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

31 THE EARLY YEARS №1 NEIGHBOUR The period leading up to and immediately following the 1975 declaration of independence in Papua New Guinea was marked by creativity. To discuss this period, as well as ideas of modernity and the contemporary, questions were posed to Nora Vagi Brash, Martin Fowler and Joe Nalo, some of the country’s leading practitioners, who work across theatre, architecture and art, respectively. CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT IT MEANT TO BE AN ARTIST AT THIS TIME? HOW DID YOU VIEW YOUR PRACTICE IN RELATION TO THE CHANGE THAT WAS HAPPENING? Nora Vagi Brash There was an air of nation-building. I had not participated fully in the self-governing years because I had left the country during this exciting time. I was living in England and was busy writing plays and poetry, meeting local writers and poets and watching rehearsals. I returned two days before independence and watched the parade from the roadside. Puppeteers Nora Vagi Brash, Heidi Kowage, Segg Putahu and Gundu Kagl Raka, Port Moresby, 1976 / Image courtesy: Nora Vagi Brash BELOW The Gallery and Administration Building, National Arts School, Port Moresby, c.1973 / Image courtesy: Martin Fowler