The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has reopened its Oceania galleries after an extensive renovation and reimagining from an Indigenous perspective. The new Arts of Oceania installation features over 650 works representing 140 cultures from across the region, including Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand. Curated by Maia Nuku, the exhibition took eight years to plan and showcases artworks created in the last 500 years, emphasizing the ocean as a connective highway rather than a barrier. The reopening continues the legacy of the landmark 1984 exhibition Te Māori: Māori Art from New Zealand Collections, which set a benchmark for shared decision-making between museums and Indigenous communities.
The reimagined galleries matter because they represent a significant shift in how Western museums engage with Indigenous art and heritage. By fusing contemporary works—such as Fiona Pardington's Huia bird image—alongside traditional taonga (treasures), the Met acknowledges that for Māori creators, heritage and art are inseparable. The exhibition also maintains the strong relationships built since Te Māori, which toured the US with full Iwi authority and changed museum practices around consultation. For curator Maia Nuku, the reopening provides a future international platform for Oceania's contemporary artists, signaling a foundational moment for Indigenous representation in major museums.