Countdown to region’s largest cultural event begins

With just 6 months to go, preparations are well under way for the region’s largest traditional and contemporary cultural event, the Festival of Pacific Arts. The 10th Festival of Pacific Arts will be held in American Samoa from 20 July to 2 August 2008.

The theme selected by American Samoa for this Fesitival is "Su'iga'ula a le Atuvasa: Threading the Oceania 'Ula". The 'Ula or necklace is an adornment that is always representative of a celebration and/or festive occasion - what better way to describe the coming together of the Pacific family than by preparing our 'Ula's for the festivities to come.

The Executive Board of the Council of Pacific Arts, which oversees the festival, met at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in Noumea from 8 to 10 August to review the organisation of the festival.

The festival is a huge logistical undertaking, with over 2,500 participants expected, says Simona Lauti, executive director for the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts. ‘We have finalised plans for accommodation venues and the festival village,’ he says. ‘The main challenges we are facing now are securing the sources of funding for the festival and working out the logistical requirements of the participating countries.’

Contact
More information about the Festival of Pacific Arts, contact the Festival Organising Committee:
E-mail: PAFSAM@samoatelco.com
Address:
Festival of Pacific Arts Office
PO Box E
Pago Pago
96799 American Samoa

To have more information visit the Festival official website at http://www.festival-pacific-arts.org

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
 
A major international cultural event
Beginning in 1972, Pacific peoples have come together every four years to share and exchange their culture at the Festival of Pacific Arts. The two-week event brings together artists from throughout the Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand and showcases traditional and contemporary arts, including music, dance, theatre and film, literature, culinary arts, navigation and canoeing, and traditional healing arts. It plays an important role in the rediscovery and strengthening of traditional skills and knowledge and the evolution of Pacific Island identities. The festival also promotes unity by facilitating inter-regional communication.

The Festival is recognised as a major international cultural event, and is the largest gathering in which Pacific peoples unite to gain respect for and appreciation of one another within the context of the changing Pacific.

The Festival was conceived by SPC’s governing Conference in an attempt to combat the erosion of traditional customary practices. It grew out of the desire, expressed by Pacific Island leaders, for the peoples of the region to share their cultures and establish deeper understanding and friendship between countries.

Selection and Role of the Festival Host
The selection of a host country by the Council of Pacific Arts is based on principles of equity. The Council recognises that each of the 27 nations of the Pacific desires to celebrate their unique indigenous culture by hosting the Festival, and supports this through a process of regional rotation. In accordance with the Pacific way, whereby all is shared, preference is given to those countries that have not yet been hosts.
In accordance with festival tradition, participants are the organising country’s guests from the day of their arrival. The host country bears the cost of local travel, accommodation, meals and other forms of hospitality for the visiting participants. Entry to all artistic events is free to the public. As a result, the Festivals are not self-funded through ticket sales or other means. Merchandising and sponsorship arrangements for local industries are developing, but account for only a small proportion of festival income. The cost of providing venues — for the performing arts, cultural displays and exhibitions, and including stages, lighting and sound systems — are considerable and increasing.

Hosting the Festival is a major cultural technical and economic challenge, requiring broad community participation and cooperation. The Festival also provides tremendous opportunities for social and cultural interchange and for the exposure of local products, and can help to enhance tourism within the host country.

The Festival provides Pacific peoples with an opportunity to assert their identities, both for themselves and to share with other people of the Pacific. It has additional significance for the host country, which has the opportunity to present itself: to its own people, to invited countries and to the Festival audience.

Festival Participants
Visits of Pacific Islanders from one island to another have always been important occasions. Trade, social visits and exchanges of dance, music, food and crafts have served as opportunities for islanders to learn from one another, and have assisted in the dynamic transformation of culture. Today the Festival of Pacific Arts helps maintain a sense of “Pacificness” among island communities: awareness that, although a group of people may reside on tiny atolls far from island neighbours, they are part of a greater Pacific-wide culture. Recognition of a common Pacific identity can be a strong motivating force for individual communities to revive and cherish their own traditional forms of cultural expression.

Young Pacific Islanders were traditionally raised in an environment that taught them their local language, history and traditional knowledge and skills, but many ways of passing on these traditions and skills are disappearing. A realisation of what has been missing in the more Westernised island cultures is one of the reasons young islanders train long and hard for each Festival, seeking to uncover the secrets of ancient music and chants, costumes, body art and language. To be selected as part of an island’s delegation to the Festival is a great honour. The Festivals have no competitions, and performers do not seek to compete with other, but the Festival has stimulated a new sense of cultural pride among islanders young and old, generating excitement, pride and promise for the arts and cultures in the region. It enables young contemporary artists and performers to express themselves and their talent and helps to bridge the gap between traditional cultural expressions and the aspirations of our youth.

Contribution of the Festival to Pacific Island Communities and Cultures
The Festival makes a significant contribution to the evolution of Pacific Island identities. For the region, the Festival of Pacific Arts promotes unity by encouraging mutual appreciation and respect for one another’s cultures. It also improves political and economic stability by developing a deeper sense of solidarity and unites the geographically isolated Pacific Island countries and territories, facilitating inter-regional communication.
The Festival is also an important instrument in the preservation of the performing and production skills underlying the broad variety of cultural expressions in the Pacific. Expertise and skills in crafts have been rediscovered and revitalised, while traditional and ceremonial performances have been rediscovered, revived and in some cases updated. Tourism and related industries have also benefited, with the proceeds often going to local communities.

The Festival and the World
As each Festival is succeeded by the next they grow and the number of participants increases. Each Festival attracts increasing numbers of spectators and visitors from within the region itself, and it also draws the attention of the global community, to the point that the Festival has become a major tourist attraction. Today the Festival is the principal platform for collective participation in expressions of traditional and contemporary culture in the Pacific region.