'An intense radiation'

The people of Nukuoro, the remote, westernmost island of Polynesia, carved smooth, faceless wooden gods they called tino aitu, then sold these treasures to Western traders after abandoning their traditional religion for Christianity. 

In 2009 fifteen tino aitu were brought together for the first time in many years, at a museum in Switzerland where curators and anthropologists were holding a conference. Something strange soon began to happen: the gods seemed to be waking from their sleep, and 'charging' each other. 

Marion Melk-Koch, one of the scholars at the conference, said that she felt 'an intense radiation' when she stood between two tino aitu. At EyeContact I've written about the sumptuous and eerie book that records the 2009 conference and the alleged awakening of the gods of Nukuoro.