On the 28th of May 2025, CaixaForum Madrid saw the opening of Voces del Pacífico: Tradición e Innovación (Voices from the Pacific: Tradition and Innovation) exhibition. Curated by Julie Adams from the British Museum, the exhibition focuses on the creativity, resilience and adaptability of Pacific peoples, expressed through the material productions of their past and present.

Over the past decade, the British Museum has been collaborating with Fundación La Caixa, the non-profit cultural branch of CaixaBank, one of Spain’s most renowned banks. La Caixa has established a network of architecturally striking venues across Spain, hosting a diverse cultural programme. As part of this partnership, the British Museum provides exhibitions that are hosted in La Caixa’s venues, known as CaixaForums. These are typically displays originally developed for the Museum’s Bloomsbury site, later adapted and toured across Spain by La Caixa. Each exhibition travels to five different venues over a two-year period. However, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, British Museum curators had the opportunity to propose ideas directly to La Caixa for exclusive commissions: exhibitions created specifically for Spanish audiences and not shown in London. In response, La Caixa expressed interest in an exhibition highlighting the British Museum’s Oceania collections. Thus began a years-long partnership between the BM and La Caixa to develop an exhibition that would introduce Spanish audiences to the peoples and arts of Oceania. Holding an exhibition like this in Spain is particularly significant given the limited exposure of Spanish audiences to Pacific arts and cultures.

Located in the so-called ‘museum mile’ of Madrid, a part of UNESCO’s World Heritage Site known as el paisaje de la luz (The Landscape of Light), Madrid’s CaixaForum venue combines contemporary architecture, lush vertical gardens, and expansive, light-filled exhibition spaces. Voces del Pacífico spans the entirety of the third floor: a large venue that played with different walls and spaces to create a path that takes the viewer on a thematic journey across six common attributes of Pacific peoples: Innovators, Weavers, Dancers, Carvers, Warriors, and Voyagers.

The first thing one encounters is a striking introduction that presents an array of 19th- and 20th-century carved figures from across the region, set against a map of the Pacific in the background and a collage of portraits of Pacific artists. This display emphasises the important role of ancestors for Pacific communities while also contextualising the region’s geographic location and landscape variety, historical depth, and sociocultural diversity. Particularly important is that all objects have provenance information included on their labels.

After this introduction, one enters the first section of the exhibition: Innovators. This section reflects the Pacific region’s deep interconnectedness, alluding to Epeli Hau‘ofa’s famous concept of “a sea of islands”. As its name suggests, this section presents examples of how islanders have incorporated and experimented with new materials and techniques as they encountered new environments and peoples. One of the main features of this exhibition is its constant pairing of historical and contemporary pieces to highlight not only cultural continuity but also innovation and adaptation to changing conditions. For example, two Māori hei tiki (pendants) are displayed together: one from the 1800s, made from nephrite, wax, albatross bone, and linen, alongside a contemporary one made in 2008 from perspex, haliotis shell, polyester, and fish bone by Māori artist George Nuku. This juxtaposition emphasises islanders’ resilience and reaffirms the significance of historical collections in sustaining the cultural vitality of Pacific communities.

Innovators also addresses the dramatic changes brought about by colonialism. Although the section mostly strikes a positive note, focusing on cross-cultural encounters and Pacific artists’ ability to adapt and integrate Western materials into their creative practices, it also reflects on the negative impact that colonialism had on the Indigenous peoples of the region—an impact that continues to this day. A case titled Innovation Under Pressure highlights how Europeans brought devastating diseases to the Pacific, as well as kidnapped and forced people to work abroad in the practice known as blackbirding. It also considers the introduction of Christianity by Western missionaries, which radically altered the belief systems and ways of life of local populations. A 19th-century Fijian club decorated with Māori motifs and a Samoan sampler made by a 12-year-old schoolgirl in 1844 introduce issues of mobility and cultural impositions associated with European activity in the region during a period of rapid change. Additionally, this section examines the impact of the climate crisis on islanders’ artistic productions—since the Pacific is one of the most affected regions in the world—while highlighting Pacific peoples’ innovative and transformative solutions.

