The Austral Islands: History, Art and Art History

A detailed study of the history of the Austral Islands archipelagos situated in the Southern part of French Polynesia. The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the South Pacific. Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely in the northwest the Tubuai Islands consisting of the Iles Maria, Rimatara, Rurutu, Tubuai Island proper and Raivavae or Raevavae, and in the southeast the Bass Islands composed of the main island of Rapa Iti and the small Marotiri. The islands of Maria and Marotiri are not suitable fo sustained habitation. Several of the islands have uninhabited islets or rocks off their coastlines. Austral Islands' population is about 6,300. The Austral Islands are one of French Polynesia's six constituencies. The book is in three parts. Part one consists of "a sequence of comments, made by the earliest foreign visitors, mainly in their own words." This aquaints the reader with the pre-colonial heritage of the area. Part Two is a collection of colour photos of early Austral Islands art held at the British Museum. Part Three provides personal comments by Rhys Richards and art history essays about specific classes of artifacts. With numerous photographs of the rich variety of Austral art.