The Sixth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

183 system and are able to authorise innovations. On Ambrym, this has included adaptations such as the use of brightly coloured trade paints for the striking designs on ‘Mague’ figures, as well as the copyright of knowledge to create blond hair for particular temar ne ari . The arresting designs and bold colours of the works featured in APT6 demonstrate the impressive results of the Ambrymese artists’ response to, and embrace of, change. They remind us that the impulse for innovation lies at the heart of tradition. Ruth McDougall Endnotes 1 In his essay ‘Music in Vanuatu’, Peter Russell Crowe notes that the oral and performative traditions of ni-Vanuatu also operate on the principle of ‘breaking the rules’, always revising the text and context appropriate to the coming performance. See Joel Bonnemaison (ed.), Arts of Vanuatu , Crawford House Publishing, Bathurst, NSW, 1996, pp.147–8. 2 M Patterson, ‘Leading lights in the “mother of darkness”: Perspectives on leadership and value in North Ambrym, Vanuatu’, Oceania , vol.73, 2002, pp.126– 42. See <http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-2963558/Leading-lights-in- the-mother.html>, viewed October 2009. 3 Discussed by M Patterson in ‘Mastering the art: An examination of the context of the production of art in Vanuatu’, in Arts of Vanuatu , p.257. 4 KW Huffman, ’Trading, cultural exchange and copyright: Important aspects of Vanuatu arts’, in Arts of Vanuatu , p.190.