Notes by Kathleen Millhoff on Arts Festival
Notes by Kathleen Millhoff on Arts Festival
| FRIDAY, July 23, 2004 |
This was the first full day of events. At the Seaplane ramp local games were exhibited. Tuvalu played a sort of combination soccer and volleyball game with little field running. Two teams face off with the ball and the winner takes it out on the loser. This would have been good played on a beach.
Back at the main venue we visited the table of Norfolk Island. I examined shell jewelry and hand-painted cloth with embroidery. Similar displays were at Fiji's table.
we saw a few demonstration exhibits where carvers and weavers were making items for traditional use. Here we met a collector, Marilyn, from Orlando who specializes in Micronesian artifacts.
That afternoon we watched indigenous tribes from the Taiwan mountains display dance and music. Also some dances from Samoa were shown with lots of use of grass skirts.
We went to the gym where people were supposed to be practicing the healing arts. The table with many leaves was from Palau. Everything from cancer to tuberculosis to kidney stones could be healed by steeping or steaming various leaves. Some were given for samples but no handouts made it hard to know which was which. Few other nations had displays.
We went to a location where books were supposed to be displayed. Apparently books were divided among the varying participating nations. We happened to be at the Guam location and found the delegation practicing songs. Louie Gumbar was there. Also I met Kevin Camacho who plays that one-stringed instrument whose name I forget. I talked at length with him about this instrument and offered to share a video I have with someone playing it. I was surprised to see how tall this is, towering over my head. However it is also light and fragile. He said he had gotten a crate to protect it on the trip to Palau. He had done a good job playing it. I would like to learn how.
At cooking demonstrations I tried taro leaf soup laced with coconut milk. It was delicious. I was surprised at how much flavor was in those leaves. I also tried clam and pork wrapped in taro leaves. The whole had been steamed. The pork was delicious but the clam was difficult to swallow.
We watched an Australian movie about aboriginees. It was a little reminiscent of "The Gods must have Been Crazy".
The architectural display showed model villages and houses from many different locations. While most seemed to show woven natural materials, it was surprising that many were domed shaped, perhaps to shed monsoon rains. Some of these had a very thick overlay on roofs and low doors with little security but a flap.
The Palauan story board carvings were extensive. Some were four sided and I looked for something that could double as a table. None had a wide enough base. They were of varying sizes, multi-layered, seeming to have carvings within carvings. All seemed rubbed smooth as satin. In comparing these new ones with the older story boards at the museum, it seems that there is now much more use of color made of man-made materials. Also the cuts were deeper into the wood, larger. Perhaps the carving was more intricate in the old days however, requiring a finer touch.
The day began with a visit to the new art museum. Artists seemed ingenious in their use of seemingly non-artistic materials such as spam cans and corned beef cans. One gourd shaped object had been woven of collected paper strips and hardened with some type of epoxy. Yet another tapestry had sundry scraps of paper woven into it; you could actually read the numbers on old receipts that helped make up the whole.
Then on to the older museum which contained many artifacts from earlier times. As the tropics create a harsh environment for anything of permanence, artifacts did not date back many decades when compared, say, with the Oriental Art Institute in Chicago with its Egypt collection.
The food was great. I had aa chilled mountain apple cooked with coconut milk and curried fish with a salad. Very tasty.
The two movies we watched today (, first, "Merchant of Venice" in Mauri, then a documentary about the manhood rites of the Tulai of the Duke of York Islands in Papua New Guinea. As a former anthro major I would have to say this last was interesting but lacking. Shakespeare Mauri style though was entertaining, even for me who couldn't read the sub-titles.
Music, whether indigenous or contemporary was non-stop, some accompanied dances, some were full on performances. It by , daily, a perfect audio backdrop to whatever activity in which we were engaged. Always, too, were displays of jewelry and crafts, much of it ready for purchase.
This red letter day was marked for swimming with the dolphins. We left a bit later and went to the dolphin park, a tourist spot by any standard.
