Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific is a country with a rich artistic heritage, varying among its six large and many smaller islands, united by British colonisation in the late 19th century. Yet its local artefact traditions are better represented in museums around the world than in Solomon Islands. This book recounts the history of how artefacts were collected from Solomon Islands in the course of colonisation during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Collectors included naval voyagers, missionaries, traders, government officials, academic researchers and travellers, who obtained artefacts variously through purchase, theft or gift. These artefacts, treated as exotic curios or ethnographic specimens, came to museums in metropolitan countries, including the British Museum, whose collections illustrate the first part of the book. Following invasion by the Japanese in the Second Word War and their expulsion by the Americans, Solomon Islanders developed new styles of woodcarving for developing export markets. Some adopted painting inspired by Western art education and Solomon Islands motifs. As the country moved towards political independence in 1978, Solomon Islanders began participating in Pacific arts festivals. Since then, while a few communities continued to maintain local artefact traditions, a new national tradition of ﾑtourist artﾒ and ﾑcontemporary artﾒ has emerged. Artistic artefacts, produced for international as well as local markets, now contribute a distinctive national cultural identity to 21st century Solomon Islands.