ngatu 'Uli mirrors globally the Pacific Moana Oceania climate change reality
  • 3.30pm Tina Porou, environmental development expert
    Whakarukea a Tawhirimatea: The unleashing of Tawhirimatea the God of Weather, an indigenous perspective on Climate Change and how our traditional ways can save the World.
  • 4pm Virginie Duvat, geography professor, Université de la Rochelle
    The atolls (Maldives, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Tuamotu) are they under threat of disappearance due to rising sea levels?
  • 4.30pm - 5.30pm: discussion

SUNDAY 30 JUNE

The role of museums

  • 11am: Stéphanie Leclerc-Caffarel, Head of the Oceania Collections, Oceania and Insulindia Heritage Unit, Department of Heritage and Collections, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, From London to Paris: the Oceania exhibition
  • 11.30am: Steven Hooper, Director and professor, Sainsbury Research Unit, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, GB, Sailing into the Future: Fiji Museum and the role of canoes, environment and education
  • 12pm: Fanny Wonu Veys, Ocenia curator, National Museum of World Cultures, Leiden, Netherlands, Oceania collections in the Netherlands: capturing history, tangible presences, temporary repositories, and long-lasting connections
  • 12 .30pm: John Pule, artist, Fetalahauaki
  • 1pm - 1.30pm: discussion

Artistic practice as a tool for advocacy

  • 2.30pm: Jacqueline Charles-Rault, Director of the Cultural Department, Université Le Havre Normandie, Contemporary artists from the Pacific
  • 3pm: Catherine Pellini, anthropologist, The contemporary art of Maori women
  • 5.30pm: Greg Semu, photographer, Cultural Appropriations and Colonially introduced Narratives, The Death of Captain Cook and the 5 missing pages . . . .
  • 4pm: Mata Aho, artists, Collective Empowerment
  • 4.30pm: Fiona Pardington, artist, The Pressure of Sunlight Falling
  • 5pm: Alana Jelinek, artist, Fijian cannibal fork
  • 5.30pm: Jeanine Clarkin, Maori fashion designer, Sustainability in Indigenous Identity and Culture
  • 6pm - 6.30pm: discussion

  • SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

    • Stéphanie Leclerc-Caffarel, Head of the Oceania Collections, Oceania and Insulindia Heritage Unit, Department of Heritage and Collections, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac

    Organising Committee

    • Stéphanie Leclerc-Caffarel, Head of the Oceania Collections, Oceania and Insulindia Heritage Unit, Department of Heritage and Collections, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac
    • Philippe Charlier, Director, Department of Research and Education, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac
    • Anna Gianotti Laban, Scientific events manager, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac

    COORDINATION

    • Anna Gianotti Laban, Scientific events manager, musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac. Contact: anna.laban@quaibranly.fr
  • Place:   Salle de cinéma
  • TimeSlots:
    The Saturday 29 June 2019 from 11:00 to 18:00

    The Sunday 30 June 2019 from 11:00 to 18:30
  • Accessibility:
    • Handicap auditif bim (T)
    • Handicap moteur
  • Public:   All publics
  • Categorie : Symposia
  • Free entry (subject to available places)

  • As part of:   Week-end Océanie