Song Lines Through Melanesia

But now the music of West Papuan group Black Paradise celebrates Melanesian identity. Their new album "Spirit of Mambesak" includes songs from different areas of West Papua-Biak, Manokwari, Merauke, Sorong, and Arso-and the diverse cultures of the islands.

A driving force behind the band is Ferry Marisan, who jointly produced "Spirit of Mambesak" with Australian musician David Bridie. Marisan graduated in anthropology from the University of Cendrawasih in Jayapura. Together with most members of Black Paradise, he works with the Institute for the Study and Advocacy of Human Rights (ELSHAM), the leading human rights organization in West Papua.

Black Paradise In Melbourne, Australia Photo: Alex Rayfield

This combination of academia, performance and human rights activism follows a path travelled by Arnold Clemens Ap-the famed cultural leader who formed the band Mambesak with Eddie Mofu and Sam Kapissa in the late 1970s. These early leaders of the Papuan cultural renaissance are now dead. Ap was imprisoned by the Indonesian authorities for alleged sympathies with the outlawed Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) and was killed in 1984, supposedly while trying to escape from prison. Kapissa died of "food poisoning" in 2001, but many West Papuans believe he was murdered by the Indonesian military.

A central feature of Arnold Ap's work was to collect and perform songs in local languages-music that still unites the disparate peoples of a nation with more than two million people. Ap collected songs that fuelled a sense of West Papuan identity, from coastal and mountain communities and from east and west, songs that celebrate a connection with the land.

Twenty years after his death, the influence of Arnold Ap resonates through the music of Black Paradise. Their "Spirit of Mambesak" CD includes songs like "Tata Mena", first collected by Ap in the 1970s. Ferry Marisan's song "Mambruk ma Manyouri", sung in the Biak language, uses the Mambruk bird and the Nuri bird to symbolise Ap and Sam Kapissa, who also served as a mentor for Black Paradise.

Mambesak performed songs from around the country, and Black Paradise follows the same tradition. There are love songs like "Aye Nanaweye", the string band tune that opens the album, and music that evokes love of the land, the bush, and the mist on the hills. "Metamani", sung in the Inawatan language, pictures the Metamani River.

This sense of place takes on a sharp political edge, at a time when politicians in Jakarta, Port Moresby and Canberra stress that West Papua is part of Indonesia. As David Bridie notes: "Something as innocuous as a song about the beauty of the mountains and the rainforest is quite political, because of the freedom of being able to hunt and farm on your own land. If you're denied that, the songs take on a stronger meaning."

Bridie has been a strong promoter of Melanesian music in Australia. His interest was sparked by visits to Papua New Guinea in the 1980s with childhood friend Mark Worth (the Australian filmmaker who tragically passed away in Jayapura last January). Bridie's former band, Not Drowning, Waving recorded their 1990 album "Tabaran" in Papua New Guinea, and he formed a continuing partnership with PNG musician George Telek.

Bridie's visits to Papua New Guinea inspired greater awareness of the situation facing West Papuans across the border: "I was quite political, but it really struck me not knowing about this situation-knowing more about Nicaragua and El Salvador than I did about the history of West Papua. This is a common issue for a lot of Australians."

For further information on "Spirit of Mambesak" (Blunt Records), go to www.mana.com.au/blackparadise/