"Unspoiled" Manua

A New Deal For "Unspoiled" Manua

“A few months later, he asked for pen and paper and started drawing.

“Some time after this I moved to Futuna, and invited Pilioko to come with me so that I could learn the language.

“I spent two years on Futuna, and during this time Pilioko showed the most extraordinary development.

He started painting, drawing and em broidering, too.”

In 1961, Mr. Michoutouchkine and Pilioko exhibited together in Vila and Noumea; in 1962, they went to Tahiti; and in 1963, they were back in the Western Pacific.

A joint exhibition which they staged in Honiara last year was Mr.

Michoutouchkine’s 31st exhibition in 10 years, and Pilioko’s seventh since his discovery, Pilioko was recently granted a scholarship for art studies in France.

Mr. Michoutouchkine’s exhibitions have been sponsored by all sorts of important people and organisations.

But his paintings, which are vivid in colour and impressionist in style, have never been for sale.

Pilioko’s paintings, on the other hand, are on sale and have found their way into many collections in the US, France and South Pacific.

Their charm, Mr. Michoutouchkine says, is their “naivety and origina lity”.

who likes to thin! there are still a few “unspoilec paradises” in the Pacific had bettei find a wailing wall to wail on befon reading this one.

The fact is that Manna, one of th< last “citadels” of undeveloped Poly nesia, is about to fall before the re lentless advance of Western civilisa tion.

Manua is a group of three island —Tau, Olosega and Ofu—whicl makes up the eastern half of Ameri can Samoa. The three islands have i total area of 23 square miles —Tai being the largest with 15 squan miles; the others having four squan miles each.

Hitherto, the 3,000-odd Polynesian of Manua have been pretty much lef to their own devices by the lonj succession of Governors who havi ruled American Samoa from Pag< Pago on the much bigger (52 square mile) island of Tutuila.

Even the present Governor, hard working H. Rex Lee, who has ini tiated unprecedented schemes of de velopment on Tutuila since hi assumed office in May, 1961, has no done much for Manua. But he i about to get cracking.

In April, he paid a two-day visi to Manua with a party of 20 techni cians and top Government official with the object of making final plan for a new deal for the group. Cover nor Lee’s party visited all five village on the three islands.

The plans for Manua include th building of four schools and a higl school, plus the introduction of elec tricity and better water supplies.

But apparently there are no plan yet for the building of a whar capable of taking ships of the size o 262-ton inter-island vessel Manw Tele, the lack of which has been oni of the chief bars to Manua’s develop ment.

Aloisio Pilioko (left) and Nicolai Michou touchkine.