Artistic Melanesia
Huli Dancers - Port Moresby 2002
At Artistic Melanesia, we have a dream of cultural and artistic emancipation. It is a daunting task for Pacific Islanders to have a home grown film industry. Countries we tried to emulate like New Zealand are becoming a production location for Hollywood cultural artifacts. Australia is also a location for cheap Hollywood productions. So what does that spell out for the far more vulnerable Pacific Island cultures? We are scattered across the vast Pacific Ocean and it is difficult to manage networks of cultural and artistic advancement. Our most widespread language group is spoken all the way from Taiwan to Madagascar and to the Easter Islands in Chile. That's how far our people have sailed over the centuries. Today, the internet becomes our new "vaka" enabling us to sail between our scattered islands with greater ease. Let us set sail in search of the art and film scene and the cultural artifacts that stem from the real issues that exist within our communities. Artifacts that truly reflect our own experiences and aspirations and our local search for solutions, not handouts and not the experiments of others. It is not a question of race and creed but rather of critical local appraisal and actions for our own betterment. Let our people not be subservient to adopted Western views about who we are and what we represent. What kind of stone shall we set at the bottom of our canoe to keep it from tipping over in the high winds and waves? And what are the tides that are against us? Hollywood offers great technical guidance. But we have our own Pacific hearts.