This project aims to unlock the potential, for scholarly and public benefit, of the outstanding collections of Fijian art, material culture and associated archives and photographs held in UK and other museums. Originating from Britain's voyaging, missionary and colonial ties with Fiji, these extensive collections, hitherto neglected, will be systematically researched, analysed and made the focus of major publications, exhibitions and outreach activities. \n\nFijian artworks are visually impressive and beautifully made; they include sculptures in wood and ivory, shell and ivory regalia, ritual equipment, weapons, pottery and large decorated textiles. Central to pre-Christian and post-conversion religious practices, and often heavily Tongan-influenced, many of these objects played an active role in relations with the British, resulting in significant collections in UK museums. Foremost are the Fijian collections at the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA), probably the most important in the world. With over 2,500 objects, 2000+ photographs, diaries, field notes and drawings, they include items from all periods of Fijian history since the late 18th century as well as extensive material from the early colonial period (1870s-90s). Other outstanding collections are in the British Museum, Pitt Rivers Museum Oxford, World Museum Liverpool, National Museum of Scotland and Maidstone Museum, while major overseas collections are in Paris, Salem, the Smithsonian Institution and the Fiji Museum. All 9 museums are collaborating with the project as official Project Partners. Many regional UK museums (in Aberdeen, Exeter, Ipswich, Birmingham and elsewhere) will also participate; the National Archives will also be a valuable resource. \n\nBuilding on the specialist expertise of project staff, working in partnership with UK and overseas museums (including the Fiji Museum), the project will:\n\n- Provide the first comprehensive history of Fijian art.\n- Contribute greater understanding of the enduring potency of Fijian artworks and exchange valuables.\n- Extend theoretical perspectives on the nature of exchange, and of object/person relations more widely, including analyses of gender, embodiment, equivalence, shrines and relics.\n- Provide a nuanced history of collecting which will illuminate complex and shifting Fijian/British relations, especially during the early colonial period (1870s-90s).\n- Elucidate trends in British intellectual and academic history through analysis of field collecting in Fiji and its implications for the development in Britain of major museums and the discipline of anthropology.\n- Enhance existing museum documentation with expert identification and analysis of collections, while linking key museums internationally.\n- Improve the ability of museums to display and interpret their collections for multiple audiences.\n- Disseminate research results to diverse specialist and public audiences, including UK-based Fijians, through publications, symposia and several exhibitions with associated educational outreach activities. \n- Contribute to museum/academic training programmes by holding workshops/curators' forum, and by involving 40+ graduate students in project-related course assignments.\n- Contribute insights for policy makers into the importance for understanding contemporary Fijian politics of historically-rooted relationships between chiefdoms. \n\nThe project team, led by UEA's Professor Steven Hooper, a Fiji specialist and Fijian-speaker with over 30 years research experience, includes Dr Anita Herle, Senior Curator at MAA, who will oversee research on MAA's Fiji collections. Other participants include former and current Fiji Museum Directors Fergus Clunie and Sagale Buadromo, and MAA Director Professor Nicholas Thomas (a renowned Pacific specialist; chair of the project Advisory Committee); all will contribute to numerous publications, exhibitions and other outputs.