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

125 FROM HERE №1 NEIGHBOUR Kevin Apsepa Every image tells a story connected with the environment. If I make something without referring to these stories, it doesn’t make sense and it’s not the real thing. Artworks connected with the environment have the strong spirit inside and that is the real thing. I must take care of my customs, culture and traditional way of living. HOW IMPORTANT IS THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE FOR YOUR WORK? Taloi Havini I am interested in the representation of indigenous peoples in art, so it is intrinsic to my practice to challenge existing stereotypical perceptions and to create more nuanced understandings. To do this successfully requires an international audience, as well as an engagement with other indigenous artists in exhibitions, projects, publications and collaborations. In 2014, I met the members of Taring Padi, an artist collective based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, whose use of art as a tool for political expression and education inspired me. During the 1990s, my late father attended a lot of United Nations meetings in Geneva, on behalf of the Bougainville Interim Government, 4 and he supported the struggles of other indigenous and land rights activists in Australia, New Zealand, and North and South America. I grew up learning how indigenous peoples’ struggles are similar around the world. Speaking to a global audience about our region can bring about a great exchange of ideas and support. Taloi Havini with Mary Gole, Hohola, Port Moresby, 2016 / Photograph: Ruth McDougall 1 The ten-year conflict refers to the Bougainville Conflict (1988–98) between Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), who were fighting for their land, culture and independence. See Timothy G Hammond, ‘Resolving hybrid conflicts: The Bougainville story’, Foreign Policy Journal , 22 December 2012, <http://www. foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/12/22/ resolving-hybrid-conflicts-the- bougainville-story/view-all/>, viewed June 2016. 2 The Bougainville Peace Agreement was signed in 2001, formally ending the Bougainville Conflict. 3 Yena, Minja and Nokwi are the three primary spirits of the Kwoma peoples. Yena and Minja have great power and are responsible for the continuing fertility of the yam gardens, while Nokwi is associated with homicides. Carvings of all three are given personal names to be used in ceremonies celebrating the growth and harvest of yams (Yena and Minja) and men who are the perpetrators of homicide or the fathers of many children (Nokwi). 4 The Bougainville Interim Government was established in 1990 by the BRA as a proclamation of independence from Papua New Guinea.