Nicholas Thomas

A timely re-examination of European engagements with indigenous art and the presence of indigenous art in the contemporary art world. The arts of Africa, Oceania and native America famously inspired twentieth-century modernist artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Ernst. The politics of such stimulus, however, have long been highly contentious: was this a cross-cultural discovery to be celebrated, or just...

The extraordinary sixty-thousand-year history of how the Pacific islands were settled. 'Takes readers on a narrative odyssey' - Wall Street Journal, Books of the Year 'Highlights a dizzying burst of new research' - The Economist 'A refreshing addition to the canon of literature that contemplates Oceanic navigation' - Noelle Kahanu 'I would not be surprised if, after reading this masterpiece,...

An incisive, evocative history of the experience of empire in the Oceanic world This compelling book explores the lived experience of empire in the Pacific, the last region to be contacted and colonised by Europeans following the great voyages of Captain Cook. Unlike conventional accounts that emphasise confrontation and the destruction of indigenous cultures, Islanders reveals there was gain as...

The dazzling colours and patterns of the art of the Pacific Islands have long entranced Western audiences, not least artists such as Gauguin and Picasso. The tendency has been to regard Oceanic art as 'primitive', mysterious and shrouded in taboo. However, Nicholas Thomas, in looking at and beyond the familiar, stunning surfaces of masks and shields, carved canoe prows and...

Towards Inclusive Social Policies? focuses on both the attitudinal and institutional repercussions of the pandemic, while transcending Western-centric narratives and study cases. This book asks the question: has the COVID-19 pandemic facilitated the adoption of more generous and inclusive social policies in Southeast Asia?

The extraordinary sixty-thousand-year history of how the Pacific islands were settled. Takes readers on a narrative odyssey Wall Street Journal, Books of the Year Highlights a dizzying burst of new research The Economist A refreshing addition to the canon of literature that contemplates Oceanic navigation Noelle Kahanu I would not be surprised if, after reading this masterpiece, many readers are...

The British Museum's uniquely important Melanesian collection is pre-eminent among early collections, and the 20,000 items it comprises are core to understanding the cultures of the western Pacific. The extraordinary art styles represented, from groups such as New Guinea, New Ireland, and the Solomon Islands and relating to ancestors, family and clan, houses, feasting, and festivals, are of interest not...

The Post-Impressionist artist and writer Paul Gauguin led an extraordinary, troubled, and restlessly itinerant life. He came late to painting and spent most of his last decade in the Pacific islands of Tahiti and the Marquesas. There, he produced paintings loosely based on Polynesian tradition that heralded the emergence of primitivism and would exert a profound influence on modernist artists...