Power and Prestige

The book features a selection of works ranging from 40 centimetres in height to over two metres, to be staged in Venice by the Giancarlo Ligabue Foundation in partnership with the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris, which will be the next site to host the exhibition.

The exhibition also involves the collaboration of the British Museum, which has contributed some "extremely important" loans; curated by Steve Hooper, it presents exhibits from collections in the United Kingdom and Europe, including some objects from the Venice collection itself. For a long time these clubs were simply considered as weapons used by "savage" tribes, and were relegated to a minor role, but these 'power' clubs are actually a complex expression of Oceanic art and were key objects used in trade and ceremonies.

Steven Hooper is Sainsbury Research Unit Director, Professor of Visual Arts.

A fresh look at the many meanings and forms of the club across two centuries of Oceanic culture Featuring more than 150 clubs made in the 18th and 19th centuries from across a vast geographical and cultural span, Power and Prestige explores a fascinating Oceanic object form that has long been misunderstood by Western scholars. From Australia, Polynesia, Melanesia and New Zealand to Hawaii, Easter Island and the Marquesas Islands, carved clubs have played many roles beyond combat in Oceanic cultures. The range in the size of works presented here--from 15 inches to more than six feet, and made in materials ranging from nephrite and wood to whalebone--points to this diversity of utility and form. In this abundantly illustrated volume, essays detail the clubs' use as ritual and religious objects, mediums of exchange, status symbols and more. Other texts break down the specific function clubs performed within each culture, as well as the symbolic meaning of the beautiful images and patterns inscribed on them.

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