In New Ireland, in Melanesia, the death of an important person sets a funeral cycle called malagan in motion. Villagers gather food for feasts, and artists are commissioned to carve elaborate sculptures and masks. Neighbouring groups are invited, and the ceremony lasts for days, with speeches, dancing, music and exchanges of goods. The climax is the display of the carved, brightly painted works. Once the guests leave, the sculptures and masks are discarded or sometimes stored, because their value lay in the ceremony itself rather than in lasting as objects.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.