The 50th anniversary of independence of Papua New Guinea has been a great opportunity for Australians to really engage with PNG art both traditional and modern. This theme was at the forefront of the thirteenth Oceanic Art Society Forum held at the National Gallery of Australia in conjunction with the exhibition Bilong Papua New Guinea: 50 years of Independence and following on from the Sydney Oceanic Art Fair.
Forum speakers ranged from Eric Kjellgren’s eloquent canvas of the role of the human figure in traditional art objects from Papua New Guinea to the key note presented by Lani Auvita Scott, founder and director of the Arts Society of Papua New Guinea which has established the Akis Art Prize amongst other things, who spoke from her role in the centre of current activities on how culture in Papua New Guinea can be carried forward through preservation, translation, continuation, and contemporary expression, with a particular emphasis on children and young people as the inheritors of cultural identity. Many written versions of their presentations will be shared in coming editions of the Journal and members can enjoy watching videos of all talks via the website.
This Journal attempts to balance the old and the new on the important journey for the entire artistic practice of Oceania; continuing to revere and research the traditional arts of the region while also understanding the important role that these objects and artistic practices play in inspiring new generations with their cultural identities manifest in new art works.
While some are firmly in the camp of regarding the past as best, that it can be regarded as a line of delineation, there is much growing evidence that traditional art is inspiring a new generation of Oceanic artists. This message comes through clearly in the timely review of Carol E. Mayer’s Sea of Islands: Exploring Objects, Stories, and Memories of Oceania to be found in this edition.
This edition of the Journal contains important new scholarship. Nicolas Garnier and Yatha Baram, one of the earliest contributors to the Bus Graun Bilong Mipela project, have written Nawian: a creative experience, an innovative paper describing the genesis and the meaning of the Nawian artwork acquired by the National Gallery of Australia and shown as part of the Bilong Papua New Guinea: 50 years of Independence exhibition and the broader Bus Graun Bilong Mipel project as developed in
Madang Town.
A review of the retrospective exhibition of the prolific and highly talented artist Bronwyn Bancroft is also included.
Margaret Cassidy