The following section, titled Weavers, considers the vast array of patterns, forms, traditions, and practices associated with the art of weaving. One of its main focuses is the transmission and preservation of weaving knowledge. A beautiful red cloak called Pāuaua (“perseverance”), made by Māori artist Te Ataraiti Waretini, is displayed at the beginning of the section. This cloak was created after Te Ataraiti saw an old Māori cloak at the British Museum, and its name reflects the continuity of weaving practices. Te Ataraiti, like many Pacific women, learned how to weave from her mother. Today, she lives in London but continues to take online weaving classes with her mother. This example, narrated through the artist’s personal story and direct quotes, illustrates the central role of women in transmitting weaving practices and shows how preservation occurs even across international borders.

Weavers also highlights the diversity of materials and techniques used in weaving across the region. Through examples of woven baskets made from yarn and cotton, it demonstrates how Pacific artists are constantly innovating in their practice. Additionally, it reflects on how, as fashions have changed over time, islanders have adapted to these changes, creating new styles and incorporating different materials. One example is a child’s outfit using the bilum technique from Papua New Guinea (PNG). Bilum are a type of versatile bag commonly used in PNG for a variety of purposes. In recent years, the techniques used to make bilum have also been applied to dresses, such as the one displayed in the exhibition.

The next section is called Dancers and emphasises the importance of dance as the most celebrated art form in the Pacific. Although a few historical examples of items associated with dancing are incorporated, this section has a strong contemporary component. 5 contemporary dance costumes are displayed over plastic mannequins. The first one from Kiribati was created by the Kiribati Tugaru Association, a group formed of UK-based families with ties to Kiribati. Through this display, the exhibition wants to emphasise the importance of dance as a means for diasporic communities to reconnect with the cultural practices of their homeland. The second costume represents Tahiti, was also assembled in the United Kingdom and is associated with the dance practice of ʻori Tahiti. This example is included to discuss the issue of cultural revival, as ʻori Tahiti has gradually been revived since the 1960s and is today a thriving cultural practice. A third display included 3 mannequins: one from West Papua, one from Hawai‘i and one from Vanuatu. These examples introduce important topics such as the right to self-determination, self-expression and self-representation into the narrative of the exhibition. It also reflects on how new cultural influences such as hip hop have found a place in the world of Pacific contemporary performance. They are placed opposite a video titled Dancers that showcases the significance of dance in different Pacific islands through oral testimonies and performances from across the region.

Section four, Warriors, highlights the important place that warfare plays in Pacific communities. It displays different types of war-related objects collected by missionaries, explorers and colonial officers in the late 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Two cases display different examples of clubs, shields and war attire to showcase how these were often regarded as only weapons by European collectors. This belief made misrepresentations of islanders as war-like more pronounced, when in fact clubs and other “weapons” often had other roles and meanings as symbols of status, pieces of art and of military power, among others. Beautiful examples of mahiole (feathered helmets) and ahu ‘ula (feathered capes) from Hawai‘i, as well as a full Kiribati coconut fibre armour, are included as part of this display. A final case reflects on Pacific peoples’ resistance to the imposition of Western colonial power systems, as well as to the main “battle” that Pacific peoples are facing today: that of climate change.

The next section is titled Carvers, and showcases the exceptional craftsmanship of carvers, as well as the vast diversity in carving traditions from across the Pacific region. By displaying different examples of carvings (both historical and contemporary) from various islands side by side, the exhibition narrative follows the approach seen throughout the rest of the show. This presentation highlights the vital role that carvings, whether in wood or monumental stone architecture, play in both daily life and ritual or ceremonial practices, often giving material form to social relationships. Particularly interesting is that this section includes tattooing as a form of carving on human skin. This expands conventional definitions of what carving is and how it can be practised.

