DESCRIPTION : Samoan Art and Artists is a wide-ranging survey of both the traditional and contemporary arts of Samoa. The author has drawn on an extensive research base to present a contemporary and accessible picture of a vibrant culture.

The book has a broad sweep, covering all facets of the Samoan arts, including canoe and house building, siapo (tapa) weaving, tattooing, oratory, adornment, all forms of performance art, the visual arts, and literature.

An important feature of the book is the inclusion of profiles of living practitioners, both from Samoa and the large Samoan communities in other Pacific countries.

❙ Sean Mallon is Curator History/Pacific at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.