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PALAU HOSTS 9TH FESTIVAL OF PACIFIC ARTS |
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By
Ruci
Farrell |
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All eyes will be on Palau in July when the tiny island republic hosts
more than 2000 artists and officials from around the Pacific for the
9th Festival of Pacific Arts.
Palau or Belau, home to 19,700 people and situated south east of the
Phillipines and north of Papua New Guinea, has a colourful heritage
with influences from its Spanish, English, Japanese and American
captors.
Described in tourist brochures as the Lonely Planet, Palau will be
jolted into prominence as artists from 27 different countries gather
for one of the most important indigenous cultural events in the
Pacific.
Held every four years, the Festival of Pacific Arts creates a sense of
Pacificness among island communities and is described as the principal
platform for the collective participation in expressions of traditional
and contemporary cultures of the Pacific.
The traditional welcoming of the canoe flotilla will be at dawn on July
22. Weavers, storytellers, carvers, dancers, firewalkers, traditional
healers, tattooists, jewellers, potters, singers, theatre groups, tapa
makers and musicians will share and exchange the many treasures unique
to their own countries.
This year's theme, Oltobed a Malt: Nurture, Regenerate and Celebrate
promotes new growth through which the essence of a people is not lost,
dependant on the wisdom and endurance of their ancestors.
The biggest drawcard will be the performing arts, the traditional and
contemporary song and dance, storytelling and theatre. There will be
demonstrations, a variety of visual arts and applied design and
architecture, canoeing and navigation, and a taste of the culinary
arts.
The symposiums will explore the legal protection of traditional
knowledge and expressions of culture. They will discuss the roles of
traditional and elected leadership, natural resources as wealth, social
changes and their impact on culture and arts and finally education and
the future of our nations.
Koror, the capital of Palau, will be festival venue with the opening in
June of the new Ngara Amayong Cultural Centre and the Belau National
Museum. Work on the Asahi national track and field stadium and the
national baseball field is expected to be |
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'The Lonely Planet'; the tiny republic of Palau, soon to be
jolted into prominence as host of the 9th Festival of Pacific
Arts.. |
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The Toluk and Bachel, sculptural centrepiece of the Ngara Amayong
Cultural Centre in Koror, where the festival is to be held. |
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Tausili &
Susana, cast member of the Wellington play Vula, going as part
of the Aotearoa NZ delegation to the festival. |
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completed by July. Of special
significance is the centrepiece sculpture at the new Ngara Amayong
Cultural Centre which is in the shape of the bachel while the
auditorium in the east wing is designed like a toluk.
A spokesperson from the Palau Visitors Authority says the entire
sculpture was made from three types of local rock and showcases two
very important aspects of Palauan culture.
The bigger black piece, the shape of the toluk, is a dish made from
turtle shell and is strictly regarded as woman’s money. It is exchanged
between women of a family or clan for services rendered like food
preparation or services at a baby’s first ceremony or after death
rituals, the spokesperson said.
The lighter coloured piece, which sits inside the toluk, is called the
bachel and is one of many different beads or ornaments that make up
Palauan money. It is worn around a woman’s neck and is indicative of a
woman’s worth.
In a society that has a strong matrilineal lean, the bachel is commonly
passed on to women or daughters who marry into a family. Palauan
customs say the bachel should be tied around the neck of a woman by the
family matriarch and can only be removed by the person who tied it on.
Even today many a handsome suitor will stop to admire a woman adorned
with a large money piece or necklace of high valued stones.
The Festival of Pacific Arts, hosted by different countries every four
years, has grown in stature since the first one was held in 1972. It is
governed by the Council of Pacific Arts which oversees the operations
of the festival on behalf of the Conference of the Pacific Community.
Countries attending this year's festival are Samoa, American Samoa,
Tonga, Niue, Cook Islands, Guam, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Northern
Marianas, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomons, Nauru, Marshalls,
Kiribati, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna, Fiji,
Norfolk, New Zealand, Tokelau, Hawaii, East Polynesia, Pitcairn and
Rapa Nui.
Aotearoa New Zealand will be led by a large contingent of Maori artists
featuring Waihirere, the national kapa haka champions of the 2002
Aotearoa Traditional Maori Performing Arts Festival and the Aotearoa
Traditional Maori Performing Arts Society.
The Council of Creative New Zealand through Waka Toi, the Maori Arts
Board of Creative New Zealand is funding the NZ delegation whose
primary role is to represent the indigenous culture and arts of
Aotearoa. Accompanying the NZ delegation is a small contingent of NZ
based Pacific artists among them Cook Island artist Mary Ama, Niuešs
John Pule, Tongašs Filipe Tohi and Sophia Tekela Smith of Rotuma.
Wellington playwright Nina Nawalowalo and her cast will stage Vula, a
stage play that explores the practical, sensual and spiritual
relationship between Pacific Island women and the sea. Under the power
of the ever present moon and swayed by the constant motion of the tide
Vula follows a cyclic journey through a Pacific day and night. Bounded
by coral walls, the lagoon is the place of women. Within it they fish,
bathe and on its shores they dance. In this place blend the worlds of
the natural, mythological and everyday.
The Festival of Pacific Arts opens on July 22 and finishes July 31.
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Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd.
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