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Oceania was the last major region of the planet to be occupied by humans, who had to develop the technology (ocean-going sailing canoes), natural resources (domesticated plants and animals) and skills (technical and intellectual) to explore and settle the region. By the time Europeans began actively exploring Oceania, in just the last few hundred years, natural, ethnological, and social history museums were already appearing in Europe and beyond. Much of the history of Oceania is recorded or preserved in regions outside Oceania, but now (2007) there are also many large and small museums within Oceania. These museums obviously have the advantage of proximity to the region of interest. They are able to employ and otherwise engage the indigenous communities that they serve, as well as serving the modern migrant communities that have most often been responsible for establishing the first museums in each part of Oceania.

In this article, we list the most important exhibitions concerning the natural, ethnological, and social history of Oceania. Exhibitions - even those labeled as 'permanent' - are often ephemeral in the longer course of history

Te Maori. This exhibition of historical Maori treasures (taonga) was assembled from the collections of twelve museums around New Zealand. It first toured the United States in 1984, with shows in New York, St Louis and Chicago, then returned to New Zealand in 1986 for a tour of North Island and South Island venues. The exhibition was a great success abroad and in New Zealand. The Te Maori Manaaki Taonga Trust (a provider of scholarships) was established with funds generated by the exhibition. Te Maori set a new standard for Maori participation in exhibitions concerning Maori history and culture, and was influential in the establishment of Te Papa (the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa).

Vaka Moana, Voyages of the Ancestors. Auckland Museum, Auckland, New Zealand. Exhibition, 9th December 2006 to 31st March 2007, presenting the history of canoes and human migration across the Pacific Ocean, from first explorations to the present use of vaka ama (also waka ama) as recreational sport canoes. The exhibition incorporates results of archaeological, linguistic, ethnographic, historical research as well as indigenous histories and many archaeological and ethnographic and historical artefacts related to the subject.

Lost Maritime Cultures: China and the Pacific. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Exhibition, 24th February - 15th April, 2007. Relates the archaeology of southern China to “lost” maritime societies that may be ancestral for Austronesian speaking societies that began moving into Oceania from around 4,500 years ago.