Prominent art forms include body painting and ornamentation, singing, dancing, and the recitation of myths, tales, and poetry. Oratory was, and still is, an important traditional art; good orators were expected to make mythological and historical allusions and to use special figures of speech. Micronesia has relatively little sculpture or painting that is permanent. The best-known examples consist of the painted bas-relief scenes on the timbers and gables of the men’s meetinghouses in Palau. Stylized wooden masks and human figures have been found in the Mortlock Islands, southeast of Chuuk. Wooden bowls were also carved and painted. Painting and decoration ...(100 of 6199 words)