With this collection of ethnographic objects, Charles Degeyter takes us on an intriguing journey to Rupahu island, located in the South Pacific Ocean. The native people of Rupahu island, the Moani, are believed to be direct descendants of the Rapa Nui of Easer Island who settled on the island at a time when there was still sufficient Toromiro wood left on Easter Island to build canoes. This theory is backed up by recent DNA research and carbon dating of wooden artefacts found on the island. An interesting aspect of Rupahu culture is that they have sporadically been subjected to western influences for centuries. The first proven contact being early nineteenth century American or European whalers who restocked on supplies during their hunt for sperm whales. They thought the Moani the art of scrimshaw, which had a drastic impact on their material culture. Scrimshaw, literally translated as ‘to waste time’ typically refers to artwork engraved on the by-products of whales, such as teeth. But the Moani extended the scope of scrimshaw to a multitude of different media such as skull fragments and shells of different species. At the end of the 19 th century, early explorative colonisation brought illness, exploitation and a growing distrust against Westerners to the island. Due to a fading interest of colonists, the Moani have lived fairly isolated ever since. However, in more recent times, washed up pieces of plastic and their western iconography started to have a drastic impact on their visual language as a valuable source of colour and imagery. Similar to the even larger amounts of washed up plastic material that has been observed on the uninhabited Henderson island. This new material and its derivatives brought new possibilities which can be observed in this collection of ‘late’ Moani artefacts.