7th MSG Ministers of Culture & Arts Meeting and 8th Culture & Arts Councils Meeting concludes sucessfully in Kokopo, Papua New Guinea

The 8th Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Ministers of Culture and Arts Meeting (MCAM) and the Council of Arts and Culture Meeting (CACM) successfully concluded at the Gazelle International Hotel, Kokopo, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea on 28th and 29th October 2019.

The two day high level meeting brought together, MSG Culture Ministers as well as Senior Officials from the Arts and Culture Ministries of the MSG Member States, from the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and also including high –level representation from the respective MSG heads of missions based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Speaking during the opening of the two meetings the Director General of the MSG Secretariat, Ambassador Amena Yauvoli reiterated that “Arts and Culture is the glue that binds Melanesians together and a bedrock for sustainable development”. Ambassador Yauvoli reassured the dignitaries of his commitment to fulfilling the mandates on arts and culture, that the MSG Secretariat had prioritized Arts and Culture including Sports as a new programme within the Secretariat as part of the structural reforms initiated under his leadership as Director General since taking up Office in 2016. Hence, the issues set to be discussed in the MCAM and CACM are correspondingly part of the reform agenda programmes of the Secretariat.

The high-level meeting in Kokopo also provided the opportunity for Senior Officials and MSG Culture Ministers to discuss other common issues affecting the MSG sub-region and voice their concerns on the vulnerability and threats that Melanesian’s unique Cultures and Heritage are currently facing today, especially with the rise of modernism and technology.

The Chairman of the (MCAM), Honorable Emil Tammur MP and Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture of Papua New Guinea, also stressed in his opening remarks that Papua New Guinea is concerned about the rate in which Melanesian unique artifacts are constantly being counterfeited, manufactured offshore and sold back into our countries. “There is indeed gross negligence and abuse to our cultural artefacts, including designs, songs, folklores and dances that are being stolen by outsiders for their own commercial gains.” He told those present.

Among some of the many Melanesian artefacts and heritage, being compromised include, the PNG Bilum being manufactured in uncontrollable rates in Asia, the Patent of Ngali Nut of Solomon Islands by somebody from Europe, the Patent of the word Fiji’s “Bula” in Miami, United States, and the mistaken identity and significance of Vanuatu’s traditional Land Diving at Pentecost to the Western version of Bungee Jumping, including countless traditional chants, costumes, etc.

Honourable Emil Tammur, reiterated “The MSG as a Group must remain vigilant and emphasize the need to learn from each other’s best practices, especially in information sharing, capacity building and training of our own people to take lead in preserving and promoting our cultural artefacts and cultures.”
The Chair of the MCAM further called for a development of a platform to safeguard Melanesian arts and cultures from piracy, while at the same initiate ongoing activities for our Melanesian people to engage in, especially for our Melanesian women and youths. Hon, Tammur, said that “our Melanesian cultures are part of our lives and we are in total control of them, there is no need for external advise required from foreign experts”.

It was also highlighted during the meeting that while the Melanesian Arts and Cultural festival – MACFEST has always been a successful MSG event since its inception in July 6 1998 in Honiara, Solomon Islands and the subsequent hosting by Vanuatu in 2002, Fiji in 2006, New Caledonia in 2010, PNG in 2014, Solomon Islands in 2018, and Vanuatu in 2022, there is a need to do more rather than waiting in between every four years interval to host another MACFEST.

The MSG Cultural Festival has over the years brought together thousands of artists and performers from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Solomon Islands, also in 2014 it welcomed for the first time, diaspora Melanesian communities in the Papuan provinces of Indonesia, Timor Leste, the Torres Strait Islanders of Australia and recently the indigenous people of Taiwan.

During the 7th MCAM in Kokopo, the MSG Culture Ministers, endorsed that while MCFEST will continue to be a standing culture and arts event for the MSG, a bi-annual Cultural Symposium, Miss Melanesia Pageant, and MSG Music Festival will be included as new MSG culture and arts events.
Other decisions that were reached during the two –day Meeting included the need to incorporate cultural education, namely mat weaving, carvings, songs and more, in the formal curricular in schools in the MSG sub-region, something in which Fiji is taking the lead in, the increased participation of youths in cultural activities and the development of an information sharing platform to be hosted within the MSG Secretariat.

Members were also reminded of the need to ratify the MSG Treaty Framework on the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Expression of Cultures (TKEC), signed by MSG Leaders in June 2011. The TKEC was established to protect traditional knowledge holders and owners against any infringement of their rights and also to protect the expression of culture against misappropriation, misuse and unlawful exploitation.

Director General Ambassador Yauvoli acknowledged the MSG dignitaries for their wisdom and understanding and assured the MSG Secretariat’s full support to Members in the development of the necessary policy guidelines and legal instruments and assistance required for the ratification of the TKEC.

The next CAAM and MCAM will be held in Vanuatu in 2020.