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

76 №1 NEIGHBOUR STORIES Lines spontaneously and lyrically articulate stylised form in the paintings of late Bena Bena artist Jakupa Ako, who, while working as a cleaner at Goroka Teachers College in the late 1960s, discovered art classes and a love of painting. Jakupa’s paintings delight in the people, creatures and mythical beings, as well as the lifestyle, of his upbringing. Characterised by vivid colour, boldly applied, his work is inspired by body-painting traditions, while his monumental forms recall the larger-than-life figures — both living and ancestral — who informed his world. This was a world centred on village life with its cycles of gardening, hunting and making and repairing dwellings, punctuated by customary celebrations, feasts and performances. In Jakupa’s early paintings, such as Untitled (yellow) 1976 and Untitled (blue) 1977, nothing is framed, and, more importantly, nothing meets or interacts. Figures, creatures and spirits, even utensils, appear to float on a flat, empty plane. Traditional Melanesian beliefs rest on an understanding of the interdependence of all things, however distinct they may appear. The human, animal, vegetable and spirit worlds must inhabit a shared space. Traditionally, the space where these entities were safely brought together was that of the sing-sing. It is not surprising then that Jakupa’s early works engage with this realm and are imbued with the riotous colour and lyrical movement of the performance arena. Like many artists whose work came to prominence in the 1970s, Jakupa’s success meant he began to move between his village and the growing metropolis of Port Moresby, where he painted and engaged with other artists. As a result of his extended stays in Port Moresby, the open, flat space prominent in Jakupa’s early work took on perspectival depth; the drama became urban, framed by windows and doors, a stage rather than a sing-sing clearing. Possibly the result of a growing familiarity with Western pictorial systems, the long titles and extensive captions, such as Hamama Natin Long Indipendens (No longer happy with Independence) and Sampela Skin Na bilas Tasol Les Meri Long Ples (Loose women are empty skin and baubles) , also point to a new experience of place and, perhaps, even a sense of alienation in the context of urban living. For Jakupa Ako, the empty space of the canvas — like the village clearing where the sing‑sing is performed — is the place where tensions can be addressed and potentially resolved. JAKUPA AKO'S LYRICAL LINES RUTH M c DOUGALL JAKUPA AKO Untitled (blue) 1977 OPPOSITE Untitled (yellow) 1976