The Arts Festival of the Marquesas Islands

A critical examination of the Marquesas Islands' cultural trajectory reveals that its indigenous traditions, once sacred symbols of nationalist identity in the 1970s, were later aestheticized and commodified into marketable art. This process, often framed as a 'cultural renaissance,' is instead part of a continuous trend toward Westernization. The study traces the evolution from symbolic nationalism to economic exploitation, highlighting the underlying continuity rather than distinct phases in this cultural transformation.

Schemith, T. (2013). Le Festival des arts des îles Marquises. Hermès, n° 65(1), 160. https://doi.org/10.4267/2042/51514