Mangareva

A place full of history…

Mangareva is part of the Gambier archipelago and is also the most remote island from Tahiti (1 700 km East from Tahiti). It is also the only inhabited one of this preserved and authentic archipelago. Mangareva, one of the most isolated island of the world, encloses the mysteries of the old Polynesian culture (one can find several archaeological remains) as well as signs of the Christian era with different cathedrals and churches that were constructed in the middle of the 19th century.
The Tahiti and its islands museum in Punaauia now proposes a touring exhibition dedicated to Mangareva in cooperation with the Quai Branly museum in Paris. Ten statues that left the archipelago about 150 years ago are now back to be honoured. These unique pieces, seldom not to say never seen by the public, have been lended by the Quai Branly museum, the museum of Cahors, the museum of La Rochelle and the ethnological museum of the Vatican. One can discover in particular eight tiki (hominoid statues) representing old mangarevian gods that are very original.

This exhibition that will be shown until the 24th of September 2009 offers a unique occasion for visitors to admire these art pieces but also gives the opportunity to the population of Mangareva to regain parts of its past that some took many years earlier.A ceremony with mangarevian dances and songs was organised to inaugurate the opening of the exhibition.
To allow visitors to impregnate a little bit more of this island’s culture, a documentary space has also been put in place with information about various topics: archaeology, the creation of atolls, pearl production…..

Source Tahiti Presse
© Photo M.-A. Bolard