Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Which surfaces were painted in traditional Oceanic art?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Oceanic art and architecture
An Aboriginal Australian decorating a tightly woven dilly bag with white, yellow, and ochre (red) paints, Northern Territory, Australia, 1948.
In traditional Oceanic art, painting was considered a way to animate objects with magical, vivifying powers. Beyond sculpture, artists applied paint to a variety of surfaces, including:1
- Rock faces: Particularly common in Australia.1
- Bark: Used as panels in Australia.1
- Tapa: Cloth made from pounded bark, which was widely used for painting in Melanesia and Polynesia.1
- Sago-palm spathes: Frequently used as a surface for paintings in Melanesia.1
- Architectural elements: In Micronesia, painted bas-relief scenes were applied to the timbers and gables of men’s meetinghouses in Palau.2
- Utilitarian objects: Items such as wooden bowls and canoes were often decorated with traditional painted patterns.2
These works were typically created using ochres and vegetable-derived pigments, applied with brushes made from frayed sticks, feather bundles, or even fingers.1