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

122 №1 NEIGHBOUR FROM HERE as well as the big annual ceremonies related to our spirits, Yena, Minja, Nokwi and Sukia. 3 There are certain times of the year when all the cultures are on display. We have yam festivals (Kou sukia) and sago festivals (Nokwi sukia). We unite all the spirits, recognising their importance and developing better understandings of one another so there will be peace in our society. We work hard to promote our culture, and our art helps promote it in festivals to other people and to other cultures. Our festivals are also times when we can create revenue for our people to live. In our festivals, the different spirits and traditions unite to make one performance — we bring together different traditions, but the spirit of the festival is one. Florence Jaukae-Kamel Bilum weaving is an ancient skill passed on from the mother ancestors. In ancient times, traditional twisters and weavers asked the mama ancestors to help guide them to weave bilum. As they twisted, the women asked the spirit mamas to make the twisted fibre increase in length. Together, they spoke, sang and hummed, sometimes, in recite tones. These tones bring together singing in a clear or normal tone with lyrics that are mumbled so others won’t hear. So it’s like . . . high, low, high, low. Other times, women sitting down weaving will sing certain parts of a song, while the head woman sings or speaks certain parts.