Category Archives: Culture

Art and Creativity in Papua New Guinea with Dr. Michael Mel

03 NOVEMBER 2020 The Art Show with Namila Benson ABC National Radio Broadcast on Wed 16 Sep 2020, 10:05 am To mark 45 years of Independence for Papua New Guinea, we explore the role that art has played in the country’s development and engagement with Australia since 1975. We speak with performance artist, curator, andContinue reading “Art and Creativity in Papua New Guinea with Dr. Michael Mel”

Review by Martyn Namorong – The Voice of Michael Dom: Political, Powerful, Connected

REVIEW BY MARTYN NAMORONG AND OTHER READERS 02 NOVEMBER 2020 O Arise!: Poems on Papua New Guinea’s Politics & Society by Michael Dom, 54 pp. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, May 2015. ISBN-10: 1512039381. Available in hardcopy from Amazon, $5.40 WHAT is a Papua New Guinean writer but a warrior continuing the proud traditions of their ancestors,Continue reading “Review by Martyn Namorong – The Voice of Michael Dom: Political, Powerful, Connected”

Sijo on the Loss of Culture

29 October 2020 MICHAEL DOM – LAE Strangers teach you to sing songs and march to a drum that they own; To reject your garamut, your kundu and the stilled speech of wood; Their soporific chorus dulls your mind and cheats your Black soul. This piece first appeared on PNG Attitude on 11 January 2014Continue reading “Sijo on the Loss of Culture”

Shared Military Heritage and Developing ‘Kokoda Culture’

29 October 2020 KIRSTIE CLOSE AND GREGORY BABLIS PORT MORESBY Efforts continue in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to preserve and protect World War Two heritage. In 2014, a team of Papua New Guinean researchers commenced work on an oral history project along the Kokoda Track, recording the memories of local people and families who hadContinue reading “Shared Military Heritage and Developing ‘Kokoda Culture’”

Relishing Thoughts of Sago Starch

24 October 2020 MICHAEL DOM That’s the very sago itself  Decorate the muddy waters Those palms have spiky pines Will skewer like spears But when its trunk is felled Put your adze into it And water will cream up food That’s the very sago itself Oh man, ancestral crocs Must have dreamed well To seeContinue reading “Relishing Thoughts of Sago Starch”

Where Am I From?

23 October 2020 GREGORY BABLIS A poem about identity and unity and the thingsthat make us different yet interlink us I am from land,          from river, sea and mountain.I am from valley and volcano,          from chilly mountain breeze and steaming lava.I am from mother, father, uncle and aunty,          proud in traditions, passed through generations.I amContinue reading “Where Am I From?”

Salim Tingting Long Saksak

23 October 2020 MICHAEL DOM Em saksak tasol ia Bilas bilong doti wara Diwai bilong en igat nilnil Emi sut olsem supia Tasol taim em i silip Putim tamiok long mit Bai wara kamautim gris kaikai Em saksak tasol ia Olomania, tumbuna pukpuk Ating em i driman gut tru Long lukim meri Sepik Bilas bilongContinue reading “Salim Tingting Long Saksak”

The paradox of the alienation and preservation of culture

22 October 2020 JOHN KAUPA KAMASUA CHANGE is an inevitable threat to art and culture in Melanesia. And change is constant in the universe. Art and culture is formed from belief systems, ways of viewing the world, making things (material culture) that are either inherited or part of contemporary life. And it is the activeContinue reading “The paradox of the alienation and preservation of culture”