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Pacific Collection

The Australian Museum holds about 60,000 ethnographic objects from Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia.

The primary focus of the Pacific Collection is material from the Melanesian nations of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The Museum also holds collections from New Caledonia. The Australian Museum's collections from Polynesia include New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa (Western Samoa and American Samoa), Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Easter Island, Hawaii, Niue, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna and French Polynesia. The Micronesian Collections incorporate Banaba, Belau, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru and the Northern Marianas Islands.

While the Anthropology Branch's collections come from across the Pacific region, the Museum's acquisition policy concentrates on material from Melanesia, particularly contemporary items and objects made and used by women - areas which are under-represented in the collections.

The Australian Museum has longstanding relationships with communities throughout the Pacific. In 2002 the Museum signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Museum of Vanuatu and in 1997 with the National Museum and Art Gallery of Papua New Guinea to promote interchange, cultural heritage and natural environment programs between the two institutions and the Australian Museum.

Staff of the Pacific Collections are committed to promoting greater understanding of Pacific artefacts and cultural materials and provide assistance and access to the collections to a wide range of enquirers including community groups, researchers and the general public.

Related links

• Vanuatu Bark Cloth
• Carved Shell Money
• Feather Cloak
• Vanuatu Baskets

Copyright © Australian Museum, 2002