Unknown in Europe until 1797, Mangareva Island, at the heart of Polynesia, is the most important island in the Gambier archipelago. From 1834 onwards, missionaries went about destroying ancient ancestral Mangarevian culture and achieved their goal in just a few years. The twelve cultural objects in wood on display in the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac are the only objects known to have survived this widespread destruction.

The book, like the exhibition, presents them together for the first time since they left their island and pays respectful and sensitive tribute to the gods of Polynesia and the belief systems which have disappeared.

Description

80 pages • 22,5 x 30 cm • 19,90 €
Co-published by musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac / Somogy 2009
ISBN: 9782757202562