11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

Participants in Torba Province weaving workshops, Lembal village, Gaua Island 2023 / Photograph: Ruth McDougall Lembal village, Gaua Island, Torba Province 2023 / Photograph: Regina Lepping ESTABLISHED2023, VANUATU JULIANMARYDINI B.1994, MOTA LAVA ISLAND; LIVES +WORKS ON MOTA LAVA ISLAND REGINA LEPPING B.1990, SHORTLAND ISLANDS; LIVES +WORKS IN HONIARA, SOLOMON ISLANDS CHRISTINAMOT B.1956, MERE LAVA ISLAND, VANUATU; LIVES +WORKS ONMERE LAVA ISLAND ASHANTEE ROYNALO B.2006, ESPIRATU SANTO; LIVES + WORKS IN ESPIRATU SANTO + LEMBAL, GAUA ISLAND FAITHNANCY B.1971, MOTA LAVA ISLAND; LIVES +WORKS ON MOTA LAVA ISLAND THELMAOPRESS B.1974, GAUA ISLAND; LIVES + WORKS ON GAUA ISLAND NOELINE ROMOL B.1974, GAUA ISLAND; LIVES + WORKS ON GAUA ISLAND ANNRONGLE B.1971, MERE LAVA ISLAND; LIVES +WORKS ON MALEKULA ISLAND ELIZABETHSALVEMAL B.1954, GAUA ISLAND; LIVES + WORKS ON GAUA ISLAND HELENSALVEMAL B.1998, MERE LAVA ISLAND; LIVES +WORKS ON MERE LAVA ISLAND CURATEDBYDELYROYNALO B.1983, PORT VILA; LIVES + WORKS IN ESPIRATU SANTO + LEMBAL, GAUA ISLAND WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF DAVIDMASENGNALO B.1972, MALEKULA ISLAND; LIVES +WORKS IN ESPIRATU SANTO + LEMBAL, GAUA ISLAND The northernmost part of the Vanuatu archipelago, Torba Province comprises two main chains of islands, the Torres and the Banks. Like all of Vanuatu, the main islands are volcanic in origin with the active craters, such as Mount Gharat on Gaua, contributing to the region’s dramatic beauty, as well as its vulnerability. Stretching over 20 000 square kilometres of the South Pacific Ocean, Torba’s territorial lands, skies and waters are biologically diverse habitats that nurture endemic species of plants, birds and reptiles, alongside significant mangrove, fresh water, seagrass and coral reef habitats, which, in turn, support numerous species of fish. The peoples of the Torres and Banks have been safeguarding these habitats for thousands of years, while their origin stories reach even further back in time. Like many Pacific nations, Vanuatu is experiencing the dramatic effects of climate change — a tangible loss of species, unpredictable weather patterns and the catastrophic rising of sea levels, which is causing significant forced migration. Throughout the archipelago, Torba Province is notorious as the gateway of disaster. Being the northernmost point, it is the first to experience cyclones, storm surges, tsunamis, flooding, volcanic activity and drought. Isolated from major shipping routes, TORBAWEAVERS it is also the least resourced, with little infrastructure protecting the province’s growing population from the mounting threats posed by successive natural disasters. Dely Roy Nalo, curator of the Torba Weavers project for the Asia Pacific Triennial, descends from a chiefly line on Gaua Island. Living and working in her ancestral village of Lembal on Gaua Island, as well as Espiritu Santo, she works to educate audiences about the issues involving the contemporary translation of kastom (customary knowledge and practices). Working directly with ni-Vanuatu artists and their chiefs, Nalo conducts research and conversations to create new spaces for the articulation of kastom. She is most interested in ensuring the intergenerational transmission of knowledge around the sustainable use of natural resources in an era of climate change. For this Triennial, Nalo returned to her Gaua Island community to devise an intergenerational project focused on the knowledge embedded in women’s weavings from the Banks Islands. Working with her husband and children, Nalo began the project in December 2022, by coordinating the construction of five dwellings in Lembal village to host 15 women — ranging in age from 26 to 70 — from Gaua, Mere Lava and Mota Lava islands, together with six international guests, while they engaged in a weaving exchange over several weeks. One of the structures was a large, open- walled hut that served as the communal workshop space. Like the weaving practices of the Banks women, traditional Gaua ‘bush’ dwellings have evolved over centuries in response to the unique attributes of their materials, their purpose in changing family structures, challenging environmental conditions, and new ideas about aesthetics and design. Today, the increased occurrence and severity of storms and cyclones has brought new factors into play, as the buildings are increasingly required to withstand extreme weather conditions. In addition, the raw materials, particularly the palm trees used in their construction, have been adversely affected by rising sea levels, as well as by too much or too little water in successive floods and droughts (some of the fibres from these same trees are also used by the women in their weavings). As some fibres are becoming increasingly difficult to source, the Lembal community on Gaua practises traditional tabu protection, whereby they periodically restrict the harvest of natural resources. Nalo made trips to various islands to meet with the artists involved in the project, and to ensure she ARTISTS+PROJECTS ASIAPACIFICTRIENNIAL 194 — 195