London Learns The Pacific Way

Icy England hosts a spectacular island exhibition.

A MAJOR season of events and ac tivities focusing on the cultures and countries of the South Pacific is under way at the Commonwealth Insti tute in London until October this year.

“Pacific Way” introduces the peoples and cultures from Commonwealth na tions of the South Pacific and addresses topical issues in the region through exhi bitions, conferences and educational ac tivities. Countries taking part include Australia, Kiribati, Naum, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Western Sa moa, together with the associated states of Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue.

The title “Pacific Way” refers not only to the historic sea voyages linking many of the islands, but also to a particular way of thinking and adaptation island cultures have achieved and to the increasingly im

portant environmental and political role the region is set to play in the 21 st century.

It is the latest in the Institute’s series of biannual festivals focusing on different re gions of the Commonwealth, and follows in the tradition of the “Africa, Africa” fes tival in 1984 and “Caribbean Focus 1986”.

Plans for “Pacific Way” include an im portant new permanent exhibition on the region; a theatre-in-education project us ing performers from the University of the South Pacific; an international writers’ conference; an environmental conference; an exhibition of modem Papua New Guinea art and a Pacific music festival.

Other events include an exhibition of Ab original prints and posters and an exhi bition of photographs from the environmental expedition, “Operation Raleigh”.

Exhibitions officer Yvonne Neverson has created an installation that challenges stereotyped images of the region and in troduces visitors to topics of international importance. An audiovisual presentation outlines the main historical and current issues of the region: international fishing rights and the regional threat of nuclear testing are explored alongside the tradi tional ways of life before European contact and the impact of colonisation and independence.

Ways of life, politics, ritual and religion in the Solomon Islands, Western Samoa and Tonga are represented by life-sized models, artifacts and photographs. The exhibition also includes individual coun try displays, providing the most compre hensive exhibition of Pacific concerns in the United Kingdom. □

At left: Exhibition officer Yvonne Neverson (left) with assistant Caron Russell choose artifacts for the exhibition. Above: Kiribati dancer.

Below: Australian Aboriginal screenprint People in Sorrow by Sally Protheroe.