Constructing Identity: Collecting Oceanic art/artefacts in New Zealand

Chapter in Repositioning Pacific Arts
Edited by Anne E Allen
SK Publishing

This paper outlines my thesis research in 2003 of various contemporary collectors of Oceanic material culture within the New Zealand context. The study uncovered complex and diverse contemporary collecting habits of European New Zealanders that served to establish their place to specific context and construct a ‘narrative of identity’ and developing sense of place within the Pacific