The Pacific Arts, vol. 22, no. 1 (March 2022) has been released as an open access, peer reviewed, online journal published through the University of California’s eScholarship platform. This special issue focuses on the theme “Pacific Island Worlds: Oceanic Dis/Positions,” which explores past and present visual art forms and practices related to place-making and identity formations in Oceania. Colonial interactions have produced a range of mobilities, yielding fraught processes of displacement, establishing new homes, and forming social, cultural, and political positions in the face of various dis-positionings. Articles and creative work lend insight into understanding human experiences in Oceania that generate future imaginings and contribute not only to a “mode of survival,” but to “an art of living” across the region. Contributors include: Christina Ayson Plank, Joe Balaz, Jesi Luhan Bennett, Jewel Block, Kaili Chun, James Clifford, Kelly Joseph, Stacy L. Kamehiro, Yuki Kihara, Claudia Ledderucci, Diana Looser, Katharine Losi Atafu-Mayo, Margo Machida, Kelema Moses, Carl F. K. Pao, Giles Peterson, Meleia Simon-Reynolds, Karen Stevenson, Mārata Tamaira, Katerina Teaiwa, Axelle Toussaint, and Michelle Williams.

Our next issue of Pacific Arts is “Grounded In Place: Dialogues Between First Nations Artists—Australia, Taiwan, Aotearoa,” guest edited by Sophie McIntyre, Fang Chun-wei, and Zara Stanhope. The collection of essays and creative work featured were presented at a three-day symposium held in October 2021 that explored several themes: History and Sovereignty, Land and Community, Site and Materials, and Place and Space. Contributors include: Patrick Flores, Vernon Ah Kee, Chang En-Man, Kaihaukai Art Collective, Judy Watson, Akac Orat, Areta Wilkinson on behalf of Ngāi Tahu Contemporary Visual Arts, Mandy Quadrio, Yuma Taru, Leah King-Smith, Ciwas Tahos, Ngahuia Harrison, and Megan Tamati-Quennell. 

The full issue can be found here.