Odrodzenie kulturowe na postkolonialnym Tahiti. Przypadek unu

Abstract

This article explores contemporary aspects of cultural renewal in postcolonial Tahiti. By focusing on the renewed interest in unu sculptures, I describe practices of indigenous associations, which are trying to address the islanders’ profound cultural identity crisis. As a result of colonial history of the region, the cultural continuity has been almost entirely severed. The activists consciously strive to reclaim the history and knowledge that disappeared. However, the goal does not consist in mere restoration of the historical forms, or rewriting the history anew in the hardened Western canons. What is the most important for the activists is to live through and to link relations between human, non-human, spirituality, places and memory. Therefore, I am particularly interested in pointing out the intersections of various relations cutting across categories such as time and space. These activities will also be characterized as processual and mobile.