" Pacific Encounters " Polynesia Art at The Sainsbury Centre

Written by Oswald Bastable Wednesday, 07 March 2012 21:41

Norwich, England - The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) East has announced that The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts based at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, will be open to the public following a major, 21-month refurbishment and building project.  The world-class Foster and Partners’ building will celebrate its re-opening on 21 May with a unique Exhibition entitled 'Pacific Encounters: Art & Divinity in Polynesia 1760 - 1860'.  Architecture week offers the ideal opportunity to explore the 'new look' building and a unique exhibition, which is the most comprehensive celebration of the arts of Polynesia ever mounted.  Many items, which have been loaned by the British Museum and other museums across the world, are being displayed for the first time in the UK and feature 270 rare and extraordinary sculptures, ornaments, textiles and valuables.

Pacific Encounters features many objects collected during the 18th-century voyages of Cook, Bligh and Vancouver, and others collected by the early missionaries.  A wooden bowl, supported by two figures with shell eyes and teeth of cut boars’ tusks, is just one of the 270 rare objects in the exhibition.  The bowl was presented to Captain Charles Clerke on board HMS Discovery by a chief from Kaua’i in the Hawaiian Islands on 23rd January 1778, during Cook’s final expedition.  It was Clerke who took command of the expedition after Cook’s death in 1779.  The bowl has been in the British Museum since 1780, donated by Joseph Banks.

The Centre, which first opened in 1978, was built to house the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection of world art, which the couple donated in 1973.  The Centre features modern European art by artists such as by Degas, Picasso, Bacon and Giacometti, alongside works from across the globe.  It is one of the UK’s outstanding cultural venues.  Commenting on the current project, Lord Foster said: “We have sought to create new connections between the different parts of the building, to improve amenities and to ensure that the Sainsbury Centre is equipped to meet the demands of a new century and a developing campus ".

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