Te Mata O Te Fenua opens at the Musée de Tahiti et des Îles
2 October 2026
For decades, Jimmy Nelson’s work has travelled away from the places where it was made. This October, it travels back.
Te Mata O Te Fenua opens at the Musée de Tahiti et des Îles, Te Fare Manaha, presenting new work made in the Marquesas Islands, in the place where it belongs.
At the invitation of the museum, Jimmy returned to French Polynesia earlier this year to photograph the people and traditions of the Marquesas with his 8×10 large format analogue camera. As always, the work began long before the shutter. Time was spent with families, elders and makers on the islands, building the trust from which each portrait grows.
The exhibition brings these new portraits together with contributions from local artists, creating an encounter between Jimmy’s visual language and the living culture of the islands.
Language, craft, dance and patutiki, the Marquesan art of tattoo, are part of the story the exhibition tells.
Te Mata O Te Fenua is realised together with the Jimmy Nelson Foundation. After the exhibition, the artworks will remain in French Polynesia as part of the Foundation’s Give Back programme, returning their value to the communities who made them possible.
With thanks to Air Tahiti Nui, Musée de Tahiti et des Îles, Banque de Tahiti, Tahiti Tourisme and Objectif Image Tahiti.
