Power & Prestige: Oceanian command sticks unveiled in Venice

A major exhibition of Oceanian command sticks, titled 'Power & Prestige', opens at Palazzo Franchetti in Venice. Organized by the Fondazione Giancarlo Ligabue, the show brings together 126 rare artifacts from across the Pacific, including islands such as Rapa Nui, Samoa, Tonga, the Marianas, the Marshalls, Tahiti, and Guam. These objects, largely mysterious due to the cultural disruption caused by European colonization and missionary conversion, range from weapons to ceremonial scepters, status symbols, and ritual accessories. Recent radiocarbon dating of a 134-cm-long 'Kinikini' stick from Fiji, brought to Europe in the mid-19th century, revealed that the tree used died between 1491 and 1638 CE, making the artifact 380–530 years old. Curator Steven Hooper notes that such sticks were once fixed inside thatched temple roofs as offerings to Fijian gods and periodically oiled during rituals. The exhibition marks the first systematic study of these works, shedding new light on the cultures of the 'South Seas'.