The final section of the exhibition, titled Voyagers, brings Pacific navigation to the forefront. This section highlights the skill of Pacific navigators, their sophisticated sailing and canoe-building technologies, the environmental knowledge involved, and the symbolic and ceremonial meanings tied to navigation. Through the metaphor “the ocean is in us”, this section presents examples of the cosmology associated with navigation, such as weather charms and godly and other revered figures. It also explores the teaching of navigation, for instance through a rebbelip, a navigational chart from the Marshall Islands used to teach ocean currents and island positions during the training of young men. Additionally, it highlights the technologies of navigation, with displays of canoes, fishhooks and paddles from across the region that showcase a wide diversity of forms and techniques. This section also reflects on current efforts undertaken by different Pacific communities to revive seafaring, both as a cultural practice but also as an environmentally sustainable practice. A short film titled Voyagers is played, showing a day aboard the famous Hōkūle‘a, a Polynesian double-hull canoe built in 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society that voyaged from Hawai‘i to Tahiti and celebrates the revitalisation of Polynesian voyaging.

Towards the end of the exhibition, several examples of contemporary interventions by Pacific artists in the British Museum are displayed. This final display reflects on how contemporary Pacific artists are engaging with historic museum collections and archival material in different ways to critically reflect on the legacies of past exploitative practices, as well as to revitalise cultural practices in the present. This section is particularly important, as it engages with ongoing dialogues surrounding the contemporary relevance of historical museum collections for Pacific communities.

First, the display highlights A’a’s biography and return to the Te Fare Iamanaha/Musée de Tahiti et des Îles in 2023. A world-renowned deity from French Polynesia, A’a is a wooden figure created on the island of Rurutu and collected in 1821 by the London Missionary Society. A replica made by Tahitian artist Hirirau Vaitoare and commissioned by the British Museum in 2024 was displayed next to a multimedia installation and quotes from the artist. In this way, the exhibition wants to emphasise A’a’s continued significance in Polynesia, the transformative potential of Indigenous artists connecting directly with museum collections, and the relevance and reverence for ancestors in Pacific communities both in the past and today.

Another example showcased in this part of the exhibition reflects contemporary critical interventions in museum archives and the materials housed in them. A still image of Māori artist Lisa Reihana’s famous immersive installation In Pursuit of Venus [infected] is displayed alongside three drawn portraits of Pacific Islanders drawn in the late 18th and 19th centuries by European explorers. Both Reihana’s piece and the archival documents provide a critical reflection of colonial views of the Pacific through a European gaze, often highly idealised, exoticised and reflecting ideas about primitivism and hierarchies of civilisation.

The exhibition comes to a close with a bang: George Nuku’s Bottled Ocean 2125, a highly colourful and impactful contemporary piece made using plastic bottles. This striking floor-to-ceiling installation weaves together several of the exhibition’s core themes, drawing the viewer in both physically and conceptually. Its immersive vertical presence reinforces the interconnectedness of the ideas explored throughout the show. First, by using plastic as its central medium, it reflects on the deep impact of the climate crisis on Pacific communities. Second, it speaks about islanders’ creativity and adaptability to reinvent themselves in lieu of changing environments and of the introduction of external political, economic and cultural influences. Finally, it introduces how, despite all the adversities, Pacific communities are facing the future with strength, encouraging visitors to leave with this empowering thought.

All in all, by showcasing a wide range of art forms, both historical and contemporary, the exhibition effectively reflects the rich cultural diversity of the Pacific region. It offers valuable insight into how traditions have both endured and evolved over time through a thoughtful display of continuity and change. The exhibition also does an excellent job of involving diasporic communities in the UK, enriching the narrative with diverse voices through quotes and videos. As a result, it serves as a perfect introduction to the cultural richness of the Pacific for Spanish audiences, bringing attention to one of the world’s lesser-known continents and celebrating its vibrant heritage.