Unwavering popularity of event

Tuo Chinula
The stunning backdrop provided by Pago Pago’s harbour and mountains, and the warmth and hospitality of its people, will leave a lasting impression on everyone who attended the Tenth Festival of Pacific Arts in American Samoa at the end of July.

As with any tenth anniversary, this was a landmark event, demonstrating the vibrancy of Pacific culture and encouraging reflection on the role of the festival since it began 36 years ago.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Linda Petersen, Manager of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Human Development Programme, noted the unwavering popularity of the four-yearly event.

“It’s the most important cultural event in the region, with all Pacific Islands countries and territories coming together to show their customs and traditions and to look at the function of culture in shaping their communities and the future of our region and people.”

The cultural richness on display in American Samoa was dazzling and more than 2000 participants revelled in the opportunity to learn and to share their art.

The ‘pou mahara’ (remembrance post) carved by Maori carver, James Rickard, and several American Samoan carvers using Maori designs symbolised this process of exchange.

The event has, of course, evolved since Fiji hosted the first festival in1972. The original aim was to help preserve traditional art and culture.

The liveliness of the cultural scene on show in American Samoa and the strong focus on contemporary arts, in both dance and visual forms, were compelling signs of the continuing robustness and value of these cultures.

The festival also included a first-ever Children’s Art Show and a fashion show that mixed traditional and contemporary design.

Culture is not without controversy, however, and one incident was a reminder of the festival’s role in promoting exchange and debate.

Women from Papua New Guinea (PNG) were left feeling uncomfortable about dancing bare-breasted after comments by members of the public.

According to custom, their traditional costumes are worn without underwear, but Peter Nepil, coordinator of PNG’s Ketilkumb Culture Group, said, “Some people said it was wrong and insulting for the women to expose their bodies.”

Although a PNG official advised the women to ignore the comments, many of them felt ambivalent about performing in their traditional costumes made from ‘bush’ materials.

“We ended up putting on underwear because none of the other women performing here were bare-breasted and we felt embarrassed,” said Watna Peter, Ketilkumb Culture Group Leader. “We didn’t want to offend anyone.”

Nepil said the PNG men, who also performed without wearing Western-style underwear, had not been singled out.

The festival’s communications committee chairman, Larry Sanitoa said the negative views expressed were those of a minority and most members of the community had been receptive to different cultural mores.

Another noteworthy aspect of the Tenth Festival was the professionalism of many performances. Wallis and Futuna’s artistic director, Siolesio Pilioko Falelavaki, who has attended the festival regularly since 1980, feels performances are losing some of their authenticity as a result: “Now many groups are presenting carefully staged shows. You can see a search to professionalise both the costume design and choreography.”

Inevitably the festival has become more commercial, leading to talk of the need to find a balance between the spirit of sharing and the opportunity for financial gain. There was a feeling, particularly among creators of visual art, that the festival’s initial focus on cultural exchange is shifting.”

New Zealand artistic director, Sandy Adsett, regretted the changing nature of the festival village: “A few years ago you could observe the creators of a product at work and engage with them. Now, the village fales are more like shops, with people coming here with things ready to sell.”

For the host country, American Samoa, the festival’s biggest impact seemed to be its ability to unify the community. "A great part of this event is building your own country’s pride," said the Honourable Togiola Tulafono, Governor of American Samoa, adding that locals had put their political differences aside and come together as a community to organise the festival.

Importantly, the festival also forces a focus on the status of a society’s own culture, in some cases promoting a revival of art forms.

For one American Samoan village, Tula, the festival was an opportunity to display a 10-metre long siapo (tapa), which was gifted to the festival and put on show at Government House.