Melanesia 2000

Last updated

Melanesia 2000 was the first festival of Melanesian arts, first held in Noumea, New Caledonia in September 1975, supported by Jean-Marie Tjibaou. [1] It had its origins in the women's association, Smiling Melanesian Village Women's Groups which was formed in 1971 and advocated the idea of a cultural festival to promote Kanak arts. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Oceania</span>

The history of Oceania includes the history of Australia, Easter Island, Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Western New Guinea, and other Pacific island nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micronesia</span> Subregion of Oceania

Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melanesia</span> Subregion of Oceania

Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Islander</span> Person from the Pacific Islands

Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oceania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Community</span> International development organisation

The Pacific Community (PC), formerly the South Pacific Commission (SPC), is an international development organisation governed by 27 members, including 22 Pacific island countries and territories around the Pacific Ocean. The organisation's headquarters are in Nouméa, New Caledonia, and it has regional offices in Suva, Pohnpei, and Port Vila, as well as field staff in other locations in the Pacific. Its working languages are English and French. It primarily provides technical and scientific advice, and acts as a conduit for funding of development projects from donor nations. Unlike the slightly smaller Pacific Islands Forum, the SPC is not a trade bloc, and does not deal with military or security issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melanesians</span> Indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia

Melanesians are the predominant and indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, in an area stretching from New Guinea to the Fiji Islands. Most speak one of the many languages of the Austronesian language family or one of the many unrelated families of Papuan languages. There are several creoles of the region, such as Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, Solomon Islands Pijin, Bislama, and Papuan Malay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Papua New Guinea</span>

Religion in Papua New Guinea is dominated by various branches of Christianity, with traditional animism and ancestor worship often occurring less openly as another layer underneath or more openly side by side with Christianity. The Catholic Church has a plurality of the population. The courts, government, and general society uphold a constitutional right to freedom of speech, thought, and beliefs. A secular state, there is no state religion in the country, although the government openly partners with several Christian groups to provide services, and churches participate in local government bodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ni-Vanuatu</span> Melanesian ethnic groups native to the island country of Vanuatu

Ni-Vanuatu is a large group of closely related Melanesian ethnic groups native to the island country of Vanuatu. As such, Ni-Vanuatu are a mixed ethnolinguistic group with a shared ethnogenesis that speak a multitude of languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanian art</span> Artistic traditions of Oceania

Oceanic art or Oceanian art comprises the creative works made by the native people of the Pacific Islands and Australia, including areas as far apart as Hawaii and Easter Island. Specifically it comprises the works of the two groups of people who settled the area, though during two different periods. They would in time however, come to interact and together reach even more remote islands. The area is often broken down into four separate regions: Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia. Australia, along with interior Melanesia (Papua), are populated by descendants of the first waves of human migrations into the region by Australo-Melanesians. Micronesia, Island Melanesia, and Polynesia, on the other hand, are descendants of later Austronesian voyagers who intermixed with native Australo-Melanesians; mostly via the Neolithic Lapita culture. All of the regions in later times would be greatly affected by western influence and colonization. In more recent times, the people of Oceania have found a greater appreciation of their region's artistic heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melanesian Spearhead Group</span> Intergovernmental organization

The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is an intergovernmental organization, composed of the four Melanesian states of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front of New Caledonia. In June 2015, Indonesia was recognized as an associate member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austronesian peoples</span> Speakers of Austronesian languages

The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austronesian languages. They also include indigenous ethnic minorities in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Hainan, the Comoros, and the Torres Strait Islands. The nations and territories predominantly populated by Austronesian-speaking peoples are sometimes known collectively as Austronesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasifika Festival</span> Annual Pacific Islands-themed festival in Auckland, New Zealand

The Pasifika Festival is a festival celebrating Pasifika New Zealanders and their pan-cultural identity, held annually in Western Springs Reserve, Auckland. Celebrated since 1993, it is the largest festival of its type in the world and attracts over 200,000 visitors every year.

Grace Mera Molisa was a Ni-Vanuatu politician, poet and campaigner for women's equality in politics. The Australian described her as "a vanguard for Melanesian culture and a voice of the Vanuatuans, especially women". She has also been described as one of the Pacific's "leading public intellectuals and activists".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polynesia</span> Subregion of Oceania

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in common, including language relatedness, cultural practices, and traditional beliefs. In centuries past, they had a strong shared tradition of sailing and using stars to navigate at night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honiara</span> Capital city in Honiara City, Solomon Islands

Honiara is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. As of 2021, it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies along the Kukum Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of the Cook Islands</span>

The culture of the Cook Islands reflects the traditions of its fifteen islands as a Polynesian island country, spread over 1,800,000 square kilometres (690,000 sq mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. It is in free association with New Zealand. Its traditions are based on the influences of those who settled the islands over several centuries. Polynesian people from Tahiti settled in the Cook Islands in the 6th century. The Portuguese captain, Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, made the first recorded European landing in the islands in the early 17th century, and well over a hundred years later, in the 18th century, the British navigator, Captain James Cook arrived, giving the islands their current name. Missionaries developed a written language, bringing schools and Christianity to the Cook Islands in the early 19th century. Cook Islands Māori, also known as Māori Kūki 'Āirani or Rarotongan, is the country's official language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kanak people</span> Indigenous people of New Caledonia

The Kanaks are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. Kanak peoples traditionally speak diverse Austronesian languages, that belong to the New Caledonian branch of Oceanic. According to the 2019 census, the Kanaks make up 41.2% of New Caledonia's total population — corresponding to around 112,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Déwé Gorodey</span> New Caledonian politician (1949–2022)

Déwé Gorodey was a New Caledonian teacher, writer, feminist and politician. She was active in agitating for independence from France in the 1970s. She published poetry, short stories and novels. From 1999, she was a member of the New Caledonian government, representing the pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front. From April 2001 to June 2009, she served almost continuously as Vice President of the Government of New Caledonia.

Doreen Kuper is an entrepreneur and cultural mediator from the Solomon Islands. She is a former Honorary Consul of Solomon Islands to New Zealand and a former Chair of the Festival of Pacific Arts.

Julia Mageʼau Gray is a dancer, choreographer and tattoo artist from Papua New Guinea, who is credited with revitalising women's tattoo traditions in communities from Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

References

  1. Hayward, Philip (1998). Sound alliances: indigenous peoples, cultural politics, and popular music in the Pacific. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 48. ISBN   978-0-304-70050-9 . Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  2. Howe, K. R.; Kiste, Robert C.; Lal, Brij V. (1994). Tides of history: the Pacific Islands in the twentieth century. University of Hawaii Press. p. 265. ISBN   978-0-8248-1597-4 . Retrieved 10 July 2011.