The Ninth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

63 ARTISTS Top: Jackson Pinia, leader of the Amidal Tribes String Band, with senior band members, holding A Ulang and Rumus (ceremonial spears) in front of Lolois of Tutanas ; below: Gunantuna Nidok (initiation) ceremony, East New Britain, July 2018 / Photographs: Gideon Kakabin Gunantuna (Tolai people) Lead artist: Gideon Kakabin Born 1956, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea; died 2018, Canberra, Australia Lived and worked in Nangananga village, Papua New Guinea Artists: Tivila Wartir b.1954; Isa Apelis b.1962; Ben Parai b.1970; Msisiel Vaira b.1960; William M Kakabin b.1981; Jack Apelis b.1963; Kini Balnata b.1992 Live and work in Nangananga village, East New Britain Support: Judy Kakabin, Catechist Kaum, Ia Gogoe, Ia Kamara, Ia Delin, Ia Puia, Ia Vodia, Osiat Baining, To Ugus Balnata, Tolili and Tabu exchange traders Majestic rings of cane threaded with shell demonstrate a thriving indigenous economy in Papua New Guinea. Known as Tutana and Loloi , these arresting forms are created for display in public ceremonies by the Gunantuna (Tolai people) of East New Britain. Towering overhead and richly textured with jewel-like shells, Tutana confront and mesmerise the viewer with the wealth and social merit of their owners. 1 The Gunantuna inhabit the lush coastal strip of the Gazelle Peninsula of East New Britain. A culturally rich society, the unique foundation of their contemporary trade and commerce is a dual currency system that uses Papua New Guinea’s legal tender, the kina and toea, as well as a shell-based monetary system, called Tabu or Diwarra . The shell used within Diwarra is the humble nasser shell, which is threaded on strips of cane and joined together to form units of value. 2 Diwarra is used extensively in everyday life, alongside kina and toea, for land purchases, school fees, buying store goods and paying fines in the villages. Currency exchanges operate where the rates are set by market forces. Only Diwarra , however, can be used in ceremonial transactions, such as bride price, wealth distribution in a death ceremony, and for initiation fees. Diwarra primarily derives its value from within these ceremonies, and from its role in regulating relationships. Created from a finite resource, it articulates and maintains important social, political and economic relationships. Lengths of Diwarra — from an arip up to a Tutana — are at times tied around a loop, forming wheels called a Loloi . Holding symbolic significance, completed Loloi are sealed in a wrapping of pandanus leaves for a dual purpose — to keep the Loloi dry and to declare it to be a ‘bank’, which can only be opened in a public ceremony. The men who wrap a Loloi perform the role of ‘treasurer’, responsible for counting the shell strips and vouching for the contents and subsequent value of a Loloi in the event it is opened during a ceremony. A Loloi that is not completely covered is called a tavaturia (meaning naked), a circumstance considered unfavourable. The highest value of a Loloi is the majestic Tutana . In the Kuanua language of the Gunantuna, the word means ‘man’, and each layer of 100 to 1000 fathoms that comprise the completed wheel are named after limbs of the human body. The attribution of manhood to the Tutana carries hidden meaning, and is only understood within Gunantuna society. The largest and most symbolic display of Diwarra , a Tutana affords their owner status and power. 3 In the case where the Tutana belongs to a clan, the keeper holds a premier role — leading clan ceremonies, engaging in decision-making and land distribution, as well as holding secrets of clan heritage. He is the keeper of the wealth as it encompasses knowledge, power, currency and responsibility. In contrast, individual ownership of Tutana indicates wealth, but not necessarily community status. Those who do not possess Tutana and who wish to conduct a public ceremony will often ‘hire’ one or a number of Tutanas to display at the ceremonial site, in order to bestow more visual power, significance, and, most of all, prestige on their ceremony. The Gunantuna of East New Britain successfully maintain an economic system that coexists with their country’s legal tender, and the ways in which the Tutana and Loloi articulate and regulate ideas of wealth and value within community highlight a truly unique ecosystem of spiritual and social relationships and resources. Gideon Kakabin Endnotes 1 Gunantuna society is comprised of clan groups based on matrilineal connection; Tutana can be owned by both individuals and clans. 2 These shells are sun dried, then their tips are removed leaving a hole for a cane strip to be inserted. Within the Diwarra currency, the lowest denomination is 12 shells, worth ten toea. For trade, the current exchange rates are set in values of five kina, the equivalent of one fathom, called a pokono , which is also equivalent to a string of shells strung on a cane strip stretching from the tip of one hand to the other hand. Ten fathoms are equivalent to 50 kina and are called an arip . Ten arips are called a mar and ten mars are called a Tutana . 3 A Tutana is worth between 5000 and 7000 kina, depending on the market exchange rate at the time. GUNANTUNA (Tolai people)