Present Encounters : Papers from the conference of the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, 1996

Around 1 871 , the London Missionary Society (LMS) established a base on Darnley Island , staffed by South Sea Islander teachers. This missionary influence led to some stability i n the d isrupted cultural life, as the missionaries were able to prevent, to an extent, the turmoil created by the i nflux of foreign vessels. This stability, however, came at a price as it led to the introduction of the spi rituality of the Christian religion. I n this period , vast quantities of ritual artefacts were either destroyed or collected by missionaries and anthropologists as objects of scientific curiosity. By 1 879, the colony of Queensland had annexed the Torres Strait region, and by 1 887 Islanders were brought under control of the Ch ief Protector of Aborig inal Affairs. However, due to shortages of both staff and money, the LMS continued to maintain control by appointing to the various islands i nd ividuals whose roles combi ned the positions of teacher and priest. A large majority of these were Pacific Islanders who were, at times, more fanatical in their Christian convictions than the European missionaries. Finally, in 1 9 1 5, the LMS ceded its interests to the Church of England. By this stage, the entire Torres Strait population were practising Christians, the resu lti ng culture being a combination of recently assimilated val ues and practices and the few customary traditions that had survived. Yet this was still a cu lture that could r . eadily be identified as Torres Strait, having evolved through an almost unconscious effort by Torres Strait Islanders. It is during this transitional and sometimes turbulent period that contemporary Torres Strait culture was formed . This is readily seen in the role of dance i n maintaining the spirituality of the culture through the formation of a 'bridge' which enabled aspects of the pre-contact tradition to cross-over i nto the late twentieth century. Dance Styles in Torres Strait Tradition Pre-contact Torres Strait dance fell into three categories: religion, war and secular issues. The arrival of Christianity, and the impact of Pacific Islander pastors who were placed on the various islands, led to the suppression of dances associated with religious and war ceremon ies. The category of secu lar dance survived , but its style changed through the introduction by the Pacific Islanders of their own dance styles. In contemporary Torres Strait society, dance forms the nucleus of cultural life. This may be theorised on the basis that the suppression of pre-contact ritua ls associated with religion, which i nformed all aspects of Islander society wh ile at the same time a llowing the continuation of secu lar practices, changed the emphasis of how Islanders expressed tradition . Th is led to the emergence of dance as the pre-emi nent cultural practice that allowed aspects of the pre-contact spirituality to survive and also provided a focus around which contemporary cultural activity could revolve . The continuation of secu lar dance also maintained aspects of pre-contact cultural practices. As an example, the warrior life-style, which played a major part in daily life prior to contact, continues to be expressed through dance . This has maintained the knowledge of production of the associated war paraphernalia, such as bows and arrows, clubs and spears, as well as the warrior headdress and costume. Such objects are used extensively in numerous dance choreographs. Further, the traditional enmities which existed between the various islands now exist through dance competitions between island teams as part of major feasting and festivals. Torres Strait dance, however, is not stagnating according to pre-determined formu las. Its use as an expression of the strength of contemporary Torres Strait culture, and its role i n the evolution of cultu re is seen in the composition and choreography of new songs and dances and , in particu lar, the development of new forms of dance paraphernalia. These i nstruments, referred to as dance machines or playthings in the vernacular, can be d ivided into several categories. The categories wh ich we are interested in here are the mechanica l , or articulated machines, wh ich have moveable parts, and non-mechanical machines, of which the i nstallation Sik-o in the Triennial exhibition is an example. These two categories a re further d ivided into male or female objects, that is, only the appropriate gender can use certain machines. As a general rule, female machines tend to be non-mechanica l or, if mechanical, are simpl istic in the design of the articulated parts. Male mach ines, on the other hand, tend to i ncorporate complex mechanical devices. 87