Nothing can compare to the grandeur of the real Easter Island, but the University of Wyoming Art Museum is attempting to bring a little of the magic to campus, albeit in miniature.
Taking art enthusiasts on a journey through a mysterious culture, Ancestral Spirits on display in Gallery 1 is reminiscent of the kind of statues and artwork found there.
With few people at the museum on this particular day, the exhibit as an atmosphere of thoughtfulness that seemed fitting. One fellow museum visitor looked around at the different figures, confused and enlightened with the artwork he was unfamiliar of.
“I don’t know anything about Easter Island art,” UW student Jeremiah Adsit, said.
A culture enriched in its artwork is presented to do just this, educate the students and community members on a time and culture not many have the chance to explore.
“The Art Museum strives to provide students and the community with the opportunity to learn about other cultures,” said Rachel Clifton, Assistant Curator of Collections. “Not many people are able to travel to Easter Island, so by putting these sculptures on exhibit, it’s a chance to learn about an ancient culture and see objects from that culture first-hand.”
Moai is the name of the statues that populate the island located in Chile. Many of the small figures in the exhibit take the form of moai, which is thought to be a tribute to ancestors. The reason for the existence of the statues is uncertain, because there is no written history of the people who created them.
The small figurines on display at the museum were made in the 20th century as a part of the Chilean tourist trade. They are miniscule in comparison to those on Easter Island, but are composed of some of the same materials like stone and obsidian. Bone and wood are other mediums used along with one figure, crafted out of coral.
The Rapa Nui residents, the people inhabiting the island at the time, carved the original Easter Island statues from stone. Their civilization flourished during the 10th and 16th centuries, blooming with artistry, as can be assumed by the existence of the approximately 900 moai statues.
Impressively, the original statues are an average of 13 feet tall and 14 tons. Fortunately, artists who created the figures in Ancestral Spirits didn’t have the predicament of moving their statues like the Rapa Nui, so museum visitors can get a sense of a phenomenon usually reserved for world travelers.
Drooping bellies, protruding ribs, sunken eyes and grimaces are some of the features on the moai statues. A variety of the figures were animals such as birds, lizards, snakes and turtles. Almost all of them had intricate carvings, but a few of the sculptures were only heads or a bust.
A set of skulls carved from stone occupied one case in the exhibit. These more contemporary sculptures stood out as they did not meet the expectations of Easter Island art. None of the other sculptures diverged from the moai or the figures of animals. The skulls served as a reminder to spectators that the art rose from a culture that no longer exists.
Preserving culture is the aim of this exhibit, creating an atmosphere distinct on telling a story of a forgotten time.
“The sculptures in this exhibition are directly linked to historic myths, stories, and traditions from Easter Island,” Clifton said. “Today, those traditions no longer exist or are no longer practiced, so it’s important to have works like this to continue educating people about the culture and passing those stories down.”
