Arts in the religions of the Pacific

the long version

The vivid art forms of Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia and New Zealand are rooted in their primal, religious cultures; this relationship with religious life is still very much apparent in the new and ever-evolving art forms of the modern Pacific world. Moore's well-illustrated volume examines this relationship between religious experience and diverse art forms, such as music, dance, masks and carvings, which have all come to symbolise life itself. Their geographical, historical and cultural contexts are explored by illuminating analysis, that draws on a variety of disciplines, including religious studies, anthropology and art history. Arts in the Religions of the Pacific, distinctive in relating the scholarly study of the world's religions to the arts of the Pacific, is the first title in a major series entitled Religion and the Arts.