Loving Island living

IFACCA/Artshub,
16 December 2003, Palau

Every four years, people of the Pacific Island nations gather for a massive celebration of their cultures, languages, arts, and traditions as they struggle to maintain their identity in the raucous global village. In 2004, the 9th Pacific Arts Festival will culminate in the small Micronesian nation of Palau. ‘We are small islands in a big ocean, in a big world. But together we can make an impact,’ Faustina Rehuher, Deputy Director for the festival told the Pacific Daily News. The Pacific Arts Festival was conceived by the Conference of the Pacific Community to prevent the erosion of traditional customary practices and to preserve the cultures of the Pacific. The first Pacific Arts Festival was held in Fiji in 1972 to draw international attention to the rich and diverse cultural heritages of the region. The festival was held in Australia in 1988, and has also taken place in New Zealand (1976), Papua New Guinea (1980), Tahiti (1984), Cook Islands (1992), Samoa (1996) and New Caledonia (2000). In 2004, the small island of Koror, Palau’s capital, will see some 2,000 participants from 27 Pacific Island nations descend upon its population of 12,300. These nations include American Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, Cook Islands, Easter Island, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, New Caledonia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna. Traditional and contemporary Pacific arts will be presented in relationship with the festival’s theme of 'Oltobed a malt' - Nurture, Regenerate and Celebrate. Displays of visual arts, body art, weaving, wood, bone and stone carving, tattooing, jewellery, bead and shell work, clay work, photography, film, costume and fashion design, floral arts, traditional medicine and healing arts, traditional canoe building and navigational craft, traditional culinary arts, literary arts, oratory and storytelling, traditional musical instruments, song, dance, theatre, fire walking, traditional sports, symposiums, debates and workshops will all take place. The 9th Pacific Arts Festival will run from July 22-31. More information can be found at www.palaunet.com/html/fpa/fpa.htm#.