Pacific Arts

When anthropologist Guido Pigliasco and teachers of a tiny village school on Beqa Island-home to Fiji's famous firewalkers-asked pupils at the end of 2004 to identify what they saw as important elements of their culture, they were shocked.

"The teachers invited the pupils to use the Christmas break to collect stories inside their households, writing or drawing them, but when the kids returned to school the pages of their books were alarmingly empty," says Pigliasco of the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

Pigliasco had been researching "cultural property and commodification of culture" for a doctorate but the startling discovery prompted him to undertake an urgent "remapping" and rediscovery of the cultural history of Beqa, a tiny island off the coast of Viti Levu about 60 kilometers southwest of the capital Suva.

The project ran alongside his main research-which is on-going-into the firewalking rituals of the island. That research had pointed to the possibility the ritual was probably not performed for cannibal feasts but as thanksgiving for a harvest. The ritual has also been altered to suit tourist-focused ceremonies: instead of the hot stones being inside a pit, some "fake firewalkers" who are not of the originally gifted tribes lay the stones on top of the ground.

While this discovery was astonishing enough, Pigliasco decided some immediate action was needed to rescue the island's apparently diminishing cultural memory.

"From oral histories and historical accounts emerging from my interviews in Beqa, I realized that indigenous knowledge and culture is scattered in the minds of many members of a community, but rarely collated in the form of a map, hence quite difficult to visualize."

Pigliasco along with the help of Ratu Felix Colatanavanua, a documentary producer who had returned after 15 years of living abroad, his mother Bulou Ro Mereani and the people of the Sawau tribe, created a "cultural map" that linked stories, images and legends with locations on the island, something that had never been done before.

To accomplish what they dubbed the "Sawau Project", they settled on producing an interactive DVD, to record oral histories and recollections. This way, the project will remain open-ended and can be added to, says Guido. He reports that the first edition of the Sawau Project received rave reviews on its first screening in Beqa in late July.

The DVD will be used as an educational tool and at national and regional level workshops.
-Ricardo Morris

The Power Of The Pacific Pen

One of the art forms in the Pacific region that is flowering is the art of writing and creative self expression. Pacific Islanders are telling their own stories and indigenous voices are at last being heard. Inspiring emerging writers is one of the goals of the Pacific Writers Connection (PWC), directed by Takiora Ingram of the Cook Islands.

Larissa Behrendt, Australian aboriginal author of award-winning novel entitled, Home. Photo: Margo Vitarelli

This August PWC's annual conference, Languages of the Land 2005 in Honolulu, brought together well-known nature writers, taro farmers, cultural center directors and those passionate about writing. Distinguished writers from Hawaii, the Pacific and the continental U.S. gathered to read some of their recent work, and to hold informal discussions on writing about the environment, culture and the spirit of sacred places.

As a collective of writers and environmental, community and indigenous leaders, the PWC seeks to promote writing and literature about nature, the environment, culture and place. www.pacificwriters.org

A New Building For a Pioneering Museum

Fifty years ago, the Belau National Museum had its humble beginnings in Koror, Palau, when Hera Owen, the wife of an expatriate scientist, collected and displayed a few random artifacts, paintings and cultural objects in a tiny war-ravaged building.

In the 1970s an energetic young staff of educated Palauans with Faustina Rehuher as the head, became interested in museum work. They organized and expanded the collections, photo archives, exhibition space, research library and a gift shop, fulfilling the role of a premier cultural institution for a young island nation, while patiently contending with a leaky roof, flaking plaster and an archaic electrical system. Now the oldest museum in Micronesia is celebrating its 50 years of existence in a brand new building, which opened September 30.

Valuable museum collections will be housed in a state-of-the-art building. The shape of an outrigger canoe is the inspiration for the architectural design and it gives symbolic meaning to the modern structure. Just across the lawn stands the stately traditional men's meeting house with its carved facade, which has been a part of the museum complex for years. The botanical garden and nature trail that surround the buildings highlight the connections between nature and culture.

Museum Executive Director Faustina Rehuher, says, "Our goals are to ensure the preservation and promotion of Palau's vibrant culture and the arts." A prime focus is "living culture" and as an integral part of the community, the museum provides many services. It is also a major tourist attraction and holds the treasures of Palau in a secure place.