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

35 THE EARLY YEARS №1 NEIGHBOUR 1 Michael Somare was Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, 2002–11; he was previously Chief Minister 1972–75, and Prime Minister 1975–80 and 1982–85. 2 The Creative Arts Centre was established in 1972. As part of national cultural initiatives associated with independence, it became the National Arts School in 1976; see ‘Imagining Papua New Guinea’, National Gallery of Australia , <http://nga.gov.au/imagining/ essay.cfm>, viewed May 2016. Papua New Guinea’s parliament was first created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea; it became the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea in 1975 following independence; see National Parliament of Papua New Guinea , <http:// www.parliament.gov.pg/about/parliament >, viewed May 2016. 3 Abelam refers to the distinctive architectural structures Abelammen create as korumbo (spirit houses); see Waikua Nera, ‘The legend of the Abelam korumbo’ in this volume, pp.38–9. 4 ‘Art, artifacts and a garden’, Post Courier [Port Moresby], 21 February 1975, Weekend, p.17. 5 Personal communication with Tom Craig, quoting discussions with National Museum Trustees Bernard Narokobi and Michael Somare in mid 1973. See also ‘Costs have doubled: The urgency remains — We must guard our heritage’, Post Courier [Port Moresby], 5 April 1976. 6 For more information about artist Timothy Akis, see ‘Early prints: Hape and Timothy Akis’ in this volume, pp.66–9. 7 Located in Kensington, London, the Commonwealth Institute (1962–2002) was an educational charity connected with the Commonwealth of Nations. 8 Prior to independence, Papua New Guinea was a territory of Australia and had been in various forms since 1906. See ‘Independence of Papua New Guinea, 1975: Fact sheet 261’, National Archives of Australia , <http://www. naa.gov.au/collection/fact -sheets/fs261. aspx>, viewed April 2016. 9 Bernard Mullu Narokobi (1943–2010) was a politician, jurist and philosopher. 10 This refers to Narokobi’s book The Melanesian Way , edited by Henry Olela and published by the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, Boroko, c.1980.