Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands are a Micronesian island country in the Pacific, made up mainly of coral atolls. Weaving and tattooing formed important parts of their artistic traditions.

Finely woven dress mats, known as jaki-ed, combined useful clothing with detailed patterns. Tattooed designs could follow similar geometric arrangements, turning skin and cloth into different surfaces for decoration.

Historical portraits show markings on women, warriors and chiefs. Their extent could relate to social standing, while a carefully arranged design helped make the wearer impressive and recognisable.

The twentieth century brought a very different history. United States nuclear tests at Bikini and Enewetak displaced island communities and left lasting contamination. The older portraits preserve island life from before those events. These Marshallese images are grouped under the gallery's existing Gilbert label.