Vanuatu Cultural Centre

The Kastom Skul delegation, six pikininis from Port Vila, travelled to the Festival courtesy of sponsorship from BRED Bank. They enjoyed their experience on Ambrym immensely, and it was the first time for many of them to visit the 'Magic Island'. They shared their sandroings with the other participants, and were able to witness many sandroings they had never seen before. Thank you to BRED Bank and the Friends of the Vanuatu Museum for their valued support.

The Malampa Regional Sand Drawing Festival held in Sesivi, West Ambrym, from 11-15 May 2008 was a significant cultural event not only for Vanuatu, but for the whole world.  In 2003, the Sand Drawings of Vanuatu were listed as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  Ranging from traditional music, dance, and theatre, to story-telling, textile weaving, sand drawing and ‘cultural spaces’, the 90 UNESCO Masterpieces represent some of the most outstanding and significant examples of living cultural expression and human creative genius worldwide.  One of the reasons these particular examples, including sand drawing, were chosen as Masterpieces, was not only because they were of great significance to a community’s cultural identity, but also because they were in grave danger of being destroyed or disappearing altogether. 

Sponsored by UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust for intangible heritage, the 2008 Sand Drawing Festival in Ambrym happily demonstrated that this unique Vanuatu tradition is still alive and may indeed be undergoing a revival of interest given the convergence of around 400 participants on Sesivi in May.  Aesthetically, the sand drawings are very beautiful, and it was a privilege to witness the great skill and knowledge of the practitioners from all over Vanuatu’s islands including Ambrym, Pentecost, Malekula and Torba, as they ritually drew complex designs on the flat black volcanic sands and recited the stories and songs to go with them.  However, it is vital to realize that sand drawings are much more than just pretty geometric patterns or pictures. They are a complex artistic ritual activity where art, story, traditional knowledge and meaning are interwoven to form a language of memory, place and community.  Sand drawings express in a unique way the deep ni-Vanuatu connection to and understanding of the land, conveying a sense of community, identity, an interaction with nature and history that has evolved out of the spirit of the land and the hearts and minds of the people. 

In order to keep this cultural knowledge alive, it is not enough to preserve only the outward forms of sand drawings, which is relatively easy to do, but rather continue to regenerate their deeper significance – the stories and rituals, the symbolic meanings that express the richness of ni-Vanuatu culture and community relations.  Cultural heritage cannot be safeguarded as an unchanging, static thing, but as a living, ever-evolving and changing way of relating to and expressing a people’s response to their environment.  Much of the success of the Festival was in seeing innovative new sand drawings evolve, such as a depiction of Air Vanuatu and the Statue of Liberty, right alongside older traditional forms such as the laplap form from Pentecost.  Of particular importance is the fact that so many children and young people took part in the Festival, witnessing and learning from the men and women who are the custodians of this living cultural heritage.  For without this transmission of knowledge from generation to generation, the future of unique cultural expressions such sand drawing is indeed under threat. 

There are plans to incorporate sand drawing as part of the national school curriculum in Vanuatu, and the encouragement of participation in Kastom schools is also a critical part of sharing skills and knowledge to future generations.  But in order to convey a sense of the true richness and breadth of cultural context, festivals such as the one in West Ambrym are essential to the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage.  A highlight of the Malampa Festival was the kastom dancing from Ambrym, Motolava, Pentecost - the Rom dance and others.  An intense atmosphere of excitement was generated by the music, singing and dancing, the drumming beats felt deep in the land itself with its volcanic earth resonating like a giant drum.  Locals, participants and visitors were enriched by the opportunity to make new friends, exchange information and artistic inspiration, renew family connections, and learn new customs, dances, art forms, stories and music which no classroom can convey.

It was by no means an easy feat to organize a Festival on such a scale in Vanuatu, particularly given the difficulties of actually getting participants and visitors to the site in Malampa, what with torrential rains all over Vanuatu causing havoc to already problematic roads and travel routes, and the added difficulty and expense of finding functioning ships and planes to transport large numbers of people.  Ms Cleo Westhorpe, Sand Drawing Promotion Project Coordinator appointed by UNESCO and the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, should be heartily congratulated for so smoothly organizing and coordinating this spectacular festival in less than 2 months, together with the Vanuatu Field Worker’s Network and the Save Sand Drawings Action Committee (SOSAK) in cooperation with the VKS.

In this age of intolerance, global conflict, and the stifling of creative diversity by huge multinational corporations and powerful political interests, the need to raise awareness at local, national and international levels of the value of cultural heritage is crucial to bring people closer together in mutual respect and understanding.  We need to do everything we can to promote and encourage the rich cultural diversity of humanity, and the continued practice of the arts and culture of Vanuatu such as sand drawing gives life to a language that may otherwise be forgotten or undervalued in the headlong rush toward ‘modern life’ and the age of the mobile phone. 

By Dr Kim Selling, Secretary General,

Pacific Islands Museums Association/ICOMOS Pasifika