The collections of artefacts from Polynesia are among the oldest at the Ethnological Museum. The first objects to be brought to Berlin were incorporated into the 'Kunstkammer' or 'cabinet of art' in Berlin's South Sea collection in 1802. Among them are objects from the voyages of James Cook. As the land of 'little islands', Micronesia's fame rested on its seafarers, who became the subject of voyagers' accounts, one of the earliest of which in German being by Adelbert von Chamisso, the German botanist.

Works of contemporary art, including paintings, wood carvings, drawings, rattan objects and clay sculptures speak of the islanders' struggle to claim their identity and of the search for a connection with their own past.