No.1 Neighbour: Art in Papua New Guinea 1956-2016

104 №1 NEIGHBOUR STRONG WOMEN Lisa Hilli works in a number of artistic fields — photography, video, textiles and mixed media installation — articulating her Papua New Guinean– Australian identity. Hilli’s artworks in ‘No.1 Neighbour’ feature elders of the Tolai people from East New Britain Province wearing neckpieces based on traditional objects of chiefly status. PART OF YOUR WORK IS GROUNDED IN A MATERIAL PRACTICE. WHAT IS THE INFLUENCE FOR THIS AND HOW DOES IT INFORM YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC AND VIDEO WORKS? The notion of materiality in my practice is something that has evolved over the last six to seven years. Having a foundation in photography, I was drawn to moving images, particularly hybrid forms, including rotoscope and stop-motion video, where I could explore tactile processes, as in my 2007 video Afrophobia . I then progressed out of the digital realm into the physical through video installation. The year 2010 marked a big shift for my practice as this was when I co-founded the Pacific Women’s Weaving Circle. I also undertook a cultural exchange with the Arnhem Land fibre artists on Elcho Island and I discovered a middi (woven Tolai shell collar) held in the collection of the Australian Museum in Sydney. A middi is a cultural artefact relevant to my cultural identity, and it is the focus of my current research. Initially, I thought I would completely immerse myself in making tactile objects in relation to the body, but I’ve found that my camera remains important. I use photography and video to document cultural knowledge and practices, and to capture intimacy. The outcome of my research of the middi is to create a succinct language involving photography and video and the objects I have created. COULD YOU EXPLAIN THE IMPETUS FOR THE WORK IN THE EXHIBITION FEATURING YOUR MOTHER? My mother, Raim, has been an ongoing inspiration for my work, largely because I’ve inherited — and continue to practice — her Tolai culture, a matrilineal culture with ancestry and land ownership passed through the women’s line. We call our clans Vunatarai, which means people of the place. The bilas (body adornment) my mother is wearing is called Vunatarai armour and references my Vunatarai, which is called Makurategete. My research indicates that all Tolai Vunatarai names refer to land. Makurategete means many different types of tegete leaves. Tegete leaves are from the cordyline and croton plants that only grow in tropical environments. I made Vunatarai armour 2015 during a difficult time personally, and I wanted to reference my family, my Vunatarai, as being a source of strength and protection. The work also draws on the design and inherent values of historical middi, which are believed to be imbued with magical powers. I am really interested in why we wear body adornment and how meaning can be inherent in objects — giving us strength or protection (religious charms), or reminding us of people we love (personal jewellery). The work also seeks to subvert labels attached to Pacific artefacts held in museum and gallery collections. Indigenous makers, knowledge and contexts are often rendered invisible, leaving only the place of origin, date of collection, cultural group and collector’s name recorded on museum labels. I chose to use photographs of tegete leaves, my clan totem, directly on each tag to imbue Tolai identity, knowledge and cultural history. 1 I also give status to a woman, my mother, who is the oldest female of our Vunatarai. HOW IMPORTANT IS THE AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE FEATURED IN THE PHOTOGRAPH? Picturing my mother in the land in which she lives (Meanjin/Brisbane) is important, as historical photographs of Papua New Guinean people taken by Europeans were usually staged, decontextualising individuals from their living environment. It is not dissimilar to what happens to Pacific material culture once it is absorbed into a museum collection. Connection to land is an integral part of identity and livelihood across Papua New Guinea. My mother LISA HILLI INTERVIEW BY RUTH M c DOUGALL