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

137 CONTRIBUTORS №1 NEIGHBOUR Amanda Pagliarino, Head of Conservation and Registration Kim Barrett, Conservator, Works on Paper Tiffany Noyce, Registrar, Major Projects, and staff Julie Walsh, Foundation Manager Dominique Jones, Philanthropy Manager and staff PUBLICATION Editor: Rebecca Mutch Design: Lara Clarke Images, rights and permissions: Ruth McDougall and Molly Shields Artwork photography: Natasha Harth, Photographer Image assistance: Mark Sherwood, Assistant Photographer, and Chloë Callistemon, Assistant Photographer CONTRIBUTORS Kevin Apsepa was born in Ambunti, East Sepik Province, with direct ties to the Kwoma village of Tongwinjamb. His interests are directly tied to the expression of his Kwoma culture. He has undertaken art commissions for the Pacific Island Ministries and QAGOMA, and he has recorded two albums. He participated in APT7 (QAGOMA, 2012). Nora Vagi Brash was born in Dagoda Village, Central Province, and graduated from Port Moresby Teachers College in 1965. She later undertook a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma in Journalism at the University of Papua New Guinea. She wrote her first play The High Cost of Living Dangerously while working as Artistic Director at the National Theatre Company of Papua New Guinea. In 1985, she was awarded the independence medal for her play Taurama . She is currently the Executive Director of Tanorama Limited, a consulting and project management company. Kiri Chan has worked extensively with the Pacific collections of the Queensland Museum and the University of Queensland Anthropology Museum. Her principal area of interest is the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Papua New Guinea and the ties with ideas of nation and cultural identity, especially for Papua New Guineans who have migrated overseas. She has worked as Research Assistant for the Excavating MacGregor: Re-connecting a Colonial Museum Collection project with the Queensland Museum and the University of Sydney, as well as Collections Assistant, University of Queensland Anthropology Museum. Ruth Choulai is a specialist in the Pacific creative arts who has worked in the region for 14 years as a program officer for Pacific Islands Trade & Invest, Sydney. In this role, Ruth established the annual exhibition ‘Maketi Ples’ (Market Place). In 2014–15, Ruth was engaged as an international consultant by the International Trade Centre, Geneva, as the National Coordinator for the Papua New Guinea Bilum Project. John Faunt is a musician and filmmaker from Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, and a director of the Wantok Musik Foundation. John was the former lead singer of the popular Papua New Guinea band Hausboi that blended traditional garamut (log drum) rhythms into their music. Driven by his Manus Island roots, John is currently involved in a project called Lukautim Pasin Tumbuna (Safeguard our Cultural Heritage), which documents traditional garamut rhythms and culture, disappearing due to modernisation. Martin Fowler is a researcher, consultant and documenter of architecture, culture, art and heritage, particularly of Melanesia. New Guinea-born and raised, Martin was the architect of the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery. He was also an adviser on architecture and culture to the PNG government throughout the 1970s. He practiced and taught architecture in Melbourne in the 1980s and 1990s, where he completed his PhD. Co-curator of the Papua New Guinea component of APT7 (QAGOMA, 2012), he has recently been an adviser to the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery and contractor Architectus on refurbishment plans. Taloi Havini works in ceramics, photography, print media, video and mixed media installation. Her practice centres on the deconstruction of the politics of location and the intergenerational transmission of indigenous knowledge systems. Taloi engages with living cultural practitioners and material from collections and archives throughout Oceania. She is actively involved in cultural heritage projects and community development in Melanesia and Australia. Her work is held in public and private collections, including the Queensland Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. She participated in APT8 (QAGOMA, 2015). Florence Jaukae-Kamel was born in the Eastern Highlands Province. She is the Managing Director of Jaukae Bilum Products and works with a co-operative of women in Papua New Guinea to produce original bilum works. Kamel’s own works may be found in the collections of the Australian Museum (Sydney), National Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, and the Queensland Art Gallery. Gideon Kakabin has been a software consultant for over 30 years, however, his real passions are the history and the culture of his people, the Tolai of East New Britain. He is the founder and administrator of the NGI Historical Society Facebook group, which has over 8500 members worldwide. He has also produced numerous videos on Tolai culture for the ‘Komnairima’ YouTube channel. Ruth McDougall is Curator, Pacific Art, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art and Curator of ‘No.1 Neighbour’. She curated the exhibitions ‘Threads: Contemporary Textiles and the Social Fabric’ (QAGOMA, 2011), and ‘Readymade’ (2003) and ‘Fresh Cut’ (2001) for the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. She was part of the Curatorial team for APT6, APT7 and APT8. She was a recipient of an Anne and Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship in 1994, and undertook a Churchill Fellowship in 2013. Joe Nalo was born on Johnson Island in Manus Province. He taught expressive arts at Wau International Primary School and was headmaster of Salamaua Boarding School (1970–72). He won a scholarship to study at the Creative Arts Centre in Port Moresby and later went on to teach at the National Arts School, as well as practice as a professional artist. He was Curator of Contemporary Art at the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery, and represented Papua New Guinea at the 10th World Crafts Council Conference in Montreal, Canada. He participated in APT1 (QAG, 1993). Waikua Nera is a senior Abelam man who maintains the importance of his culture and the role of art within it. In his younger years, Waikua worked with Narikowi Konbapa and his father, Nera Janbruku, to create work on commission for the Australian Museum in Sydney. Since this time, he has worked tirelessly both within his own village of Brikiti and further afield to educate younger Abelam men and interested outsiders about Abelam art.