SPC hosts premier book launch spotlighting women from Lifou (New Caledonia)
 

Anna Paini with Pierre Zeoula, High Chief of the Dreulu District

SPC is proud to host the world premier launch of The Kite is Tied to You (Il filo e l’aquilone), a work by Italian cultural anthropologist Anna Paini. The book looks at women's experiences in Kanak society in Lifou. The book will be launched at SPC on 12 November 2007. The event, hosted by SPC's Library and Human Development Programme, is also the first book launch to be held at the SPC  library.

The Kite is Tied to You focuses on women's lives and experiences in relation to contemporary society and past history. The three parts of the book are unified by the argument that to appreciate their lives and experiences, it is necessary to consider the historical context of Lifuans.

Ms Paini's initial interest in Lifou stemmed from the long history of the islanders' interactions with foreigners. She first arrived in Lifou in 1989 to carry out field work for her PhD thesis. Over the next three years she spent 18 months in New Caledonia, 12 of them in the village of Drueulu in Lifou's Gaica district. Since completing her thesis in 1993, she has returned several times.

Although the book refers to the same period covered in Ms Paini's PhD thesis, it does not contain all of her thesis material and includes some new information.
The book, which was published in June 2007, has received praise for its approach, which makes it accessible to general readers as well as specialists.

Ms Paini says she was gratified by comments from Vincent Taua, a soccer player from Drueulu who plays in the Italian League. 'On the day he received the book, he told me that he was very moved by having it in his hands, by looking at the photos, by the idea of being able to show “home” to his Italian team mates and friends as if the book constituted a kind of cultural bridge.'

During her time in Lifou, Ms Paini and her young daughter lived with a local Drueulu family. 'My daughter and I shared our daily life with members of the family and took part in many of the social events of the community such as Christian and customary feasts, funeral and wedding ceremonies, and women's activities.'

She remembers one incident, when she was stranded in Drueulu after the island had run out of petrol, with particular warmth. 'I wanted to participate in the ordination of a Kanak woman as a Protestant minister in Traput, a village 30 km from Drueulu. My hopes of attending the ceremony had almost evaporated when at the last minute, the late Elë Ele Hmaea, deacon of Drueulu, understanding what the event meant to me, organised two young men from the village to drive me there in his truck.'

The book's title is taken from a speech made in 1992 by the High Chief of Gaica, Pierre Zeula, when he welcomed a delegation of women to Drueulu: ‘You are the basket, the one who carries the child close to her … the one who carries the kite. If the string breaks, the kite flies away … you, the girls and the women are the eternal source. We cannot work without you, otherwise only half the work gets done.’

The Kite is Tied to You is currently only available in Italian. Ms Paini hopes it will soon be available in French so the people of Drueulu can comment on it. 'Although I wrote it with an empathetic regard after many years of sharing experiences with Drueuluans, I’m not attempting to claim insider status for myself,' she says.

Ms Paini presented her book in person to the people of Lifou in early November. The SPC event will be the first official presentation of the book to the wider public. From Noumea, Ms Paini will travel to Canberra for the book’s next presentation on November 28.
 

CONTACT
For more information, please contact Anne Gibert, Librarian Assistant, SPC, at AnneG@spc.int phone (687) 26 20 00 ext 132, or Tione Chinula, HDP Advocacy & Communications Officer, SPC, at TioneC@spc.int phone (687) 26 20 00 ext 157.  

Read the article in French