Quick Facts
Biography
Hans Ongeungel (born 1956) is a contemporary artist from Republic of Palau. During the 1970s, he left the islands after high school to attend college in Idaho.
Much of his artwork represents the simple island life he knew during his childhood and pays homage to his Pacific Island culture.
His work has been displayed internationally, but he is most prominent in the South Pacific. The Republic of Palau presented one of his paintings as a gift to the United States, it is on permanent display at the Department of the Interior.
He labels all of his paints in order to identify the colors because he is color blind.
Ongelungel was an anti-nuclear activist for the Republic of Palau in the 1980s and voiced his concerns at the 55th Session of the United Nations' Trusteeship Council in 1988.
He currently resides in Oregon.