Making Connections

In 1791, HMS Pandora was shipwrecked off the coast of Australia after searching for the Bounty mutineers in Polynesia.

Experience how these objects can shed new light on the Pandora collection, and connect people across time and space.

Fishhooks were highly specialised and made in a variety of sizes and shapes, dependent on the fish they were intended for and the waters they were used in.

They were also used as exchange items and were avidly collected by the first European visitors to the islands.

Indeed, fishing implements – hooks and lures – make up the largest group of objects among the Polynesian Pandora artefacts.

The fish hook reproductions made by Hiro are an indication of how items from the past can influence contemporary art practice.

As well as fish hooks, several shanks made from mother of pearl were recovered from the Pandora wreck.

After 187 years underwater, the lures found with Pandora had lost their hook points and plant fibres.

Without them, the lures could not be linked to a particular region, as these kinds of shanks were used all across Oceania, with minor variation in form and size.

Meet Tokainiua Devatine: artist, anthropologist and professor of Polynesian history and societies at the Centre des Métiers d’Art de la Polynésie française (CMA) in Pape'ete, Tahiti.

Inspired by the many shell shanks from the Pandora collection, and the lack of associated regions attributed to each individual item, Tokainiua created an art installation to reflect the nature of these lures as things connecting the peoples of Oceania, highlighting their similarities and shared histories.

The creation of contemporary art in French Polynesia is a thriving industry. The Municipal Market, Pape'ete, serves as a trading hub for both locals and tourists. Registered artists produce a variety of art forms, incorporating local materials such as wood, stone and mother of pearl.

Reproductions of historic objects at these markets are an example of how the past persists in the present.

Certain contemporary creations, like pieces of jewellery, are visibly inspired by the region’s history and cultural heritage.

Mother of pearl (also known as nacre) is an important natural resource in Polynesia. Only certain molluscs, like the black-lip pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera), produce this particular iridescent inner shell layer.

The mesmerising visual qualities made it the perfect material for creating tools, like fishhooks, and for prestigious objects, such as necklaces.

In the past, access to oysters was limited as they needed to be harvested from coral reefs. Today, they are commonly grown in aquaculture, especially in the Tuamotu Archipelago and the Gambier Islands.

The oysters are valued for their ability to produce pearls, French Polynesia’s top export earner.