The Marquesas Archipelago

Islands of Artists

The Marquesas Islands are spectacular, culturally preserved islands some 1,400 km to the northeast of Tahiti. The inhabitants here seem to live somewhere between the sea and the sky, between their traditional way of life and the modern world, and yet they continue to follow their undisputable know-how that has been passed to them by their ancestors. These islands produce the most reputed arts in Polynesia.

Magnificent tiki, pahu (drums), umete (plates or bowls), penu (mortars), vaka (outrigger canoes) and more. Pieces range from creative modern carvings to replicas of ancient objects in rose or sandal wood, volcanic stone or bone, and are invariably impressively artistic. Women string together shells and seeds to make necklaces in island bright colors. More than a souvenir, to bring home a piece of Marquesian art is to have a piece a myth or a symbol of a place that evades time itself. In nearly every village there is an artist market where the locals present and sell their works of the highest quality.

Of course art isn’t the only reason to visit the Marquesas; there’s mysterious archeaological sites, hiking, horse riding, fishing, great food and a wonderful sense of well-being all around.

©Isabelle Bertaux – Tahiticommunication – All rights reserved / Translation : Celeste Brash