My first impression was not good. We sat on folding chairs awaiting our chance to board the boat. Smells of rotting food, or worse, were everywhere. However, once on the boat, all that changed. The day was partly sunny at first and not overly hot. The breeze created by our speeding over the waves was wonderful.
The environment with the dolphins was very controlled. I had imagined something like Flipper, with leaping dolphins frolicking with the people. We first walked around while being briefed about the dolphins. Our first contact with them was cautious. We edged our way down a ladder, tentatively stroked dolphin skin, then leaned gently over to be "kissed" by the dolphin. This was merely a head tap. We had been briefed not to startle the dolphin and that was first and foremost in my thoughts until I touched him. His skin was like slick vinyl or plastic, not slimy at all. I had also thought there might be a fishy smell, but no smell was anywhere.
The dolphins were trained, and later, garbed in a large life jacket to prevent me from diving under, I floated, bobbed, turned, and waited for dolphin contact. Tempted by thrown fish, one finally came to me and swam near for some time, allowing me to stroke him.
Brian had encouraged me to float face down so the dolphins would swim alongside, but getting into that position made me feel as though I were drowning. The life jacket kept me from being able to lift my head or turn over and I splashed a bit getting upright again.
This experience was great and I would recommend it to anyone who likes water.
Besides touching the dolphins, I could hear them nearby. Their breathing is loud enough, but they also make a kind of clicking sound as though calling out to friends.
That night we viewed a Hawaiian play about Kapua the Pig God. This played was kind of a traditional play about the trials and progress of Kapua before he achieves godhood. It kind of reminded me of those other stories with similar scenarios like the story of the Chinese monkey god.
Drums and chanting were not just a part of the play itself but also seemed to kind of move things along. I couldn't help thinking of the Greek chorus in theater of the ancients.
I listened to New Caledonia, Taiwan and Rapanui and got some recorded, but battery trouble kept me from getting it all.
Much of this day was doing some shopping and listening to music. At the Marshalls booth I found the music I had heard on Sunday. Talked with friends and enjoyed exhibits.
Then we wandered back to where the Samoans were roasting a pig. He was buried under hot rocks that had been heated with fire, then filled with hot rocks. Chickens, crabs, taro, bananas and more were thrown in with him. This was very different from the Hawaiian style of burying the pig in hot sand. After an hour, the crispy hot pig was rolled into a mat and carried by stalwart Samoans to a table where he was carved up. Each operation seemed to be accompanied by an incantation of sorts. We all got a taste of something from the cooking. Many people thought it was dinner at that hour.
We spent time at the photo workshop where I took a nap while Brian tried listening to the discourse. It was kind of interesting to consider as are all arts when broken down into manageable segments.
At the museum we listened Hawaiian chanting. It was explained that the extended vowel ending a phrase occurs in love chants. But the more universal theme about chants of any kind seems to be the focusing of energy, by the chanter as well as the listener.
We viewed the movie "The Land Has Eyes" about the influence of western materialism upon an indigenous island culture, but also about how traditional values can keep faith and family strong. Everyone was deeply moved by this movie and we look forward to its release for purchase.
Most of the day was spent in talking to people or walking around. Another scheduled movie was not shown but we talked with others in the audience. Also, we looked at the beautiful carvings from the Solomons which were way too expensive for me.
On this day and the next there was little shopping and Thursday I spent most of the day sitting in the shade and recording music: Rapanui, Tokilau, Palau, Samoa.
Brian met Paul Borja from Guam at his photo workshop, and the Allens were here.
Friday we visited booths and I viewed weaving from Taiwan. The weaver sat with the look fastened by a belt around her waste. the shuttle was small and the thread fine. Pedals were operated by the feet extended in front of her. Whose back could sustain such a thing for long.
Dances were inside on Friday and somehow this lent a different atmosphere to things.
It was nice to have this feeling of winding down at the end.. Rain and wind had picked up making it tolerable outside, but difficult to conduct performances.
Our last night was spent trying to pass time in the restaurant, but few customers
were there. It was a relief to leave for the airport, though also there was
some sadness that a wonderful week was ending.