Carol E. Mayer's Sea of Islands: Exploring Objects, Stories, and Memories from Oceania draws on decades of Mayer's research, delving into the histories of cultural belongings from Oceania currently housed at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA). MOA’s Oceania collection, comprising nearly 3,500 items, is the largest of its kind in Canada. Spanning more than 10,000 islands and covering about one-third of the world's surface, Oceania is truly a “sea of islands.”

The collection features a wide range of ancestral objects—from regalia and jewelry to carvings, barkcloths, canoes, and mats. However, Sea of Islands goes beyond simply cataloging these items; it explores the journeys they have taken, paired with over 250 photographs that situate the pieces with historic and contemporary contexts. In collaboration with Oceanic knowledge holders, scholars, and artists, Mayer’s latest work investigates the complex relationship between museum collecting practices and the systems of meaning attached to these cultural treasures.

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• Figure 1 Publishing, 2025
  
• Hardcover, 240 pages
• 9"W x 11"L
  

Carol E. Mayer is the Research Fellow—Pacific at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. A long-standing member of UBC, Mayer served as senior curator at MOA for over thirty-five years, overseeing the Pacific and ceramics collections, fostering relationships with Indigenous communities, and producing internationally recognized work. She has curated more than forty exhibitions and received numerous awards, including honors from the Canadian Museums Association, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Canada, and the British Columbia Museums Association.