Voyaging
The idea of 'Voyaging' is strongly evoked in the arts of Oceania — both in the literal sense of ‘travelling across the open seas’ and conceptually, in relation to the ‘spiritual voyaging’ it facilitates. Islands were stepping stones in an ancient trajectory of ocean passage that reached across space and time. Oral histories tell of the jagged ends of islands breaking off and swimming like sharks or sailfish through the ocean to anchor themselves farther east, creating new destinations for the next generation of Islanders.
The extreme mobility of Austronesian voyagers meant that a physical return to a departure point or homeland was not always possible and ocean navigators conserved memories of their origins when settling in a new territory. Acknowledging one’s lineage was of paramount importance — a genealogical signifier that identified not only where one was heading, but also from what place one had come.
