Vanuatu artists explore change

Several thousand miles of ocean separate Hawaii and the Republic of Vanuatu, an independent Melanesian nation northeast of Australia, but "Port Vila mi lavem yu (Port Vila I Love You)," an exhibition at the East-West Center Gallery, shows there are some similarities.

Although indigenous people make up 98.5 percent of Vanuatu’s population, indigenous Ni-Vanuatu are being displaced by economic development while lifestyle diseases such as diabetes are becoming more prevalent and tourism is redefining traditional cultural values.

Port Vila, the capital, is ground zero for a new urban culture that mashes up traditional values and the new cash economy. The works of seven Ni-Vanuatu artists reflect that experience.

Exhibit co-curator Haidy Geismar, assistant professor in anthropology and museum studies at New York University, notes that many of the works "deal with the ways in which urban experience is changing traditional lifestyles."

"For instance, Joseph John’s watercolor (‘Port Vila’) presents the central marketplace and highlights how imported foodstuffs, DVDs (and) music are replacing local food and culture. David Ambong’s painting (‘Land Disputing in Port Vila’) looks at the negative effects of land alienation on social cohesion by depicting two brothers arguing over money whilst the property developer walks away with the rights to their family land."

A third painting, "The Port Vila Market," by Juliet Pita, shows the impact of what Pita calls the "custom economy" — the making and selling of mats, baskets and artifacts for cash rather than their traditional uses. A woman who sells souvenirs to tourists can make more money than her husband’s job pays him. This is a challenge to traditional male-female roles.

Alongside the artwork, Port Vila is brought to life in "Man Vila," an 18-minute video showing a day in the life of Roy Iasul, a chief in the traditional Ni-Vanuatu system who works in the urban cash economy driving tourists around the city.

The exhibit also includes installations representing a store stocked with inexpensive but minimally nutritious canned food, a home in one of the "informal settlements" that have grown up around the city, and a kava bar where urban Ni-Vanuatu gather for relaxation. There is also a display of souvenirs for tourists, some identical to those sold as souvenirs of Hawaii.

"Look out for the artists’ statements throughout as they are very powerful commentaries on urbanization and globalization," Geismar recommends. "When you’re looking at the installation that is based on a domestic interior, make sure you notice the different T-shirts with their slogans. Not only do these give an opportunity to learn some more Bislama, the national language of Vanuatu, but they signal many concerns and interests of urban people, from reggae to (the) traditional economy and family planning."